Our Top 10 Reasons Why You Need a Wedding Planner

By: Tracey Manailescu, WPICC, DWC Co-founder of WPIC Inc, and owner of Tracey M Events

We can think of tons of reasons why couples should hire a professional wedding planner, but here are our TOP TEN.

1. Having a Professional Problem Solver on Hand Helps You Enjoy Your Day What happens if the rental company forgets the napkins, or if the amount of specialty chairs is not correct at time of delivery, or if the strap on a bridesmaids dress falls off, or if the wrong flowers are delivered? We’ve got you.
2. We Will Refer “Tried and True” Wedding Pros who are Best Suited to Your Budget, Theme and Personalities A successful wedding is built with a great team who listen, respect and execute what they are supposed to. They know how to play nicely, and go above and beyond for their clients…YOU. We have worked with a lot of wedding pros over the years, and feel that we can make suggestions that ensure the team referred by us will have your best interests at heart. We will negotiate and communicate with the wedding team leading up to, and on the wedding day.
3. We Will Help Keep You Organized It’s kind of our thing, and truly one of the things that we do best.
   We create a personalized monthly checklist just for you. Each month you will have new tasks to dive into. This helps keep the feeling of overwhelm at bay. We will remind you when payments are due, and when things need to be ordered or purchased, etc.
4. Timeline Creation and Execution
   Wedding planners need a timeline for the day’s events, but we also need a specific production schedule for the flow of the day and knowing who is responsible for what and when. We need to know where and when vendors are supposed to load in/out, what needs to be set up where and how long everyone has to do it, when the ceremony begins, ensuring power outlets are nearby if needed, ensuring the musicians, or DJ, are out of the sun for their equipment and in case of sunstroke, knowing when you are supposed to walk down the aisle, the proper order of the wedding party for the processional/recessional, ensuring there is a pen for the registrar signing, making sure someone takes the take away portion of the marriage license, setting up seating cards, lighting candle votives, folding napkins, putting out the menus, etc.). We will communicate this schedule with everyone who is a part of the professional wedding team. Your wedding timeline needs to have some room for error and some flexibility for circumstances beyond our control. If something does get off schedule, we will determine where to switch things up to the best of our ability, hopefully without any of your guests noticing.
5. Budget Everyone has one no matter what the numbers are. We will help guide you, and ensure that you are making informed decisions when increasing, or taking items out of your overall budget. While we cannot make the final decision for you, we will let you know if you are going way out of your comfort zone and remind you of where it’s at.
6. Ceremony Direction (if not at a place of worship)If the ceremony will not be taking place at a Church than chances are, we will be leading the Rehearsal. Where will everyone stand? Who has the rings? Who goes down the aisle first for the processional and recessional? What side should the Bride stand on? Who’s cueing the wedding party?
7. Wedding Day Items Do you really want your family or friends running around on the wedding day setting up the seating cards, menus, guest signing book, checking that the linens and glassware are stain-free? Who’s ensuring that the chairs are lined up, votives are lit for the guests’ arrival, and catering staff are reminded who is sitting where for allergies and food restrictions? A last-minute high chair is needed? Hmmm…see where I am going with this?
8. “Helpful” Family & Friends are Causing Tension and Unnecessary Stress Move over and let a professional handle things from here on out. 99% of the time, those helpful Family & Friends only have your best interests in mind. However, too many cooks in the kitchen is a recipe for disaster. We can help alleviate the emotional drama that comes along with planning a wedding, as we are not involved in the family drama and emotional decisions, as we do this as a career. We can offer solutions and suggestions that will benefit everyone involved, and help get things back on track before relationships are forever changed. We don’t mind being the bad guy and taking charge when needed/wanted by you and your partner. After all, this wedding is for you and ultimately that’s who gets to make the final decisions, right?
9. Removing a Tip Jar from the Bar Oh, yes, we went there. We see the contracts. We know that the staff are already paid gratuity. It is not the guests’ job to be paying the bartenders. This is a wedding, not a corporate event.
10. We Keep Speeches and the Timeline on Track Speeches, oh speeches, they can be the best or the worst part of a wedding reception. We recommend keeping the speeches 3-5 minutes each. P.S. Parents don’t count for speech time patrol. You are their babies. P.P. S. We STRONGLY advise against having an open mike as this almost never goes over well.
11. Also, all vendors have a copy of the timeline and have acknowledged that it has been reviewed the week before the wedding. As much as we prepare, there will always be things that go awry, but we will try our best to get it back on track or shuffle things around seamlessly, so no one is the wiser.
12. Help You to Go Pee in Your Wedding Dress (because now the Bridesmaids are on the dance floor enjoying their evening). Oops! That was 11.
    #stuffjustgotreal