Understanding the Duties of a Wedding Planner
When you choose to partner with a wedding planner, it’s important to understand their role in your wedding planning process. Common misconceptions and unrealistic expectations can cloud a couples view of the actual duties a planner will fulfill, so it’s crucial to develop an understanding of your planner’s services before you sign a contract with them.
With this blog, I would like to clear up some of the common misconceptions regarding the duties a wedding planner intends to fulfill with her services. Developing a clear understanding of expectations ensures the partnership between a planner and the couple they are working with starts off on the right foot.
Photography by: Mike Diskin
Misconception 1: My wedding planner will book flights and accommodations for me, my bridal party, my family, and all of my other guests.
Flights and accommodations tend to be on every couple’s mind early on in the planning process. It feels like a big, heavy, overwhelming step in planning a destination wedding. However, it is not the role of the wedding planner to make these arrangements for your guests. While we do assist in making arrangements for the couple and the bridal party in some unique circumstances, it is more common for a wedding planner to offer options to a couple that they can then pass on to their guests. Booking is then the responsibility of the wedding guests and the couple. We are more than happy to provide multiple options of rooms for different price point and styles, as well as recommend airlines and transportation, but the booking process needs to be handled by the individuals making the trip.
Misconception 2: My wedding planner will take care of flights and travel arrangements unrelated to my wedding event.
It often surprises me how many times I am asked to book flights or make travel arrangements for vacations unrelated to the couple’s wedding. While I appreciate the confidence in my knowledge of the area and your trust in my judgment, my goal is to plan weddings and wedding related activities. I am very happy to recommend a trusted travel agent for your future planning needs.
Misconception 3: My wedding planner will assist the bride and groom in their preparation on the wedding day.
I adore wedding days. I love the anticipation of the preparation of getting your space decorated and finally seeing the design of your wedding coming together. But since I am busy at the venue and ceremony site, I am not available to steam wedding dresses, pin boutonnieres, straighten bow ties, and make sure everyone has their flowers. It’s imperative for couples to understand that a wedding planner’s main goal is to facilitate and perfect the design and event flow of your wedding day. I would love to be able to stand beside you as you put on your wedding gown, have your first look, and board transportation to your ceremony site, but I will be preoccupied in ensuring that setup is complete and your guests are being properly directed. You have assigned members of your bridal party who can help with the personal preparation of the day. Be sure to make the most of your relationships with your best man and maid of honor – It’s their job to make sure you look great and are totally ready to go.
Photography by: Mike Diskin
Misconception 4: On my wedding day, my planner will be at my beck and call to solve all emergencies and make sure the plans we didn’t make are miraculously solved.
During your wedding day, I will be working diligently to ensure vendors are prepared, guests are well directed, and overall organization is perfected. While I am happy to tie up loose ends that may have been overlooked, I am not able to perform miracles. My timeline for the day is carefully determined long before you walk down the aisle. With that in mind, it is important for couples to understand that I’m not able to bustle your dress, order you lunch, or change your entire seating arrangement at a moment’s notice. As we work together throughout the planning process, I will ask you questions that will address every unknown we could possibly encounter and encourage you to outline anything you could possibly want on your wedding day so that I am well prepared to plan to have that need met. Together, we will arrange all of the details so that your whole wedding experience is carefree and relaxed. Your cooperation and communication will ensure we are both totally prepared for you to have the best day of your life.
Misconception 5: I don’t think a wedding planner is worth it. What do they even do?
Photography By: Quetzal Photography
I take an immense amount of pride in my work. I am meticulously organized, professionally connected, and a creative problem solver. I am more than willing to figure out how to have your wedding at the most out of touch location or with the perfect traditional touches or on the exact beach you’ve seen in pictures. I love connecting my clients with the small business owners and vendors throughout the Riviera Maya whose style exactly mirrors the vision you have for your wedding. I will facilitate conversations through language barriers, direct staff to perfect design through set up, and graciously welcome and direct your friends and loved ones so that they feel relaxed and at home during your wedding. I will help you come up with activities that will make your wedding experience memorable for everyone involved. I will listen to every request you have to ensure your wedding looks and feels the way you have always dreamed it would. And I will care as much about your wedding as you do.
In my years of experience, I have been fortunate to work with couples who understand my role, value my work, and actively participate in the creation of their wedding day. My goal is to take away the overwhelming feeling of having to figure everything out on your own, connect you with the vendors who will make your day a success, and cover the bases of the tasks and to-dos that tend to be overlooked throughout the planning process. I want you day to be flawless and will diligently plan for it to be so. Together, we will happily tackle the pre-planning process and, when you trust me, you’ll see how much fun wedding planning can be when you have the right partner.
