Wedding Planning, Anyone?

Let’s face it, Hollywood hasn’t done wedding planners any favours.

From Bride Wars to The Wedding Planner and Father of the Bride, we just don’t come out of it well.

Thankfully, life really isn’t like the movies…well at least not for me.

Ok, pull up a chair…

“Wrong Impressions”

I spend a huge amount of time in consultations with clients, shutting down many of the wrong impressions out there about wedding planners and wedding industry professionals in general.

There are amazing, talented people working tirelessly to ensure your wedding is the unforgettably special day you have always imagined it will be, yep they really are nice people. So, why do couples often choose to go it alone?

Why, is the first phone call newly engaged couples make, not to their local, friendly, cost-effective, always has cake, wedding planner?

Why indeed?

“It’s not for people like us…”

So, here’s the thing…

Our industry is plagued by many inaccurate preconceptions which simply stop people from giving us a call.

Sound familiar? You may have even uttered some of these yourself. Well, that’s ok. We’re an understanding bunch.

But before making up your mind and jumping to crazy, yeah crazy conclusions, why not consider having a chat, over tea, coffee AND biscuits?

The reality you see, is somewhat different.

• Varied planning options exist, meaning you don’t always have to go for a full planning service
• Flexible planning is all about working to a client’s time-frame and budget…essentially a plan for every budget
• Getting married? Well come on, a wedding planner is totally for you, we literally exist to help couples like you
• A good planner will never take over, this is your wedding day so all final decisions will be yours and only yours
• Your venue may have a co-ordinator and a great one at that, but realistically, they don’t have a planner, these are two very different and distinct things and the difference can be vast…we’ll explain more in part two…yep, part two…exciting huh?
• Of course you can do it yourself and we will completely support that decision, we can even help you get started, but ask yourself, do you have the time, the knowledge, the discipline, or even the basic information to go it alone?  What about just having an objective ear on the other end of the telephone?

“Accessible to Everyone”

But I also wanted our services to be accessible to everyone…

Idealistic maybe, but when you build a service around the needs and personality of your client, the planning journey becomes as unique and personal as the occasion does, made to measure if you will.

So, in order to do what we do and do it well, it’s important we take the time to get to know you, as well as take into consideration the more logistical factors such as budget and timeline.

Essentially, we need to marry (ahem…and thank you very much) how much you want to be involved, with how much you want to spend, with how much time we have to pull it all together with the overall wedding experience you want.

Simple, right?

Ok, settle down, here we go. It’s myth debunking time.

“Too Expensive?”

So, before we get started do me one favour and forget the concept of luxury weddings…every wedding is a luxury.

And a privilege…and a joy…and a never to be forgotten experience, mainly because of what it means, not because of what it costs.

Luxury weddings…huh, rude!!!

Ok, so…

A wedding planner can actually save you money…and time. I KNOW, RIGHT?

Don’t overlook how much time you will have to find planning a wedding, especially in those last few weeks.

Our Final Weeks packages are popular for a reason. And the last thing we want is stressed out couples having sleepless nights worrying about goodness knows what in the lead up to what should be an exciting and fun filled day.

So, as the very wonderful Julie Andrews wisely sang “let’s start at the very beginning”…

“Set Your Budget”

By having someone on hand to help you establish, prioritise, allocate and stick to your budget, you have ready-made parameters to work with. This will save you countless £sss further down the line.

See, what did we tell you?

Trust me, the number of couples I meet whose spending has grown arms and legs all because they started booking before picking up a calculator, gives me nightmares.

“Minimal Involvement”

Sometimes putting a budget together is all our clients need us for, but even with this minimal involvement we can not only provide you with a huge amount of information to help with the full planning of your wedding, but we can also help to advise you how to make the most cost-effective decisions along the way.

That also goes for finding a venue, a theme, a supplier, entertainment……if that’s all you need, that’s ok, we’ll not only help you find the best venue and vendors, we’ll also help you get the best deal for your budget.

So, there you have it, our flexibility means we don’t have to be with you every step of the way to provide you with effective planning assistance, so, it really won’t break the bank to ask for that little piece of initial help.

However, if planning is just not your thing, the full planning package is always there waiting…with cake!!!

Pick up the phone and give us a call. At the very least, it is always worth a chat.

Check out our contact info here