Wedding Planner
Wedding Planning And How To Choose A Wedding Planner
Years ago wedding planning would be a simple affair. A few friends and relatives would gather and celebrate the happy couple making their start on life together.They were small and intimate affairs where mothers and blushing brides spent a year planning and dreaming about the special day. Most of their jobs consisted of calling the local florist who made very traditional arrangements and flowers for the wedding party, talking to the local minister, and choosing and writing invitations. Of course, they also had the thrill of finding a wedding dress and the dresses for the bridesmaids. There were other small details but nothing a determined mother-of-the-bride couldn’t handle. The reception was literally a piece of cake. The local bakery provided the cake and the church ladies added punch. Don’t faint but most brides used paper products so there would be no mess to clean up. The wedding and reception lasted around two hours and then it was off to the honeymoon. That was then but this is now and a lot more is expected of a wedding day.
The times are very different and planning a wedding today is not for the fainthearted or those who are not up for a challenge. When weddings developed into larger affairs and became extravaganzas, brides and their mothers began looking for help. They began to hire people to help them organize the big day and they invented the role of the wedding planner. The wedding planner becomes an indispensable part of the family for the duration of the engagement period. Just to keep things simple we will refer here to wedding planners as female even though there are many men who are great wedding planners. It is important that the wedding planner can be a person who will be all things to all people. The tasks involved in planning a wedding mean she wears so many hats that she would have to have ten heads to park them all.
The start of the procedure is that the wedding planner needs to meet with the bride and her mother and the fiancé if he is interested, and is best if he is involved. Sometimes and bride and her fiancé plan the wedding alone especially if the couple is older. This first meeting is very important because the bride and her wedding planner must be a good fit. The first meeting is almost like a courting ritual because the wedding planner must exemplify faith and friendship to the bride as she will be helping to plan the most important day in the bride’s life. If the ‘date’ works out for all parties, then a contract will be signed. The wedding planner should make a list all of wedding planner duties and, of course, they must agree on a commission for the planner. To discus the finance it might be best if Dad, or whoever is paying, should also be present for the first meeting. Generally, a deposit is expected after all aspects of the wedding are decided upon.
When you have agreed a deal with your wedding planner the actual planning can begin. Most brides have already done a bit of wedding planning ahead of time. Some brides already have a wish book to show her wedding planner. Together they need to decide on a theme. Yes, you have to have a theme to have a wedding. All of the planning revolves around the theme and, even more importantly, the budget. They also must come up with a color scheme, table decorations, reception arrangements, a wedding hall, church decorations, outfits for the wedding party, caterers, and a thousand other details. The list goes on and on.
The main task for the wedding planner is to take care of all those little details of the wedding both large and small. She keeps the bride from being stressed and makes every wedding perfect. She is the fairy godmother for every princess bride. Even though the job of wedding planner can be stressful the benefits are huge. One wedding planner I heard about said that she gets to spend her whole life helping people enjoy the happiest day of a their life by removing all the pressure of running the wedding planning. There may not be many jobs as good as that.
Destination Wedding Planner
Planning A Destination Wedding
In recent years destination weddings have become very popular with couples young and old. Weddings are always special but to become a married couple together in a beautiful, exotic location can make a wedding a particularly memorable event. When you add to the wedding itself the added features of sand, surf, and romantic sunrises and sunsets you have a spectacular wedding setting. Island weddings have become one of the most popular destination wedding settings and the bride and groom get to start the honeymoon the minute the wedding ceremony finishes.
Planning a wedding that could be many thousands of miles away demands a degree of knowledge and experience so many couples choose to make use of the services of a destination wedding planner. You could make all the arrangements yourself but since you cannot visit the destination often enough to properly make all the arrangements for your wedding having a wedding planner working on your behalf takes a lot of stress out of the wedding planning. The couple may choose the specific destination themselves or they may take advice from the destination wedding planner and their experiences of weddings in different locations. Alternatively, the bride and groom may choose the island location and then start looking to find a local wedding planner. Having access to the internet has made destination weddings so much easier to arrange. Most destination wedding planners will have a website available to browse online and the site will feature information about the wedding planner together with some pictures of weddings she has coordinated. Most wedding planner websites will feature some testimonials from her happy brides to help reassure you that this person does know what they are doing when it comes to arranging your wedding service.
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Web sites vary a lot but a bride can learn a lot about the destination wedding planner and can see the different types of weddings the planner has previously coordinated to see if they both think the same way. If you feel this wedding planner feels right for you call the wedding planner to see if you are able to work together. If the wedding date has not yet been set in stone you should discus the benefits of any particular time of year and settle on a date for the wedding.
Once she has made her arrangement with the destination wedding planner, the bride can then begin to add her own special touches to make her destination wedding unique but personal. Most good destination wedding planners do not offer package deals, preferring to provide the custom wedding you desire. Together you will work out a suitable theme and just because the wedding ceremony will be on an island with a beautiful beach does not require you to have a beach theme. If the bride would love to be Cinderella or Barbie, that is her prerogative and the wedding planner should do whatever she can to help you achieve your dream wedding. You will probably have to be a little realistic about costs though as a destination wedding can be very expensive if you get too carried away with your ideas.
Once the destination wedding planner and the bride have gone over the broad outline of what she would like the wedding to include the planner must set to work. She will have to contact her various vendor connections to get any information the bride requested and find out what venues are available for the agreed date for her wedding and reception. Again, the internet will be invaluable to assist the bride and groom researching the venues online and the wedding planner can also send pictures and information by email. Once the decision is made and the venue is decided upon all the other details can be arranged for the big day.
Many destination wedding planners will arrange a video conference with the bride and groom to show her things like flowers that are local and readily available and they can discus a menu from the caterer to choose the specifics for the menu they finally decide on. The florist can make sample table decorations so that the bride can decide if they feel right for her and if not they can discus what she would prefer. The final cost of the wedding will very much depend on how many people are invited to attend the ceremony and the celebration afterwards. The cost of flights, hotel rooms, food, drink and all the other essential items will soon add up as more and more people are invited to join you at the party. Your destination wedding planner can be a great help here by arranging all of your reservations in a similar way to a travel agent.
When you decide to have a destination wedding you are deciding to make the whole wedding experience one big party. A destination wedding at the beach is much less formal than a regular ceremony and it is a perfect time for both your friends and family to get together with the bride and groom and celebrate the joining of a couple on their special day. Once the wedding ceremony is over the party will really hot up and it will all last as long as everyone is able to stay at the location. When the destination wedding planner does her job well it makes for an almost unbelievable, wonderful wedding.
Tina