Guest Blogger: 8 Reasons to Hire a Wedding Planner

Its the number one question everyone in the wedding industry gets… Should I hire a wedding planner? You may have read some of our recent real wedding posts that brides are gushing over the best decision they made for their wedding, and it was hiring a wedding planner!

So we asked Michele Steyn, owner of Passionately Weddings in South Africa the top reasons couples should hire a wedding planner and I’m so excited for Michele to be our guest blogger on LDW.

Enjoy! 🙂

One of the first questions I am always asked by prospective clients is why they should hire a wedding planner. What is the benefit to the couple? Well here are my top 8 reasons why you should hire a professional to assist you with your planning process.

1. Saves Time

Planning a wedding is ONE of the most time consuming events that you will ever be involved in. A wedding planner will always save you time as they have the contacts and the knowledge to make the process easier and less hectic.

2. Saves Money

This is probably the one reason that makes most Grooms happy. Weddings are expensive but a good wedding planner would have made many contacts in the field and will be able to assist you to get the best for your money. They will assist with creating budgets and helping you to stick to it. They have a large database of service providers and have worked with most of them frequently and its easier for a Planner to negotiate rates on your behalf.

3. Dreams

A wedding planner can assist you in making your dream a reality by listening to what you envision and putting you in touch with the best service providers to create your dream. They will offer advice to make sure that your dream is a doable proposition.

4. They work only for you!!

Most venues include a “Wedding Coordinator” in your venue fee. They promise to look after all aspects of the wedding for you. However this only encompasses everything that pertains to the venue only ie catering, set up etc. All the other details they leave to you. An independent wedding planner works only for you, so they will ensure that ALL aspects of your day come together the way it is meant too and will work with the venue coordinator to ensure your Big day is special.

5. Acts as a “go to” person

Your wedding planner will be the one person on the wedding day that has all of your service provider’s details, has drawn up a schedule for all concerned to work with, and will make sure that all crises are handled timeously so that you and your guests are totally unaware there ever was a problem.

6. Forgotten

As a wedding planner I have worked with so many brides who have forgotten little details. Sometimes they are details that cannot be forgotten for instance – with an outdoor ceremony, have you remembered to have a back up weather plan? I had one bride who had booked a stunning guest house for her wedding and a beautiful suite for her to get ready in, and when I asked her where the groom was going to get ready she said…”oh, probably in the guest bathroom”. She had forgotten that her hubby to be also needed somewhere to get dressed!! And its these little “forgotten” items that your planner will remind you about and make sure is solved.

7. Mediator

A good wedding planner will also act as a mediator to help keep everyone relaxed and happy. Its not easy keeping everyone happy on the day but the wedding planner will help to alleviate any stressful issues. Its always easier to communicate with your future Mother in law that “my wedding planner thinks…..” rather than cause any unnecessary drama.

8. Minimises Stress

Probably one of the most important reasons is this. Your wedding planner will minimize your stress allowing you to relax and enjoy your wedding day knowing that someone is taking care of all the little details for you.