The Wichita Bridal & Pro Expo starts TOMORROW. How excited is everyone??!?!?!? :) Be sure you cruise on
over to Ryan's blog post about preparing to go to the Bridal Expo HERE. We'll be in the booth with Janessa, one of our 2014 brides who can give you the scoop about how Heartland Photography photographed her wedding at Abode.
For awhile, I've been wanting
to write a blog post about wedding planners/coordinators. I emailed a few of my
favorite clients for their feedback, and they replied with novellas. So instead
of one big blog post, I've decided to break it up into several posts. Today
will be the first installment. :)
Wedding planner. Some people in KS think "I don't
need a wedding planner/coordinator, I have a mom/sister/friends who will help
take care of everything." .... What would you say to a mom or bride who
has this attitude? What does a wedding planner do for them?
Toni is the mother of
Megan … and she had this to say:
"As the mother of
the bride, having a wedding planner provided me the opportunity to enjoy my
daughter's wedding day knowing that all the little details my daughter had
worked so hard to plan were being taken care of. I was there to enjoy
seeing the bride dress, get her hair and make up done, spend that special time
together before during and after the ceremony.
Some brides may think this a place to save some money
or cut expenses, but do you really want your family and friends working during
your big event rather than spending the time with the bride and the rest of the
wedding party?
I've had two daughters plan their weddings in KS
while they were living out of state. The oldest did not want to hire a
wedding planner, I told the youngest if she didn't hire a wedding planner she
should just plan to elope. I was not handling another wedding without the
help of a planner! Fortunately the youngest opted for a wedding planner
and it was an amazing experience for me as the mother of the bride!"
Toni / mother of Megan, about Jubilations.
Janessa, who will be in our booth this weekend has the following to say:
"I
am an organized person. As an engineer I am very detail and logistics-oriented.
I also have a reasonably artistic/creative streak. I always figured I would
plan my own wedding, and that I would be proud to say when it went smoothly
that I did it all myself.
"When
my best friend got married, she did all the planning herself, and one of her
husband’s cousins coordinated logistics on the day of. Her wedding turned out
great, but I realized that I didn’t have anyone that I really trusted to hand
the whole production over to on the day of. Most of my friends are men, and all
of my cousins are too. I wanted the people I trusted enough to take on
those responsibilities (my mom, sister, and closest friends) to be
relaxing and enjoying the day with me and not rushing around haggling with
vendors. Also, I was ABSOULTELY not coordinating my own day. Everyone told me
that the day would fly by and be a whirlwind and I wanted to be able to relax
and take as much of it in as I could (P.S. everyone was right, the day is a
COMPLETE whirlwind).
"I
originally intended to hire Faith (based on a recommendation from my wonderful
photographer) only for day-of coordination. I would do the planning and she and
her staff would show up on the day of and wrangle all the monkeys so all
myself, my groom, and my family had to do was show up. No matter who you are,
having a day-of coordinator is invaluable to your experience and that of your family
and friends. There is a lot of responsibility and stress involved in making
sure everything and everyone is in the right place on that day. There are
already enough challenges for the bride and her entourage on this emotional
day.
Do
yourself a favor, and leave the logistics to a pro. They have done this so many
times that they are prepared for anything (Faith had to glue/sew parts of my
bridesmaids’ jewelry back together on the fly just as we were getting ready for
pictures).
There
are so many details that go into a wedding. I had done lots of research, but
throughout the planning process, Faith would routinely ask me questions about
how I wanted things that I had never thought of before. No matter how organized
you are, you can never anticipate all the details that an experienced planner
has learned to handle through coordinating many events. Also, since they do
this professionally, planners don’t take concerns or criticism personally. If
something isn’t the way you want it, you can feel free to ask them to change it
without worrying about hurting the feelings of your mom/sister/friend.
SUMMARY:
The day of the wedding is hectic. Make sure you, your family, and your bridal
party actually get to enjoy it by leaving the vendor wrangling to a pro…in the
end, it really doesn’t cost that much (especially considering the planner can
be invaluable in making sure the rest of your budget is used efficiently).
Janessa about Bel Amour Events
I'll show a few photos from the well-coordinated Not Wedding in Wichita, which was also at Abode and produced by Events by Ashley.
Gracious! I realized that for a lot of reasons, I never blogged the NotWedding shoot. I'll put that on my "to do" list for 2015. :)
Whew! Lots of info there! Stay tuned for future installments about wedding planners in Wichita.
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