My Guide to Planning your Wedding Part 1: Pick your help wisely
****Disclaimer this is one in a series of blogs that I am going to write about wedding planning and my wedding. This is by no means a permanent change, but instead a sharing of the lessons I learned. I will have pics from my own wedding in upcoming posts. So if you're not into the wedding planning thing, keep checking back cause I'll be switching gears soon. ****
As many of you know I planned my own wedding. I ruled with an iron fist to assure that my husband and I got what we wanted out of our wedding. I still had a wedding coordinator to coordinate and recommend vendors since I was in Montreal and we were getting married in
Vancouver and to suggest things that I may not have thought of. I am so glad that I did get a coordinator (even though she added some of her own stress) because I don't think that I would have liked wrangling vendors and handling the set up stuff that.
Before you go to a wedding coordinator (or to vendors if you aren't using one) it is important to have an idea of the type of wedding that you are looking for. Have an idea of the number of people, style (whether it be a formal wedding, or a more casual one) colors, theme, everything. This is your chance to browse magazines, websites, (there are SO many! I like the knot, weddingchannel.com and weddingbells.ca) blogs (I love The Offbeat Bride ) etc to get ideas. Think about weddings that you've been to. What did you like about them? What didn't you like? Was there something extra special that you'd like to do? Talk to your fiance and figure out what YOU BOTH want, so that you have a starting off point from which to approach the people and organizations that are going to help you realize your vision.
With all this in mind my tip is choose your wedding coordinator (and all vendors) wisely. Ask her for references from people that SHE (or HE) worked for directly. Make sure that your references are from people whose events she was the LEAD on. You want to make sure that you are not getting someone who has never coordinated a wedding before (this is an easy mistake make.)
When you are checking references make sure that you check who they had for their vendors (many Events coordinating companies use a few different caterers, DJ's etc.) You want to make sure that you are getting good reviews for the same vendors you will be using. Basically you just want to make sure that you are getting what you're expecting.
The good thing about using a wedding coordinator is that you can "audition" a few of them. They will write you up a proposal with a list of vendors and a plan of what your wedding will look like, what services they offer and (the most important) a break down of cost. Most of the time this will be a watered down cost break down, so you'll have to account for things like tax and any extras that you add on after. So make sure that you give yourself a buffer of about 15 to 25% extra on your estimate. Make sure that you are clear on what the coordinator is offering and what is not included in the estimate (for an example venues etc.) Make sure that everything you've talked about is in that estimate, so that you can make an informed decision.
Cheaper is not always better when it comes to weddings. There are things that you can do to cut costs, but you want to make sure that you are putting your money where it counts. If you don't care about flowers then don't spend a fortune on flowers, if you don't care about decor then cut costs there. There are always places that you can cut costs, but make sure that you are sure about what is important to you because that is where you want to spend your money.
Make sure that you have a chance to see (or taste) a sample before you commit to that vendor, or that item. If you have a food tasting and you don't like the food that's offered find out what you can do to change the menu or the vendor. Caterers, Djs, florists, cake makers etc are a dime a dozen so there are ALWAYS options. Don't get pigeonholed into accepting something that you are not 100% sure about because there are always other options. "No" is not something you should hear from vendors. Remember they work for YOU! Your wedding is YOUR day make sure that you get what you want out of it, otherwise you will not be happy. It's all about choosing the right people.
Once you choose your vendors you are ready to take the next step in planning your special day. The key for me was to OWN the event, not to let the event own me.
Hope this helps! Next time I'll talk about my ceremony and what we did to make it our own.
As many of you know I planned my own wedding. I ruled with an iron fist to assure that my husband and I got what we wanted out of our wedding. I still had a wedding coordinator to coordinate and recommend vendors since I was in Montreal and we were getting married in
Vancouver and to suggest things that I may not have thought of. I am so glad that I did get a coordinator (even though she added some of her own stress) because I don't think that I would have liked wrangling vendors and handling the set up stuff that.
Before you go to a wedding coordinator (or to vendors if you aren't using one) it is important to have an idea of the type of wedding that you are looking for. Have an idea of the number of people, style (whether it be a formal wedding, or a more casual one) colors, theme, everything. This is your chance to browse magazines, websites, (there are SO many! I like the knot, weddingchannel.com and weddingbells.ca) blogs (I love The Offbeat Bride ) etc to get ideas. Think about weddings that you've been to. What did you like about them? What didn't you like? Was there something extra special that you'd like to do? Talk to your fiance and figure out what YOU BOTH want, so that you have a starting off point from which to approach the people and organizations that are going to help you realize your vision.
With all this in mind my tip is choose your wedding coordinator (and all vendors) wisely. Ask her for references from people that SHE (or HE) worked for directly. Make sure that your references are from people whose events she was the LEAD on. You want to make sure that you are not getting someone who has never coordinated a wedding before (this is an easy mistake make.)
When you are checking references make sure that you check who they had for their vendors (many Events coordinating companies use a few different caterers, DJ's etc.) You want to make sure that you are getting good reviews for the same vendors you will be using. Basically you just want to make sure that you are getting what you're expecting.
The good thing about using a wedding coordinator is that you can "audition" a few of them. They will write you up a proposal with a list of vendors and a plan of what your wedding will look like, what services they offer and (the most important) a break down of cost. Most of the time this will be a watered down cost break down, so you'll have to account for things like tax and any extras that you add on after. So make sure that you give yourself a buffer of about 15 to 25% extra on your estimate. Make sure that you are clear on what the coordinator is offering and what is not included in the estimate (for an example venues etc.) Make sure that everything you've talked about is in that estimate, so that you can make an informed decision.
Cheaper is not always better when it comes to weddings. There are things that you can do to cut costs, but you want to make sure that you are putting your money where it counts. If you don't care about flowers then don't spend a fortune on flowers, if you don't care about decor then cut costs there. There are always places that you can cut costs, but make sure that you are sure about what is important to you because that is where you want to spend your money.
Make sure that you have a chance to see (or taste) a sample before you commit to that vendor, or that item. If you have a food tasting and you don't like the food that's offered find out what you can do to change the menu or the vendor. Caterers, Djs, florists, cake makers etc are a dime a dozen so there are ALWAYS options. Don't get pigeonholed into accepting something that you are not 100% sure about because there are always other options. "No" is not something you should hear from vendors. Remember they work for YOU! Your wedding is YOUR day make sure that you get what you want out of it, otherwise you will not be happy. It's all about choosing the right people.
Once you choose your vendors you are ready to take the next step in planning your special day. The key for me was to OWN the event, not to let the event own me.
Hope this helps! Next time I'll talk about my ceremony and what we did to make it our own.
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