What Does a Wedding Planner Do?

Certainly, a wedding is one of the most significant and joyful events in your life. But concomitantly, it can also be the most anxiety-ridden part that you’ll ever go through. There comes the importance of a wedding planner. A wedding planner is someone who assists couples in planning, management as well as the organization of their wedding.

Even though “What Does a Wedding Planner Do?” seems to be a simple question, the answer to this varies from one client to that of another with whom the wedding planner works.

Some of the services rendered by wedding planners include but not limited to

• Arranging the caterer, florist, and printer(for invitations)
• Help you with choosing the groom’s wear, the bride’s attire, as well as the bridesmaid attire.
• Help you with lighting and other details.
• Setting up the ceremony, wedding reception, and its timelines.
• Meeting and negotiating with the vendors of choice.
• Ensuring that the wedding venue is left clean.
• Ensuring that the wedding equipment hired is returned back.

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Initial Consultation – What Does a Wedding Planner Do?

The initial consultation of the client with the planner serves to set the groundwork as to what the client plans to do as well as what the client expects from the planner. The client can be the groom, the bride, the father or mother of the bride or groom, or a combination of these individuals.

A wedding planner elucidates the packages available to the client as well as talk through the type of wedding that the client wants. A wedding planner fully explains what’s included in each package, in detail, and most wedding planners typically have a printed list of what all things are included in each package.

But despite that, the requirements that a client has vary based on the budget, venue, vendors, theme, and most importantly, the client’s personality.

Pre-wedding Responsibilities – What Does a Wedding Planner Do?

Most importantly, the first and foremost responsibility of a wedding planner is to look over the contracts for each vendor. Subsequently, the wedding planner will contact each vendor ideally one week before the event.

To ensure that everything goes well without a hitch, the wedding planner will formulate an all-inclusive timeline that is inclusive of their own timeline, the DJ’s timeline, and the photographer’s timeline for the entire duration of the wedding ceremony.

The bride, groom, and their respective families as well as the ones involved need to consent to the timeline, to make sure that everyone is in sync. A copy is handed out to everyone involved in the rehearsal as well as the wedding party.

Wedding Day Responsibilities

On the much-awaited day, a wedding planner makes sure that the bride-to-be, groom-to-be, photographer, DJ, etc. are informed in advance of all the events that are supposed to take place during that day(grand entrance, dance, cutting of cake, etc.)

On the wedding day, the planner should act as a liaison between the client and the vendor. So the bride/groom can enjoy their big day to the fullest, without chasing after each vendor.

Once the time arrives, the wedding planner makes sure that everyone is in place, based on the timeline set as well as ensuring that every person fulfills their responsibility.

Once the wedding is over, the planner should ideally make sure that the guests are ushered into the reception venue, from the wedding venue.

Weddings are joyful & happy occasions but sometimes, planning one can be anything but joyful. Although it is natural for you to control everything that happens on your wedding day, sometimes it is best to leave the task of planning a wedding to the professionals so that you can simply enjoy your big day with your friends and family. If you do decide to hire a wedding planner to plan your wedding, you can expect the following from him/her:

The Duties of Wedding Planners

Typically, the wedding planners start by meeting with the couple:

• The wedding planners should understand the events, not just the wedding day itself, but also the rehearsal dinner, bridesmaid teas, day-after brunches, and any other related events.
• Review the overall budget
• Understand the style, colors, vibe, & taste of the couple
• Discuss progress to date

The planner then proposes the help needed & presents the couple with a contract for wedding planning services. Probably the services will be a combination of duties, depending on your needs & budget.

Budget

One of the first and foremost considerations for your wedding should be the budget. It could start with the number of functions all the way to the food and decor. This decision will also have a massive impact on the rest of the decisions you make for your wedding.

In this case, you might find it useful to hire a professional events planner & discuss the budget so that you can avoid over or understanding.

Sourcing for Venues and Vendors

The wedding industry is enormous, and it can be a real pain to find & trust the right service providers to manage the minute details of your big day. Especially when it comes to the bigger piece of work like choosing the venue and key vendors.

Hiring a wedding planner can be a blessing in disguise as they know the right people to contact for the venue, the flowers, the food, etc. so that you do not have to worry about anything.

Your dream wedding and vision

Wedding and event planners also ensure that the couple gets exactly what they’ve dreamed of all their life when it comes to their wedding. Sometimes, you might find it tricky to convey your vision of the perfect wedding or your thoughts and ideas into words.

In such a scenario, it might be handy for you to create a vision board to help the planner understand your vision and create the perfect mood, style, and look for your big day! Some planners even go that extra mile to create some CGI so you get a better idea of how it’s all going to look.

Managing ‘The Day of Wedding’

Whether we like it or not, it is quite normal for something to go wrong or some trouble to pop up on the day of the event. Therefore, it is smart to predict the challenges and draw up a plan to overcome them beforehand.

In this case, wedding planners can prove to be lifesavers as they can indulge in a strategic planning process where they also anticipate the challenges and what can go wrong so that they are better equipped to handle a crisis.

Create Memories

One of the most integral parts of a wedding day is the memories you create in the form of videos and pictures.

A videographer & a photographer are indispensable at any wedding as every couple wants to freeze the happy day to be nostalgic about when they are old and grey. Hiring a wedding party planner helps you relax so that you do not have to worry about the decision-making process and the little details as well as the fine print.

All you have to do is enjoy your wedding to the fullest and create memories!

Things to Watch Out for With Wedding Planners

These are signs that the planner is not going to meet your needs:

• First, you need a wedding planner who is easy to contact & responsive to your needs. If the planner doesn’t return your calls promptly or doesn’t seem organized, then look elsewhere.
• Make sure about the vendors who are right for you and not just those who have a hand in the wedding planner’s pocket.
• Make sure that you like the planner’s taste & style. You want your big day to look like you, not like your wedding planner.
• Like any vendor, you’ll want to have a clear contract with your wedding planner that spells out duties, costs, expenses, deposits & payment schedules. Make sure there are clauses that spell out how increased duties and costs will be negotiated, and what happens if the planner fails to meet obligations or you want to cancel the contract.

Wrapping Up

The duties of a wedding planner are not just limited until everyone clears out of the venue- a wedding planner ensures that all the personal belongings of the clients and the gifts are packed and secured properly. A wedding planner should ideally give proper care to conclude the wedding responsibly and smoothly.

Since every wedding is truly unique, the answer to “What does a wedding planner do” isn’t entirely complete. The primary obligation of a wedding planner is to satisfy the concerns that a bride and groom have when they’ve begun to look for a wedding planner and ensure that the client’s vision is implemented.