I Wish I Knew Better

10 years ago I knew nothing of the world of weddings other than that I was getting married and that it was going to be amazing.  I knew nothing of the industry and there were several things we should have done that would have made the day a little less stressful for me and my entire bridal party.  Sadly, I did’t know any better and very few of my friends were married at the time.  We were planning a wedding from half-way across the country and I struggled to find reliable vendors or venues that met our needs and our budget.  If you currently a bride, this probably sounds familiar right?!  One simple step would have made all of these struggles go away!

Looking Back I Laugh

I can look back now on some of the craziness that ensued around our wedding and laugh because being on the other side of the fence as a wedding photographer, I know it really wasn’t as bad as it seemed on my wedding day and I was supremely blessed to have friends that shielded me from some of it until later.  Having a wedding planner present would have avoided or alleviated the following situations and by all means feel free to giggle or immediately hire a wedding planner:

• Ring bearer not having any pants running through the getting ready area in his underwear screaming “Mom, I got no pants”.
• Wedding Photographer canceling a month before the wedding because I originally hired someone I shouldn’t have.  (My sweet sorority sister rescued me)
• The reception site not being set up at all. (Freshman college roommate to the rescue)
• The DIY DJ not working (More on DIYing a wedding later)

Looking back these are minor things but they did have the potential to be bigger and for that reason this time around when we have our ten year vow renewal, we hired a wedding planner and day of coordinator.

What to Look For

I have seen some amazing wedding planners and some very inexperienced ones.  I have really been blessed the last year to work with some amazing people who made the weddings and events I was at run in an amazingly well.  There are some key things I would tell you to look for:

• Attention to detail – this is the person that will make sure no bra strap is peaking out as you walk down the aisle and will insure that everything is where it should be.
• Able to take control – weddings bring out the funny, crazy, and the kooky sometimes.  Make sure that they can take control of any situation
• They understand your vision – great wedding planners understand your vision of the day and help make it happen
• Able to give you references
• You like their personality – This is huge since you will be working with this person a lot to plan your wedding.

While our vow renewal is a smaller event than a standard wedding, we still wanted it to run beautifully and not to be stressed about the day going the way we wanted it to.  I also didn’t want to be checking my watch to make sure we were on time or that things were delivered when they should be.  I also wanted someone who could think outside the box and help me come up with unique ways to decorate for it.

To see our full youtube video on what to look for, check it out below.