WHAT DOES A WEDDING PLANNER ACTUALLY DO?

Planning a wedding can be an exciting journey, but as you start thinking about all the details, decisions, and research involved, it can quickly become overwhelming and take the fun out of it. With a full-time job or other commitments, finding time and energy to plan can be challenging, even with a helpful family member or bestie.  But what happens when a family member’s opinions become too much or the wedding weekend arrives and they want to enjoy the fun and not “work” on the wedding the whole time? This is where a wedding planner can step in and alleviate the stress, guide you through the decision-making process, and ensure that you and your loved ones can fully enjoy the day. 

Wedding planners are industry experts who can offer invaluable resources to create a personalized, beautiful, and seamless event while respecting your spending plan. A planner allows you, and anyone else involved in the planning process, the chance to focus on the overall details and what most consider the “fun” parts of the planning process (menu tasting, design, etc.) while they handle the logistics and back and forth details with the vendors involved. 

Many planning companies, like Carver Coordination, offer a variety of packages ranging from Wedding Management to Full Service Packages. These packages may vary between planning companies, however, at the core of what all these packages include is ensuring the wedding day runs smoothly. Sounds simple, right? The reality is your planner will spend anywhere from 20-30 hours on a wedding management package and 150+ hours for a full-service package -and around an average of 12 hours straight on your wedding day alone! Let’s briefly break down the high-level difference between an event management package and a full-service package, and what a planner might be responsible for in each of these offerings:

Wedding Management:

• Starts helping you with the planning process around 3 months prior to the wedding

• Assists in communicating final details and logistics with vendors you selected

• Creates a comprehensive wedding weekend timeline and layout to share with vendors as well as you and your wedding party

• Is onsite on the wedding day directing vendors and ensuring the timeline is being followed and the day runs smoothly

Full-Service:

• Is with you from the beginning, sometimes even before you have selected a date and location

• Assists in establishing a vision and realistic spending plan (no Budget B words here!)

• Connects you with professional & TRUSTED vendors to bring your vision to life and will review all contracts prior to signing

• Communicates all details and logistics with vendors throughout the ENTIRE planning process

• Helps create a cohesive design based on your vision and budget and brings it from Pinterest and Vision Boards to real life

• Is there to guide you during the planning cutting down on the numerous decisions needing to be made

• Creates a comprehensive wedding weekend timeline and layout to share with vendors as well as you and your wedding party

• Is onsite on the wedding day directing vendors and ensuring the timeline is being followed and the day runs smoothly, making sure you are intentionally enjoying the day!

While planning packages offer many essential services, there are countless other tasks that your planner can do to ensure a stress-free and enjoyable experience for you and your loved ones. Some of these unknown services are:

1. Sews back the groomsmen’s broken bowtie or broken bridesmaids dress

2. Makes an extra boutonniere when one breaks 

3. Fashions a bustle out of safety pins and thread underneath your dress when yours breaks

4. Wipes down your ceremony chairs after unexpected rain shower

5. Places umbrella behind altar for wedding party if it looks like it might rain

6. Makes sure you get appetizers, dinner, and your favorite beverage in hand all night

7. Magically gets all your personal items packed up and where they need to go post-event

8. Makes sure there is a plate and forks by your cake before you cut it so that your ceremonial slice has a place to go

9. Makes sure that champagne toast is actually poured by the caterer before the DJ announces it’s time for toasts

10. Makes sure you have your room key/phone/wallets at the end of the night before you leave

11. Stops the band from warming up/doing sound check during your ceremony (if reception is close by)

12. Stops drunk guests or unplanned guests from getting on the mic to give a toast or speech

13. Calls Uber for intoxicated guests

14. Makes sure you have chairs with arms (and your guests actually use them) if you are doing the Hora

15. Handles all big family/friend personalities and gives them jobs if you need space from them

16. Brings emergency kit for you and your guests: bobby pins, allergy cream, sunscreen, super glue, tums, floss etc. (we have over 100 items in our on-site kit!)

Ultimately, a wedding planner is an essential investment that brings expertise, experience, and peace of mind to your special day.  Trust your planner and know that they have your best interests at heart.

“My husband and I were clueless about weddings and planning going into it, so we hired Stacie to guide us. There’s so many fine details that you don’t think about, but Stacie thought of them all. She was even fully prepared for our day-of emergencies. Her efforts allowed us to fully enjoy our day without worry.” -Megan & Jonathan (Fort Collins, CO)

Want to see more??

• Follow us @carvercoordination for new blog announcements and more helpful information about your wedding planning journey

• Comment below on something you didn’t realize a planner would handle

• Realizing a planner sounds good right about now? We’d love to chat and answer any questions you might have about hiring a planner.  Contact us here to schedule a quick zoom call!

photo credit: Lauren Finch Photography