How To Choose the Right Wedding Planner For You
Utilize your resources.
Whether you’re looking for a new hair stylist or a dress tailor, there’s nothing like a personal reference within your own network to put your mind at ease. When it comes to how to choose a wedding planner, turn to your friends and family for recommendations and you might be pleasantly surprised by the number of quality leads that come your way. You can even expand that network to include your online connections and put a call out on social media.
Research their online presence.
Found a wedding planner who might be a good fit? Take the next step with some online sleuthing to check out their website, portfolio, blog, and social media. This is a great opportunity to get a solid grasp of their aesthetics and style, along with their “brand voice” and style of communication. Has their work been published in any blogs or online magazines? Look for those coveted “As Seen In” badges on their website as another indication of great work.
Meet up in person.
While virtual communication is a perfect starting point, you can only get so far via email. In thinking about how to choose a wedding planner, you should definitely try to meet face-to-face before hiring. If you’ve thoroughly vetted their work online and want to move forward, suggest an in-person meeting as the next step before booking. Just like any job interview scenario, a face-to-face meeting will give you a much better sense of their personality and whether or not they’d be a helpful addition to your vendor team.
How to Choose the Right Wedding Planner
Compatibility and experience matter
“You want her to be an awesome fit for your personality and style but also experienced and seasoned enough to fully execute the type of event you want at the level you want,”
Do your homework
To narrow down the list of potential planners, check out their online portfolios, read reviews from other couples (websites like The Knot and WeddingWire are great resources), and ask for references.
Ask the right questions
Whether you decide to interview wedding planners on the phone or in person, asking the right questions is imperative.
Talk money early on
To save yourself some major disappointment and financial issues in the future, you need to make sure A) your planner’s fees are within your budget and B) you are giving them enough cash to do their job properly and make your dream wedding a reality.
Understand what their services are
Having said that, you also need to be aware that there are other types of wedding-related roles such as wedding consultants, wedding coordinators, wedding stylists and designers, and wedding producers, and understanding what their job description and services entail is crucial. Otherwise, you may end up with someone who’s great at negotiating contracts but whose ability to design a beautiful wedding is not as good.
What makes a good party planner?
Why party organizers is important
Party type:
There are different types of parties celebrated by the folks, but which one is yours? Do you want a party with lots of dance and fun or a simple tea party? Different type of party needs different arrangements, so check whether your party planner can arrange a day of your dreams?
Cost:
Budget is a main reason of concern while planning a party. Everyone is inclined towards Event management companies because they assist you to plan your day in an affordable manner. But if you are not getting a proper benefit from your party planner then it doesn’t make any sense to hire them. Therefore whenever you hire a party planner ask them for the expected expenses in details and compare it with others. Then finally choose the one which is reasonable and also excellent.
Creativity:
Just going with the cost is not enough to make your day successful and amazing. It needs creativity to keep everyone’s eyes stunned with the arrangements. Therefore keep this creativity aspect at the top of your checklist and make sure your party planners. are creative enough to give you most surprising day. These days most of the folks use themes to give a sparkling effect to their day, so you can also ask them to pick a theme which suits your party objective and also make it an unseen experience for all those taking part in it.
Best tips from party planning pros: how to make your event unforgettable
Twinkle Twinkle Little Party
The best tip for an unforgettable event is choosing a unique and relevant theme that carries through the party decor and food/sweets. Creating an eye-catching set up/presentation with a story behind it will definitely give the guests something to talk about.
The Party Girl
Make a killer backdrop. I have a super simple PVC pipe frame I use for pretty much everything, and you can get very creative. Use it as a showstopper behind your food table, and later on, let it steal the show on Instagram since it does double duty as a photo booth backdrop once everybody is warmed up!
Elle A Events
I would say the best tip for an unforgettable event is to be ‘open minded’. Every client is different and their happiness comes first … always.
Paper Goat Post
Our best tip for creating an unforgettable event is to PLAN! If you think through all the details and set a solid plan, you will be able to execute the event based around the goals set during your planning. If you run into any bumps during the execution, you’ll be able to “WORK YOUR PLAN” and respond in a calm and appropriate manner.
Top tips to choosing the RIGHT wedding planner
Does the wedding planner have a company website?
This may seem like a very obvious, even silly, factor to consider – however, if you do a quick search of wedding planners in Spain, for example, you’ll find that there are lots that do not have a website, but, rather use a facebook business page and/or a business page on a wedding search engine. Some don’t even have a company domain or email address, but use a generic gmail address instead! Beware if you come across this, as this not only confirms that the planner has not been in business for long, it also implies that the planner is not investing in his/her company, and in turn may not be entirely serious about being a wedding planner…which may put you in a very difficult situation if after a few months the wedding planner decides this work is no longer right for them, and decides to stop planning weddings altogether (including yours!)
Is the wedding planner an established business?
Regardless of whether it’s a self-employed business (in Spain it’s called “autonomo”) or as a limited business (such as an S.L., S.C.P., etc.), the wedding planner should always provide an invoice for the fees payable, including the applicable IVA (VAT/TAX) which is currently 21%. The wedding planner should also have liability insurance (in Spain, it is called “Seguro de Responsabilidad Civil). The wedding planner should also have a VAT/TAX number (in Spain it is called a CIF, NIF or DNI) as all businesses are required to have, together with an official fiscal address.
Can the wedding planner prove their experience?
A real wedding planner with experience and a plethora of weddings under their belt is always able to prove their experience. They are able to provide references from other Couples who have used their services in the past. A reliable and professional wedding planner is willing and open to making you feel at ease about their work and experience, and is able to give you real references. Whether it’s videos, wedding images, references from providers and/or testimonials of Couples of weddings that they’ve done, all of this material should be used as a whole to determine whether this wedding planner is truly and honestly experienced or has just started out. The most invaluable experience, however, will come directly from their past Couples, so be sure to ask for more than 2 references of both past Clients and wedding providers to ensure that you are speaking with a real Client, and not one of their friends or family members who are posing as past Clients.