What Does a Wedding Planner Do?

As a wedding planner, one question I get asked often is “What does a wedding planner do and how can they help me?”.

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. With a full-time job or other commitments, finding time and energy to plan can be challenging, even with a helpful family member.  But what happens when a family member’s opinions become too much or the wedding weekend arrives and they want to enjoy the fun? 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 wedding while respecting your budget. 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 wedding planning companies, like Diane Davidson Weddings, offer a variety of packages ranging from Wedding Management (aka Day Of or Month Of Coordination) to Full Planning. 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 30-40 hours on an event management package and 150+ hours for a full-service package - and around an average of 13 hours straight on your wedding day alone!

Let’s briefly break down the high-level difference between a Wedding Management package and a Full-Service Package, and what a wedding planner might be responsible for in each of these offerings:

Wedding Management

• Most companies start working with you around 6-8 weeks prior to your wedding. However, at Diane Davidson Weddings, our Wedding Management package has regular touchpoints starting 12 months prior to your wedding.

• They will create a wedding day timeline to share with vendors as well as you, your wedding party, and your parents.

• They will assist in communicating the final details and logistics with the vendor team you have selected.

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

Full Planning

• They are with you from the beginning, sometimes even before you have selected a date and location, until after your wedding day.

• They assist you in establishing a vision and realistic budget.

• They will connect you with professional wedding vendors to help bring your vision to life.

• They will communicate all details and logistics with vendors throughout the entire planning process.

• They are there to guide you during the planning, providing etiquette advice on aspects such as invitations, family situations, and wedding day flow.

• They will create a comprehensive wedding weekend timeline to share with your wedding vendors as well as you, your wedding party, and your parents.

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

Wedding planning packages offer a long list of services and details about what a planner will do to help make the wedding process stress-free and enjoyable for you and your family. However, in addition to that long list of offerings, there are countless other tasks that your planner does to help make your wedding day seamless and let your friends and family have the experience of a lifetime. Some of these unknown services are:

1. Wiping down your ceremony chairs after unexpected rain shower.

2. Giving you and your partner (and wedding party) breath mints and tissues before walking down the aisle.

3. Making sure you and your wedding party have drinks waiting at the head table after your grand entrance.

4. Making sure you get to eat appetizers, dinner, and that your favorite beverage is in hand all night.

5. Cleaning up broken glass and mopping the floor after a guest spills their drink.

6. Keeping the bathroom tidy and restocking the toilet paper and paper towel when it’s running low.

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

8. Making sure that your family and vendors are ready to go so they don’t miss key moments like your grand entrance or your first dance.

9. Driving to the grocery store to pick up more lemons, limes, and ice for the bartenders.

10. Placing umbrellas behind the altar for the wedding party if it looks like it might rain.

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.

Follow me @dianedavidsonweddings for new blog announcements and more helpful information about your wedding planning journey.