How To Choose The Right Wedding Planner
You can easily get overwhelmed throughout your wedding planning procedure. Not only do you need to research, organize, and check out the most suitable vendors for your budget, you also have to negotiate costs, make sure everything is done on time, and that your wedding day goes smoothly.
Besides, you probably have a full-time job and try to juggle your work with your social life plus the wedding planning. This is where a wedding planner comes into the picture and saves the day.
Choosing your wedding planner is a difficult task. Although every couple definitely wants a skilled and professional planner, it’s also important to find someone you will click with right from the start.
Finding the right professional who meets all of the above criteria and is within your budget may feel like looking for a needle in a haystack. Still, you can breathe a sigh of relief because we’ve got you covered.
Keep reading to find out how to choose the right wedding planner for your perfect wedding day.
Research Their Online Presence And Credibility
Do you think you have found a wedding planner that may be a good fit? Then it’s time for some online investigation to check out their portfolio, online journal, and social media. That’s an excellent opportunity to get a good grasp of their style, as well as their brand image and manner of communication.
You can also check if any of their work has been already published in an online magazine or blog. Furthermore, don’t forget to look through their reviews and recommendations on their Facebook page to understand more about the client experience they provide.
Finally, you should check their credibility which is usually done by checking their business license. However, the wedding planning industry is unregulated, and no one needs a license to practice wedding planning.
Instead, it’s a good idea to find out if they have a proper wedding planner insurance policy. That will provide you with proof that your wedding planner is credible and takes his job seriously and professionally.
Set Up A Meeting In Person
Online communication is the perfect starting point, however, you can only get so far by it. When deciding who will be your wedding planner, you must definitely go and meet face-to-face prior to hiring.
If you’ve fully examined their work online and you’d like to move forward, schedule an in-person meeting as a further step before booking someone.
Just the same as any job interview, a face-to-face meeting will provide you with a much better sense of the person’s personality and whether or not they’d be a good match for your wedding planning dream team.
Ask The Correct Questions
Once you schedule that above-mentioned face-to-face meeting, make sure you go prepared with a list of questions that properly address all your matters. Going to a wedding planner interview unprepared will probably leave you agitated. So, take time to write down what concerns you and your partner the most.
For instance, whether your planner has already been working at your particular venue? How much will you communicate and meet during the planning process? Also, does your planner work on their own or has a team of associates?
If you need some extra reassurance, you can also ask your wedding planner for a list of client references. Good wedding planners will be happy to oblige. That way you’ll hear directly from couples who will provide you an objective review.
Carefully Read Your Contract
When trying to figure out how to find a wedding planner, probably the most important thing is to read your contract from beginning to end.
We understand it’s boring to look through pages of paperwork, but it’s crucial to understand what service you’ll actually get, so there won’t be any surprises along the way.
Further, be aware of how your particular wedding planner handles things such as pricing or additional costs, day-off setup and teardown, and alternative plans for bad weather conditions.
Make Sure Your Personalities Match
In the end, you want to hire someone you’ll sincerely enjoy working with. A wedding planner is someone you’ll be spending plenty of time with, so ensure it’s a good fit on a professional and on a personal level as well.
If in doubt, stop and check your instincts. Consider whether you want that person to figuratively hold your hand during your big day. If your answer is a definite yes. Go ahead and pop the bottle since you’ve officially found your wedding planner.
Final Words
Remember to choose sensibly, communicate, and read your contract well. But, most importantly take your time and you’ll end up with someone who makes sure that everything runs smoothly on your wedding day.