Whatever the projected budget for your wedding, it is worthwhile to consider engaging the services of a professional wedding organizer. Of course, at first glance it might appear to be an unnecessary extra expense (probably 10% of your budget, perhaps more), but in many aspects of planning for the big day it could actually save you money, or at least help to ensure you get full value for your outlay.
A good wedding organizer should be able to offer a wide choice of suppliers of all the necessary specialist services you are likely to require for your wedding and reception (along with some not-so-necessary extras!) together with the reassurance that everything will be smoothly co-ordinated on the day. It is above all this relative peace of mind that you are paying for. He/she will often be able to negotiate discounts from certain key service providers, and should have the expertise and experience to cater for your specific personal requests regarding what you want and what you don’t want for your special day.
Of course, the wedding organizer doesn’t have to be involved in every aspect of your wedding. There may be several items you wish to arrange yourself (the music, for example, or the flowers). Having a wedding organizer to sort out all the other worrying and time-consuming details will allow you to concentrate on personalizing your chosen responsibilities. If you already have clearly-formulated plans regarding the areas you would like to mastermind yourself, an initial consultation should define the aspects you wish to be handled by the wedding organizer.
You may already have a reasonably clear idea about the style of wedding you are seeking to achieve, maybe even a specific theme. A good wedding organizer will be able to empathize with your ideas and help to develop them into a well-co-ordinated and memorable occasion. Outline your personal vision as fully as possible, so that the wedding organizer has a clear overall picture of what you are looking for. Translating your ideas into an action plan, and executing that plan in all its detail seamlessly on the day, is the organizer’s challenge. And don’t worry if you don’t have a particularly clear vision or plan for your wedding – a good wedding planner will have enough experience and expertise to be able confidently to make suitable suggestions for you to consider, based on your initial projected budget.
Finally, take advice from your chosen wedding organizer on setting up a team (best man, maid of honour, ushers, bridesmaids etc.) to share out the various small yet important tasks on the day. These little details are easily unforeseen or overlooked (e.g. the string quartet don’t have chairs to sit on, or Nigel’s left his notes for his speech in the car), yet in the hands of a skilled wedding organizer they will not present a problem. Always work on the basis that if something can go wrong, then it probably will:- and then everything will probably go right.