Thanks so much to Bernadette Smith, the wedding planner behind 14 Stories for putting this article together. As a wedding planner for years who mostly does LGBT weddings, Bernadette is an invaluable resource and planner for the community. She does wedding all over the USA but is based in Boston, MA.
Wedding Planners are Great!
There’s a wedding planner for every kind of couple – even the couple who are afraid of giving up control and even the couple who love DIY. Wedding planners each have their own specialty, personality and style. We all have areas of strength and most of us are not out to take over your wedding and be pushy, bossy or obnoxious.
For same-sex couples, the #1 reason I suggest a wedding planner is that if you don’t have one, you’ll have to come out over and over again – to the vendors you hire and the vendors you don’t. When the average wedding has 43 vendors, that’s a lot of coming out. A wedding planner should pre-screen vendors for you so you never have to have awkward conversations, see “Bride and Groom” on the contract and so forth.
But beyond all that, wedding planners do a lot of other great things. This the quick rundown of services provided by planners:
- Full service: This is soup to nuts and includes everything from finding you a venue and pro-gay vendors to sending you down the aisle (if you have an aisle, of course). Creating a day of wedding schedule and coordinating and being responsible for all set up and break down is part of this service.
- Partial service: This generally assumes you have a venue but need help nailing down some final gay-friendly vendors, as well as all of the day of coordination services.
- Day of Coordination: This service is typically called Day of Coordination but month of coordination is usually more accurate. This service is provided to couples who have done all the planning themselves but want to make sure their vision is perfectly executed.
- Event Designer: Event designers come up with concepts and themes, colors and artwork that bring together a cohesive vision with your original and personal details. Event designers coordinate flowers, linens, lighting, furniture rentals, signature cocktails and other elements that go into the way your wedding looks and feels.
Note that not all planners are designers and designers are generally not planners.
My own style as a planner? I’m a type A in the body of a type B. As far as my clients can tell, I’m the chill and laid back leader guiding their planning and design process – but I’m secretly anal, highly efficient, and a major advocate for my clients. But that’s just my style…
Are you planning to work with a wedding planner?