Your Day Your Way!

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a wedding planner?  

As your professional planners, we will help you plan and personalize your wedding -- within your time frame and budget.  We work with a network of professional service providers saving you time and money.  We will assist you in areas such as proper protocol, etiquette, suggestions on designs and styles and questions to help you create your day your way!

Will the bride give up control? 

Absolutely not.  You will make ALL the decisions. You have simply added a competent professional to help you accomplish your plans.  You have all the fun of planning, but rely on the planner to do all the detail legwork for you.

What are the benefits? 

• As your wedding planner, we will help you lay out a realistic budget, solve specific problems, help with vendor selections, and flesh out your plans for a really unique day.
• As your wedding planner, we will offer tips that can save you money and keep you within your budget.  Our experienced eyes and ears will make sure that the chances for financial surprises are kept to a minimum.
• As your wedding planner, we will assist with the rehearsal and ceremony to make sure you get down the aisle -- on time and looking good!
• Many brides and grooms run themselves ragged in the months leading up to the wedding.  Equal numbers of couples tell tales of a wedding day that went by in a blur because there was still so much for them to attend to and worry about that they had little time to relax and enjoy the moment.  As your wedding planner, we will help alleviate these situations by being on hand to take care of time consuming tasks and trouble shoot for you when required, making it all so much easier and more enjoyable for you.
• This is not a dress rehearsal-- especially when it comes to a monumental occasion like your wedding day. 

What's the difference between a Wedding Planner and an Event Planner?

• In most instances an Event Planner is hired and trained by the venue to plan an event such as your reception and will do a wonderful job.  Some Event Planners are trained to do an event a certain way and do not allow much flexibility for creativity. They will call themselves your Wedding Coordinator and some will even tell you that you do not need an independent Wedding Coordinator.  The important difference is that they are NOT by your side from the beginning of your day to the end of it nor do they help you with all the detail prior to the wedding day.  They are trained to run the reception.
• As Wedding Planners we are trained to not only plan events with excellence but to carry out the bride's vision for her wedding day.  We are very flexible, allowing creativity and your Planner stays with you from getting ready to the end of your reception!
• Neither the venue's Event Planner or the independent Wedding Planner are getting married -- it should NOT BE THEIR WAY -- it's your day and it should be your way!

Should I feed my vendors?

• You should feed any vendor who is with you throughout the day.  For example, your photographer starts very early and works through the end of the reception.  You need to give nourishment to him/her and any assistant..
• Your Wedding Planner and assistant are also with you throughout the day.  You need to feed them.
• Normally, the DJ or Band is also given food because they set up ahead of time and miss the dinner or lunch hour.
• You do not have to feed the vendors the same plate that you and your guests are eating unless the venue requires it.  A club sandwich with chips is fine!  Work with your Planner and/or Caterer on how many of your vendors need nourishment and what to feed them.  Don't forget to include them in your final count to your caterer.  Tell them how many guests you have coming and how many vendor meals you need. 
• Discuss with your Planner and/or Caterer where the vendor table will be set up.  It is oftentimes set up in a separate room away from your guests.  I do advise that you have a table for your photograrpher, videogrfapher, and planner in the receptionroom so that they are with you the entire time.  The photograher is unable to get that all importatnt shot if he/she is in another room eating. 
• Many times, feeding the vendors is innocently overlooked and we felt the need to address it.
  

Sweetheart Table vs Head Table - who sits there?

• The head table is wherever the bride and groom sit, and is, understandably, the focus of the reception.  It usually faces the other tables, near the dance floor.  The table is sometimes elevated, and decorations or flowers are usually low enough to allow guests a perfect view of the bride and groom
• The bride and groom only sit at the sweetheart table and the bridal party is seated with their guests at the guest tables placed prominently near the sweetheart table and the parent's tables.
• The bride and groom and bridal party all sit at a head table.  The bride and groom sit in the middle, with the best man next to the bride and the maid of honor next to the groom.  The ushers and bridesmaids then sit on alternating side of the bride and groom.  Child attendants should sit at a regular table with their parents. 
• The parents do not typically sit at the head table as it is reserved for the members of the bridal party.
• The disadvantage of a head table is that the bridal party members do not get to sit with their escorts.  The head table is usually abandoned early in the night and the bridal party members squeeze into the table with their escort. 

Why should I purchase wedding insurance?

Wedding insurance will protect you from many unplanned disasters - below are just a few.

I had an instance just recently where a wedding was planned at a local museum and we got two foot of snow on the day of the wedding.  The museum closed and the bride was from out of state and for undisclosed reasons, could not move her wedding to the next day as the museum had suggested.  She decided to cancel the event and plan something on a smaller scale later.  Most of the vendors had "no-refundable deposit" clauses and the bride lost her deposits and in many cases the entire charge had been paid and everything was lost. 

I also had a bride whose photographer's battery pack was not working and all the formals at the church did not take.  The insurance would have paid to have a "re-enactment" which is not the same but at least you have the option of recreating those very important shots.

Don't let this happen to you .. you never know what is going to happen and wedding insurance is relatively inexpensive costing around $160 with no deductible.  There are many insurance companies who offer this protection.  Call me at (410) 925-1086.