Wedding Planning 101. Hiring a Wedding Planner.

 

Happy Tuesday, y'all! Today I am back in the One Sweet Studio and Brides, today's post is for you. Think of it as a little heart-to-heart talk.

  Hiring a wedding planner...Why you need one.

I know a whole bunch of you are thinking "I don't need one", "My mom is going to be helping with everything", "I have this under control, Michelle" And maybe you do, maybe your wedding day will be a different experience than mine. Don't get me wrong, my wedding day was hands down the best day of my life. I just had a few dozen (ok, maybe A LOT more) of our wedding photos printed for our home's first gallery walls (stay tuned for that post!) and I can't help but notice that everyone and I mean EVERYONE is smiling in them.  Like really smiling. I was told by our videographer that our wedding was one of the happiest he's ever been to. Happiest. What a wonderful compliment to receive. And when all is said and done, isn't that what matters? That everything got done and everyone was smiling?

NO. There I said it. I'll be honest with you, I was up until 4am the night before our wedding, with a wake up call at 7am. Ouch. My family did everything the day of our wedding which was amazing and I can never thank them enough. However, a huge part of me wishes they didn't have to. A huge part of me wishes my bridesmaids didn't spend 8 hours the day before setting up, I wish I had had the time to spend with them, and I wish I had time to shave my legs the morning of my wedding...totally did not. The little things like that went straight out the window. My maid of honor couldn't go to hair and makeup because she had to go to the venue bright and early, checklist in hand. I watched my perfectly scheduled day-of timeline just fall apart. And why? Because I thought a wedding planner was out of our budget and to me it seemed silly to hire someone for things I could easily do. Wedding planner? Waste of money. Or so I thought.

  

 

 

See, let's take wedding photography and videography as an example. When all is said and done, you can hold those photos in your hands, proudly display them on your walls, give them as gifts to loved ones, and watch that video all day long. You get something tangible in return for all that money you spent. You can see where it went with your own two eyes. It makes sense to you. We naturally want to spend money on things we can actually see and touch. A new sweater, that brand new iphone,  and while we're at it a grande non-fat vanilla latte please! And with weddings, we rack those numbers right up with custom cocktail napkins, the prettiest linens, letterpress invitations and why? Because it's the stuff. (and we want our wedding to be the prettiest-duh) Mail is always so much more exciting during wedding planning. We stalk the mailman, track those Fedex packages. We can't get enough of the stuff! We love stuff, especially us girls. (Any Target addicts?) 

And what do you get that's tangible from a wedding planner? Hmmm... You don't get to display anything from a planner. There's nothing for you to watch. But, here's what you DO get when you hire a wedding planner and I can't tell you enough how appreciable it is. You get time with your bridemaids that flew hundreds of miles to be with you instead of handing them huge to-do lists, you get that moment of seeing your reception space for the very first time you've been imagining since you were little. You get to sip on that mimosa and laugh with your best friends. You get to sit back and relax and soak it all in knowing that all those pesky details are being taking care of and all you have to worry about is walking down the aisle is that drop dead gorgeous gown of yours and marrying your one true love. That's what you get. Peace of mind on a wedding day is priceless and a wedding planner can give you just that. So yes, I know you are one organized and put together girl and I know your family is going to be there offering their help and it will get done and you'll end up married and smiling from ear to ear. I just think you should have a planner right next to you so you can be the Bride. Trust me on this one. 

Photos by: Kristin Moore Photo

Love, 

Michelle xoxo