3 Secrets that Wedding Planners do to save you money and stress
Wedding planners do far more than just manage your wedding day, in fact, there are some secrets that you may not know about wedding planners, some which will actually save you money in the process.
Today, we’ll share with you 3 secrets that wedding planners do that you may not be aware of with planning your special day.
Saving You Money
Believe it or not, most wedding professionals will save you money in the long run if you book with them from start to finish. See, one of the great tips about planners is that they tend to have a network of vendors they enjoy working with, many have agreements that include discounts.
As a bride talking to a specific vendor, you will not be bringing them to repeat business, but a planner on the other hand could bring bride after bride. Some vendors like wedding photographers, florists, and DJs will offer a 5-15% discount if they [planner] brings them lots of business.
So, if you could save 10% on a photographer that costs $3,000, 7% on a florist that costs $2,400, and 15% on a wedding DJ that costs $850, that alone is near $600, then add in other vendors like videographers, venues, your dress, catering and the like and your savings could pile up.
Average Savings Using a Planner
In fact, many times, hiring a wedding manager for the full duration of your wedding prep can pay for the planner themselves, sometimes more.
While many don’t talk about the money savings upfront, it’s generally a perk of hiring for the full-service plans.
According to Brides.com, A good event planner should be able to save you the cost of their services plus much more, which may amount to 10 to 20 percent of your total event costs.
Many have ‘Emergency Kits’
Emergency kits are typically another perk of hiring a wedding planner or wedding manager. These are usually boxes filled with all sorts of afterthought supplies.
From hair care products to forgotten items like cake knives, sometimes a CD filled with music, and even first aid kits, these large kits have a little bit of everything that you may need.
A few additional items can include:
Aspirin or Tylenol
Safety pins and hairpins
basic makeup or nail polish
lighters for candles or sparklers
Generically written vows you can read
Tide pens and small sowing kits
First-aid supplies
and much more
The idea is to have all sorts of backup things within the kits and the supplies will vary from planner to planner and not all offer them. In a 2017 survey done by our sister company Wedding Photography and Films, they asked more than 72 planners in Virginia and NOrth Carolina if they had or offered a kit of some kind.
Roughly 46% said they offered an emergency kit of some kind.
Who offered Emergency Kits
The Long Hours We Work
Something that couples generally don’t see, are all the hours worked before the wedding. While it varies from vendor to vendor and websites have a range of hours worked, needless to say, it’s a LOT.
According to Martha Stewart, a full-service wedding planner could easily spend 200-300 hours prepping your wedding. The Independent website says it’s more than 528 hours for the wedding!
“Based on a typical engagement length of 10 to 18 months, wedding planner Amy Nichols says that couples who are not working with a planner will spend between 200 to 300 hours planning their wedding. That’s the equivalent of eight to twelve full days.”
Of course, a day-of coordinator will be a lot less hours because of the limited amount of time they spend for your wedding day.
When you compare a full planner to a ‘day-of’ wedding planner, there is a vast amount of hours worked.
“Day-of” usually will work the month of the wedding (30 days beforehand) or sometimes the week of the wedding, usually 30-50 hours in all.
Some of the basics that we do include:
work with vendors, bride and groom on creating a timeline
they understand and deal with family dynamics (like divorced parents or family that doesn’t talk to each other)
they go over vendor contracts to make sure they are solid for the couple
they plan the day down to the minute with various things that you want during the day
they help setup appointments for dress fittings/shopping, vendors
they offer ideas, advice and trends on current wedding design
they offer wedding design (some do)
From start to finish, a wedding planner is designed to be your guide through the wedding process as navigating the waters of the wedding industry can oftentimes be tricky.
We recommend that you have a wedding planner for your special day, if you don’t feel free to reach out to us via our online form.