What do you expect a wedding planner to do for you?

I want "your" opinions! If you were to go to a wedding planner for help coordinating your wedding, what are the 3 most important things you would expect her to do? Also, what would be the 3 worst things that she could do while coordinating your wedding, and last but not least, what would be unprofessional like of her to do while planning your wedding? (I have a dream to be a wedding planner-and open my own business, and want to be the best that there is! Trying to get input from real people, not just textbooks!)

What do you expect a wedding planner to do for you?
the 3 most important things


-ask me before making final decisions


-make things happen ( or force them :-) )


-stay inside my budget





the 3 worst things


-not have things handled prior to the day of the wedding


-not making sure things move smoothly


-giving me excusses instead of solutions
Reply:Well the best thing is be helpful. When I ask a question answer it, and within an reasonable time frame. Be calm, time efficient, and listen.








The worst things you could do is be frantic, or so your stressed out. Do not be late, Don't through your ideas the person, do not put my ideas down. being rude, and have that I am better than you attitude.





Good luck. Hope your business runs smoothly.
Reply:I thought about becoming a wedding planner, years ago. So I've thought about it a lot.


A wedding planner should be the one to take care of handling the companies providing their services for the wedding. (I'd go to a woman planner.) She would make sure all goes well with those services and suggest companies to provide the services. She'd help locate a band or other entertainment. She'd set up the cake tasting -- and even help choose styles and colors for invitations and clothing. Basically, I'd expect her to make sure everything from the rehearsal to the end of the reception was taken care of and handled professionally.





Worst things to do? I think booking a band or some other service and having them back out on her...and then not try to rectify that problem. Not listening to what I want. And flaking out and not doing her job.





Unprofessional things: being rude to the caterer or other service providers, being rude or short with the wedding party -- not just the bride and groom, but all the people who take part, (flaking out goes here, too), and procrastinating. Possibly even promising more than she can do in reality. If she procrastinates, we'd lose the opportunity to hire some people like the band or the bakery, or the organist/soloists at the wedding.





I'd suggest looking over tips for small business owners. A very important part of your job would be schmoozing with the service providers. Often, a good relationship with caterers, bakers, invitation printers, and any other service provider can make things run more smoothly and it would be likely they'd be willing to knock some of their prices down for you. You'll have to pay taxes and things like that (which will be coming to you along with the small business information). You'll want a catchy name and a great ad in the yellow pages. You'll have to decide the minimum you would charge for a small wedding and the discounts you might offer if you plan a wedding "out of season". Like weddings outside of May, June, November, December and February. It would be important to know many places who rent out candelabra and other supplies that a caterer might not provide. There are obviously a lot of details involved. One of the most important things you should do is come up with a contract for services, making sure you note that you are not responsible if a contracted company doesn't provide what they promised. Like the bakery ruining the cake or not delivering it on time.





The sites below offer a ton of advice. Make sure you check out the menus for the sites because often there are more tips on other pages. Good luck!!
Reply:Wedding planners should find and set up meetings with caterers, floral designers, event locations, cake designers, etc. She should also be at your dress fittings and help with any screw up that happens with a dress (because they do happen) Most importantly she should help maintain your budget.


The three best things she can do are:


Find you good vendors that fit your budget


Coordinate all vendors so that your wedding day goes smoothly


Maintain your budget (keep it under the budget if she can)





The worst things she can do are:


Not present you with vendors that meet what you are looking for


Try and convince you to go over your budget more than you are willing


Overbook herself so she is not available to you.





Just keep in mind wedding planners will work with multiple brides at a time but they should be able to multi-task and keep everyone happy at the same time. If they are having a problem maintaining multiple wedding plans they are not a qualified wedding planner.
Reply:Wedding planners are great help! Get them to help and Plan EVERYTHING!!!!!!!! But make sure that they first listen to what you want, and how exactly you want it done. The whole.... who, what, how, when, and where!
Reply:the worst thing a wedding planner could do is assume and not take your ideas or what u want for your wedding into consideration. i would expect them to work with you to find: flowers, wedding venue, decorations, rentals. try watching the movie "the wedding planner" i think that comes pretty close to real life wedding planning. go to some places that help plan weddings, see what they go through in a day and give them our resume.
Reply:Here is something you would not want your wedding planner to do.





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