So, you’ve settled on having a wedding planner for your luxury wedding, but where do you begin?
The words ‘wedding planner’ often come with a lot of stereotypes, but the wedding planning industry has come a long way over recent years, with so many varying styles (from contemporary to urban to luxury – none of which have to be mutually exclusive!), to meet the many different needs of today’s couples. Whilst it’s great to have so much choice, as with choosing all wedding suppliers, it can also be quite overwhelming to know where to begin.
Focus on what you want (or even, what you don’t want)
When choosing a modern wedding planner, it’s vital that you ‘get’ each other. Your planner needs to be able to interpret your vision, and you need to trust that they will deliver – not only in terms of being organised and having meticulous attention to detail, but also in making your wedding look great.
But before you even try to find a planner though, it’s really important to sit down together as a couple and try and establish your priorities and style (over a glass or two of wine always helps!). This will then help narrow down your search to find the right wedding planner.
First and foremost, think about what your priorities are. For my husband and I, it was all about good food, good wine and a good party – but each couple’s priorities will vary (and sometimes there will be an element of compromise if you don’t initially agree on all the same points!). Once you know what the main things you want from your day are, it can help guide you a little in style, and in budget management.
Next up, it’s style. Have a real think about how you want your wedding to look. It’s all too easy to start drowning in Pinterest and Instagram images, but, if it’s not immediately obvious, then try to spot any patterns of things you like. You don’t need to know the specifics at this stage (if you find a good planner they should be able to inspire you with lots of new ideas!), but try and narrow down to a broader style – whether you’re into really urban weddings or romantic, whimsical weddings. You can then find wedding planners who specialise in that kind of area.
Tip – sometimes it’s easier to at least decide on things you like. Detest chair covers? Hate bunting? Yep, same here. Sometimes a list of the no-go’s are as important as the must-haves!
Do Your Research
Look for a wedding planner whose style and priorities marry up with yours, by checking out their websites, Instagram, Pinterest etc.
You’ll soon get a feel for someone whose style is in line with yours.
Whilst some are more planning-led, others are more style-led, and some offer a blend of both. Communication is key though here from both sides – be really clear from the outset with what you do and don’t like, and it’ll make the process a lot quicker and smoother.
Key Connections
With the long lead-times often encountered when planning a wedding, it’s important that you build a trust and rapport. Let’s face it, you will be working closely together; to make that process smoother and more enjoyable, it’s important that you get on. You don’t have to be best mates, but being able to get on makes things so much easier – and more enjoyable!
Aside from getting on well together, it’s also important that your planner is well-connected in the wider-industry too. By using a wedding planner, you should be getting access to their little black book of top suppliers and it is so beneficial if they already have an established network of top quality, highly dependable contacts who can be ready to hit the ground running on your day. If they get on well with suppliers, it’s also a good sign that they will value client relationships highly, and there’s more chance of you being able to get on well. By being well connected, a good wedding planner will be able to unlock access to top suppliers that you may not otherwise be able to get as easily.
Get in Touch
Here at Mirabella Weddings, we know how important it is to build that relationship right from the outset. Which is why, if you’re considering a modern wedding planner, we always recommend organising time for a good chat up front – this allows us to find out more about you as a couple, and for you to find out more about us. You may well have seen our website or social channels but having a Skype or face-to-face chat is so important in taking those next steps and making sure we’re on the same wavelength.
At Mirabella Weddings, we love super stylish weddings, and our passion is working with creative clients to deliver something truly contemporary and unique. However, we also feel that a lot of wedding planners neglect the key reason you are actually getting married! We believe it’s vital that a day FEELS amazing – most importantly for yourselves, but also all your guests. It’s no point being visually stunning but not being any fun. Which is why, at Mirabella Weddings, we are always keen to focus on making not only the day, but also the whole process, as fun and enjoyable as possible for you – whether that’s meeting up for a cocktail to discuss progress or hosting a wine tasting event for you to sample some wines for your wedding (did we mention, Luke here is a bit of a wine buff?), it’s all about how we can not only relieve your stress but ensure you enjoy the process from start to finish.
We try to make our service as personal as possible – it’s your wedding, after all, and no two weddings should ever be the same. We combine our expertise in modern wedding planning with a relaxed and friendly approach. If you think this sounds like a good fit, then get in touch – we’d love to hear from you!