Being in the event's industry for around 8 years has allowed me to not only evolve with it but also understand more the clientele and their needs. Is not a secret that while Wedding planning is full of beautiful emotions and leads to THE DAY it can also be very hectic and tedious because of the amount of details that it entails... but you know that already and I'm not here to add more to it; I'm here to help you make informed decisions.
"The first question that you should ask yourself before entering your Wedding Planning journey is: HOW AVAILABLE AM I TO BE INVOLVED IN THE PROCESS?"
Most weddings take around 300 hours of planning. If I had to give and advice would be as simple as; Go for a Full Planning! But hey, I know that if you have a job that allows you some time to allocate to this, if you enjoy planning and if you have the right support material you can make it happen at least until you hire your Month of Coordinator (which is a non-negotiable).
FULL WEDDING PLANNING
Let's start by saying that this equals to hiring the HUB to your wedding.
You connection with your planner is essential so they can help you land all your ideas. We'll be there from the budget plan and projection, venue hunt, vendor research, tastings, demos, all the way until being the last one to leave the venue the day of the your Wedding making sure your security deposit is safe and sound...
Even though you will be involved 100% in the decision making, the nitty gritty won't be in your hands.
One thing you should know is that booking a vendor only means opening a door for many questions about logistics; if you are hiring 10 vendors those are 10 open doors that will need attention. When you hire a full planning service you are hiring your Wedding Brain.
While you are choosing your floral style and rentals, your planner is thinking who needs to get there first, through which door they have to load in, make sure those rentals fit through the doors, at what time florals should be set to stay fresh the longest time, plan B, C, D...
There's information that only you have, don't get fooled into the "you don't have to do anything" You have your guest list info, taste and priorities; yes, we have systems to make it easier, but there are things than only you can do for us to get the job done.
Because this service covers the overall Creative Team Logistics and the Day of Management; the investment expectation is around 12% up to 20% of your Wedding Total. Think about when you tip a waiter for being in charge of your whole dining experience when you go to a restaurant, only this time, the gratuity is working on your favor and for your total benefit.
PARTIAL WEDDING PLANNING
You feel like you can start on your own but you are not down for the nitty gritty of the last months...
Usually your planner will jump in half way through, we can say that's around 4 months before, at this point you have most of your vendors and probably missing 3 or 4 of them; your budget projection is defined and your wedding design is clear. In my personal experience, I like to provide my Partial Planning Couples with Support Planning Online Material that can help them stay on track and by the time I take over everything is organized in my format.
The next step is to hand the wedding to your planner, revisit everything you've done so far together and adjust any loose ends.
This allows you to get back on track with your life and all the personal matters you still have to take care of as your day approaches as your wedding professional takes over and becomes the appointed person for the whole wedding crew making sure the whole team is on the same page.
The investment expectation for Partial Planning is around 8%-12% of your Wedding Total number, it defers based on your location and minimums required to lock in a date.
MONTH OF WEDDING COORDINATION
You are available and up to the challenge. You are more likely a Type A person and want to do the whole thing on your own...
It will be essential that you find a system that works on your favor to keep everything in one place. Your planner should be jumping in at least 6 weeks before your day and until then you are in control. Make sure to keep everything as organized and clear as you can for transparency. Once you hand your wedding most of the logistic is finalized so ALL DETAILS MATTER. Every little thing, every idea, every surprise, vision etc is so important that you mention to your planner so they can become the extension of you and become the Wedding Hub.
Your Wedding Coordinator will become the point-of-contact to the wedding crew, put together all paperwork, floor distribution, finalize timelines, hopefully have a last venue walkthrough to confirm the flow, anticipate and/or solve any pending matters, be part of the rehearsal and manage your "Day of".
I don't want to say lower your expectations but definitely be realistic specially if you haven't been in touch and you are actually hiring your Wedding Professional 6 weeks before your day.
Your planner will be able to provide up to their quality standards based on the info they have available and how they were introduced to what you've done so far. Over-communication is not a thing in this panorama.
The investment expectation for Month Of Planning ranges around 4% up to 8% of your Wedding Total.