What Does a Wedding Planner Do?
Brides who are on the fence about booking a designer or DIYing your wedding - this one’s for you! From the outside, the concept of a wedding planner can be a little confusing. Do they make the choices about your wedding, or do you still get to? Why hire someone to plan if you already have your vendors booked and your vision created? That’s what we’re here to talk about. Hopefully, this overview can help you weigh the pros and cons of different options so you can create the wedding you want.
Photo credit: Bryn Ashman Photography
First up: What does a planner actually do? Speaking for us at Jane Rae, that answer is pretty flexible. You can check out some of the basic packages we offer here, but essentially our services break down into three categories - planning, design, and rentals. Think of it as a bulls-eye. Our rental clients choose items from our inventory and we get them packed and ready to go. Event design clients tell us their vision for their wedding and we bring it to life using our rental items as well as our collaborative design process. Planning clients get all of that plus we help them with the lead up to the wedding. With any of those options, we are here to carry out your vision, not to override you with our own. A common misconception is that hiring a planner takes the control out of your hands, and that’s never the case. We’ll take the logistics, but the decisions are ultimately your call. With that in mind, let’s talk through the pros and cons of each ring of that bull’s eye.
Photo credits: Hannah DeGroot Photography, Lexi Lew Photography
Rentals
Pros:
This option is great for brides who want to DIY their day without buying 100 candle votives on Amazon that they’ll have the hassle of storing or reselling later. You can shop our inventory, just like you would if you were buying items, but you don’t have to deal with them when the event is done. Also, because you aren’t paying for something single use, rentals can be a more cost effective way of achieving your design.
We also have an option to add florals to our rental packages. If you want floral centerpieces as well as bouquets from us, we can make sure that all your flowers across your design look cohesive and any fresh and silk components match each other.
Cons:
Rentals are a lot of work on your end, I won’t lie. With this option, you are responsible for choosing each item individually for your design as well as setting up and tearing down the event. (If you’re a detail oriented, hands on person, this might be a pro for you!)
You don’t get to see what your design will look like ahead of time. Certainly, you can get a feel for it, but some of the small details may feel up in the air because you won’t see them until the day of the event.
Photo credits: Sydney Leigh Photography, Kenzie Banks Photography
Event design
Pros:
This is our most popular package. If you have a Pinterest board but aren’t quite sure how to bring it to life, we’ve got you. With Event Design, you tell us your vision and then we create mood boards and mock up all your centerpiece options in a meeting about three months before the big day. You have creative control to make changes with your planner, and we offer you tangible examples of how we’ll execute the final design.
Another perk of event design is having us available for set up and tear down as well as Day Of Coordination services. It makes your life easy when you aren’t in charge of all the labor on your big day. You’ve done plenty of planning ahead of time, so you can rest easy on the day itself and enjoy celebrating with your loved ones.
Cons:
If you’re really looking for help with vendors, invitations, and detailed services during the planning process, event design alone won’t be the best fit. It’s in the name - this service is more about design than planning.
This package doesn’t work very smoothly if you have a lot of DIY design elements you are planning to use. We want the full design to look cohesive, so we require that event design clients have all their floral through us.
Photo credits: Kate Jones Studio, Sydney Leigh Photography
Planning
Pros:
Full or partial planning are great options if you want a seasoned professional walking with you through the decision making process of a wedding. You can have us to keep you on track for when you need to send invitations, book vendors, and finalize decisions.
Planning = communication. Your planner will check in with you throughout the lead up to the wedding to make sure everything is on track. This can be a huge peace of mind element if you like to have a consistent touchpoint.
Cons:
Of course, with more services come more costs. If you are trying to stick to a tight budget for your wedding, planning services will eat up a chunk of that budget. It is absolutely worth it if the planning portion is most important to you, but will be challenging if you want to prioritize design.
And that’s the rundown! Whether you just need somewhere to shop for vases and candle holders or you want someone to walk you through the whole journey of planning, there are options to create exactly the wedding you want.
xoxo, Rebecca
