Wedding Planners. Did you use one for your wedding?

[angel_bright05]

I've been watching wedding shows lately and the couples use wedding planners. We did not use one for our wedding and after watching some of these episodes I'm glad I didn't. I don't think I could handle them and I would just end up doing everything myself. Saved me money too.

So..did you use a wedding planner?

 

[Becky2005]

No, we went and visited with one but I didn't like the attitude I got.

After listening to what she would do, etc... it was all stuff I had already either looked into myself or was already on my agenda.

We asked about a particular mode of transportation and she responded with "that will be expensive" or something along that lines. She didn't even know our budget at that point. A simple, yes, that would be possible would have sufficied at that point.

There were several comments like that (not all about money) but also the fact that we would have a hard time getting a florist due to it being the weekend of Mother's day and basically how if we didn't use her, there would be no way we could pull this off but she had the connections so she could.

It was all just very negative or at least that is how I felt about it. It seemed everytime we said we wanted X, there was a counter reason why we didn't. I don't know if I was just expecting something different or what but we never checked with another one.

We managed to pull the day off without too many glitches. Of course, DH says I'm too controlling and he's probably right -- I would of had a hard time relinquishing control anyway since I would have wanted things done my way.

 

[Aimeedyan]

Nope, I'm too much of a control freak to turn any of the planning over to someone else =)

 

[Claire L]

Never even heard of them 6 years ago when we got married!

Claire

 

[JKanownik]

We didn't hire a wedding planner. We got married at a historical mansion and there was coordinator who worked there that made sure everything went smoothly. It was a beautiful wedding!

 

[kerrynic78]

We hired a Day of Planner who was there the day of the wedding for me and helped make sure everything ran smoothly. She was amazing and the best money I spent. My 2 friends are now using her for their weddings.

 

[Laura]

No, it was all about me me me me me. In retrospect, though, I got sick of all the planning and obsessing and would have really liked someone to just do it all for me. Fortunately, our reception hall handled most of everything on that end without having to do more than one meeting and a few e-mails from me. Plus I did have a coordinator of sorts that was attached to the ceremony site (a Victorian greenhouse). So it wasn't too bad.

 

[CapeCodTenor]

Nope. My wife is a harpist by trade, and she's been playing wedding gigs for years. She's played in just about all the main places here on the Cape and has seen all kinds of weddings, so I went with a lot of her suggestions.

 

[RangerPooh]

DH and I were married at the DLR so we had wedding coordinators who helped us plan our wedding. We met with Disney and planned the floral and food, but did our own searching and hiring for photography and DJ/bagpiper. We could have one through Disney for everything but the price would ahve been much more.

 

[KT27]

We were married at WDW and had an event manager. You can't have a Disney wedding without using them. My planner was awesome. Everything was chosen by my DH & I though.

 

[MareQ]

Not for the whole wedding - but I had a "planner" at my Reception site that helped me with that aspect (didn't have to hire her - she came "free" with the site) - tastings, final menu selections, room layout and design, table design etc. She also asked for the contacts for my Photographer and florist, Videographer, DJ etc so she could work directly with them on some things. She asked for my final guest list with seating charts and had all my place cards done too - lol. Then the day of the wedding she was "assigned" specifically to me - so once we arrived after the Church ceremony - she helped coordinate everything I had to do for the day - worked with the photographer for pictures, went and got family members for special pictures, worked with the DJ on setting up and doing the intros, special dances, made sure I got a few potty breaks in the Bridal room etc. She was pretty much within 20 feet of where I was for 6 hours straight - it was great but after about 4 hours I was getting sick of seeing her...

So I had a helper but still got to plan everything myself, pick my own vendors, pick my own flowers etc.

 

[MScott1851]

Yes, and she was worth every penny. We got married in our hometown, but lived two hours away at the time. It is very hard to work fulltime and plan an event in another place. So I didn't. All I had to do was tell her what I wanted, and it was done. My parents wrote her a check, and we just had to show up and smile on the big day. I did have to pick my own photographer, but I wanted to do that on my own.

But then again, I wasn't a Bridezilla. I was the most laid-back, "fine with me," bride ever. Nobody remembers your wedding napkin color or how many candles were in the candelabras. People just want to come and see you get married, then eat, drink and be merry.

Plus, there was no added stress on anyone the few days leading up to the wedding (i.e. getting decorations together, confirming caterers, etc.) I got food poisoning on Wednesday/Thursday before we got married on Saturday, and if I hadn't had Melissa handling everything, I would have NEVER gotten stuff done.

 

[Freyja]

Nope, I'm too much of a control freak to turn any of the planning over to someone else =)

You took the words right out of my mouth

 

[LindsayDunn228]

Yes, and she was the best decision we made. Our wedding planning was stress-free, no hassles, no phone calls, no confirmations, nothing. She took care of it all. She was a doll and I will never forget her

 

[minniecarousel]

Not for the whole wedding - but I had a "planner" at my Reception site that helped me with that aspect (didn't have to hire her - she came "free" with the site) - tastings, final menu selections, room layout and design, table design etc. She also asked for the contacts for my Photographer and florist, Videographer, DJ etc so she could work directly with them on some things. She asked for my final guest list with seating charts and had all my place cards done too - lol.

So I had a helper but still got to plan everything myself, pick my own vendors, pick my own flowers etc.

DS & FDIL have this. They are getting married at a local Country Club and are using the on-site planner. She explained that she will be there for the ceremony and the beginning of the reception, but that her staff will take over once she is satisfied that everything is going according to plan. FDIL & DS have so many "contacts and friends-of-friends" that they don't need a lot of help in finding the vendors. They're getting married on the day before Mother's Day (the florist was the FIRST thing they booked!) I'll let y'all know how it goes!

 

[Becky2005]

They're getting married on the day before Mother's Day (the florist was the FIRST thing they booked!) I'll let y'all know how it goes!

Great day for a wedding. That's when we had ours too. I think what made it funnier is my colors happened to be pink & blue -- pastels at that. I had planned a rainbow wedding but only had 2 attendants & those were the 2 colors I picked for them. I didn't even think about it being the day before Mother's day when I did all of this. I thought it was just kind of funny how it all worked as almost a tie in to the following day. The only bummer is it was 90+ that day...normally it's around 70ish in early May around here. I was none too amused since our church didn't have AC -- we were all wilting (including the flowers!). Blah! I had made it a point to have a May wedding because I didn't want sweltering heat. Then my brother goes and gets married in August of the same year -- what does he get? *MY* 70 degree weather.

 

[maraki527]

Did not use one at all. In fact dont even follow the timelines that are in wedding magazines. Book the important things first and then from there the vendors will call you when you should start picking out the details. Everything will go smoothly and you will save money

 

[DMickey28]

We used a wedding planner but we got married in a destination wedding on St. Thomas and had to coordinate with a cruise line so it was way too difficult to figure that all out on my own!!!

 

[PirateKitty]

No wedding planner for me. I'm currently planning my own wedding, and it has been stress free so far. We're keeping everything simple, so it hasn't been that bad. I have a checklist of things to do and pay off prior to the big day. I suppose if I was having more of a traditional wedding at home with a giant budget, I would hire someone to help. I just don't need all the extravagances that come with big weddings.

 

[threecrazykids]

Nope, I'm too much of a control freak to turn any of the planning over to someone else =)

I totally agree with you! Several of my friends wanted to get one and I'm all...hell I'll do it for you and you won't have to pay me. That's CRAZY. Just find a friend who is highly organized and can be responsible for making phone calls and getting everyone in their place and you've got yourself a wedding planner.