What to expect after you get your planner

[connorlevismom]

So we got our planner yesterday (and I am a little worried because I cannot find ANYTHING on her) and then I got 2 emails from her assistant today. One has the information they want you to fill out and send back to them at least 2 weeks before your planning session, and the other has menu's.

I guess I was assuming that I would get to talk to my planner about what it was we were looking to do. I want to TALK to someone about what my vision is, what kind of food I want and get ideas from them about decor. Do I really need to wait for my planning session for this? It seems they would want more information from me ahead of time to find out what exactly we are looking for and have ideas ready for me when I get there.

I looked over the form and a lot of it is stuff I don't even care about. We are doing a vow renewal so our ceremony is going to be VERY short and sweet with no hopla at all. I care more about the welcome party, brunch and dinner/dessert party but it does not really ask much about those.

So can anyone calm my nerves a bit and tell me that I will get to go over things with my planner before this planning session?

 

[SusieQ79]

Honestly, I didn't discuss any of it with my planner until we went in person. I knew we'd cover it all at that time and wasn't concerned - they took a lot of notes, and they really had me think a lot about stuff I never would have if weren't talking through it. I didn't feel there was anything that would have been done or handled any better by emailing back and forth.

I personally felt the in-person time block was also very beneficial because they had literally thousands of photos to show me of things they had done that matched what I was describing. It wasn't in their full inbox or anything, it was a huge block of time they set aside just for us, distraction-free. Maybe it's me, but I found that immensely more beneficial than trying to communicate in random emails.

 

[connorlevismom]

It just seems strange to me, because my consultant emailed me a lot and she knows a ton about what we are looking for.

I am just hoping this planner thinks outside the box and can plan some really cool events. I don't want something that looks like something someone else just had. Know what I mean?

 

[sambycat]

I thought like you did and there is nothing weird about thinking that, but the DFTW wedding machine kinda doesn't run that way. Some planners do things a bit different but do NOT be worried as once you get to planning session time, that's when you get a little more "vision-y". It's difficult to try and plan and not have a budget, or firm price list or pictures but that's what we and the passporters guide are here for!! It will get done but it is odd. Hang in!O

 

[connorlevismom]

I thought like you did and there is nothing weird about thinking that, but the DFTW wedding machine kinda doesn't run that way. Some planners do things a bit different but do NOT be worried as once you get to planning session time, that's when you get a little more "vision-y". It's difficult to try and plan and not have a budget, or firm price list or pictures but that's what we and the passporters guide are here for!! It will get done but it is odd. Hang in!O

Thanks. I know I am kreaing out over nothing and I know it will be great. I just hope that my consultant passed on my information to the planner so she at least gets what we are looking for. I REALLY wish we could just keep her. I LOVED our consultant.

 

[SusieQ79]

I will say they did a great job of customizing so it didn't feel like a replica of a million other things they'd done. For example, we had NO IDEA what we wanted for a cake, aside from a mad hatter version. They showed us different kinds and helped us figure out the pieces we loved, and in the end, they created a custom cake based on that.

They were like that with a lot of stuff. I could say stuff that I liked, and they were paying attention to other things I'd mentioned, so they'd try and suggest things that combined the two.

Of course, there are a list of questions they always ask everyone, which is to be expected (Do you want Cindy's carriage, do you want Domo, do you want characters, etc).

Samby is right, they're not like a traditional wedding planner that you hire. They're bsaically event coordinators and they make sure it all goes off without a hitch, but it's not like hiring a "normal" wedding planner with all the personal attention that would probably go with it. In that vein, also know they all get assigned a lot of weddings, and the "attention" for me didn't start until the planning session I had in Sept. Since then, I've exchanged a few emails with them and they're way more specific than they would have been before since I'm about 4 months out. The email response time can lag, I find it's usually 2-3 days, but they always do respond.

HTH!

 

[connorlevismom]

OK - I am much better now, I got some lunch.

I am really happy so far with my planner and her assistant so I am really excited to get planning!

Kristine