When an engaged couple is considering hiring a wedding planner, there are several questions they ask the planner during the interview phase, but below are the five most popular questions engaged couples ask—and Preoccupied Bride’s answers.
From your past experience, what is the biggest struggle(s) couples have when planning their weddings, and how do your services help to resolve them?
One of the biggest struggles couples face when planning their weddings is managing their expectations versus reality when it comes to their wedding budget. Couples experience a lot of sticker shock when they start shopping around for venues and vendors. They have no idea what wedding services cost or why. When an engaged couple works with Preoccupied Bride, our company educates couples on the reality of wedding costs and asks deeper questions to not only find out their style, budget and wants, but also match them to quality, professional vendors according to those important elements.
What questions should I ask wedding planners I’m interviewing?
If you’re just starting interviews with wedding planners, it’s important to listen to what each one has to say, but sometimes it’s hard to know what to ask them if you’ve never done this before. Three of the most important questions you should ask a wedding planner you are thinking about hiring are:
What is and isn’t included in your wedding services?
Every planner has a list of things they will and won’t do. For example, one planner may include mailing wedding invites and managing guest RSVPs in their full planning service while another planner may not. Find out what exactly they do, and more importantly what they don’t do, in their wedding services so you know what to expect.
Do you accept commissions from venues and vendors?
Planners have different opinions on this, so it’s important to know where they stand. If a planner takes commissions from certain venues or vendors, it’s good to know that upfront as a couple. Their suggestions for who to book can still be quality and professional options, but they may be more biased or personally motivated if they’ll get a commission from a particular venue or vendor, and a planner should be honest about it.
Will you be the planner onsite on my wedding day?
If you’re working with a smaller business, the answer is most likely yes, but it doesn’t hurt to ask whether you’re working with a small or big company. Some planners may plan your event with you but have another coordinator take the lead of running your event on the actual wedding day, while other planners plan and coordinate your event from beginning to end. Make sure to find out if the person you plan with will also be the coordinator onsite on your wedding day.
If we book you, can we receive discounts through you from other vendors?
Preoccupied Bride does not take commissions from any vendors, but some of our vendor relationships will offer discounts to our couples when we refer them. It’s important to note though majority of the vendors Preoccupied Bride works with do not offer discounts. The more important value of a planner is providing professional, quality and reliable vendors that fit a couple’s style, budget and wants. Preoccupied Bride saves couples endless hours of time researching and vetting the right vendors for their specific situation because our company has a large network of vendors at all budget levels we know well and have worked with.
Do you offer any discounts for your planning services?
Preoccupied Bride is a huge believer in charging what you’re worth, so unfortunately there are no discounts we offer. Preoccupied Bride custom quotes each couple’s situation because every wedding is unique. When you work with Preoccupied Bride, you will get high-quality, organized and professional services. Between an easygoing and organized personality, tons of experience and a large network of great vendors to choose from, you won’t be disappointed. 🙂
What are the most important things we should know and consider if we don’t hire a wedding planner?
Preoccupied Bride strongly suggests hiring a wedding manager (i.e. day-of coordinator) at the very least to take care of the logistics of your wedding day, but if for some reason you don’t hire a wedding planner or manager, here are three crucial pieces of advice:
The absolute first thing you should do after getting engaged is to set an overall wedding budget (ideal spend and absolute spend) before you start planning any details of your wedding. If you don’t know where to begin, you can sign up for our newsletter here and receive our wedding budget guide that includes six factors to consider when creating a wedding budget.
The quickest and easiest way to stay within your wedding budget is to cut your guest list. This will save you more money in the long run than any other tactic.
Create a team of guests who are not immediate family members (parents, siblings, etc.) or in your wedding party to take care of wedding day responsibilities. For example, call transportation to confirm arrival and departure times, grab the card box and gifts at the end of the night, setup signage and other items for ceremony & reception, call out names for pictures after the ceremony—the list is endless! If you have close friends or relatives who are eager to help and you don’t know what jobs to give them, have them help with the logistics on the wedding day since there are A TON of smaller items that will come up that a planner usually handles.
Saturday, August 15, 2020
