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THE DECISION
The choice of retaining professional
consulting and coordinating services or performing your wedding planning
and production yourself is one you will want to make carefully. This
resource guides you through either course of action you decide to pursue.
Remember, your wedding can be the most
wonderful day of your life if you put it together with skill…but
only if you then are relaxed enough to really enjoy the result.
We often get a call from a bride or
her mother within a month of the wedding date when sheer panic over
the detail and complexity they thought they could handle sets in. Very
often an adequate understanding of the elements involved in the planning
of the wedding is not obtained in time to get the desired result.
THE COORDINATOR
If you choose to obtain professional
help with your wedding you should be aware of how to find the right
coordinator. Understand that churches and event facilities often have
"wedding coordinators" on site. These people do not coordinate
your entire wedding. They only manage their facility’s functions
for you. A professional wedding coordinator takes all of the
responsibilities off your shoulders.
The wedding consulting and coordinating
field is not a regulated profession like medicine, law, or accounting.
No governmental agency or mandatory industry standards committee stands
ready to verify the credentials and competence of someone claiming expertise.
The burden of selecting a qualified and effective coordinator falls
squarely on your shoulders. This is why we offer the following suggestions:
- Find a coordinator who services
the location you are considering for your wedding. This means that
the company (or person) has most likely gained knowledge of the competence
and responsibility of wedding service providers in your area.
- Determine what professional training
in wedding consulting and coordination this company’s principal
and employees have had. Remember, anyone can call herself (himself)
a wedding consultant.
- Find out how many weddings the consultant
has serviced, and how many years of experience. You don’t want
to be one of the first clients.
- Obtain a list of references and
letters of recommendation. Then call at least three or four of them
and ask whether the coordinator was everything expected. Ask also
if they felt they received value in all aspects of the wedding. (Refer
to #5 below).
- When talking to one or more of the
references for the coordinator, find out which wedding service providers
she used for her wedding, and give several of them a call. Ask them
whether they enjoy working with the coordinator. Many people calling
themselves wedding coordinators seem to have the temperament of drill
sergeants at a military boot camp. Remember, it’s your wedding
and you don’t need to work with someone who wants to make it
her (his) design or else. The coordinator’s function is to help
you make it the wedding of your dreams.
- Ask the coordinator if she (he)
receives any compensation from wedding service providers for client
referrals or for any reason. What you want is for each wedding service
provider recommended by the coordinator to depend for future recommendation
on the quality of service rendered to you.
- Find out whether the coordinator
has experience in the kind of wedding you plan to have. Has she (he)
done theme weddings or contemporary weddings as well as traditional
church ceremonies? Does she (he) have experience in your desired religious
or ethnic wedding?
- Does the coordinator have experience
in dealing with "ex"-families and "step"-families
where ill will may create strained encounters at the church or reception?
If you have relatives who fall into this category a coordinator with
skill can often smooth the waters.
- Does the coordinator’s personality
match with yours? This person must make you feel confident that your
wedding is in the very best hands.
The above gives you a nine-step checklist
for selecting a qualified wedding coordinator. Potential coordinators
to consider in your area can be obtained by calling The Association
of Bridal Consultants at (860) 355-0464 or by e-mail at office@BridalAssn.com.
The website is www.bridalassn.com.
ON YOUR
OWN
If your choice is to plan and
run your own wedding the following guide should enable you to identify
and qualify your resources, and put them together effectively. Remember,
you’ve made your decision to plan it yourself so relax, take it step
by step, and enjoy the process.
MAKE YOUR DREAM
COME TRUE
START EARLY
The first step you should take on the
road to planning your very special wedding is to start the process early.
When you decide the style and size of your event you don’t want
to find your dream-wedding site or reception facility already booked.
If you plan to have your wedding in one of the popular months, (i.e.
May thru September in Colorado) the quality locations and vendors are
often booked twelve to eighteen months in advance.
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