Top 5 Reasons to Hire a Professional over an Amatuer Wedding Planner
In past blogs, we’ve stated “if you think it’s expensive hiring a professional, wait until you hire an amateur.” Even after over ten years in this industry, five of which were operating our own business, this still holds true, and so, we thought, that today we would give you five reasons as to why this is! Here is our Top 5 Reasons to Hire a Professional over an Amateur.
1. Time: Whether you’re hiring a planner to help plan your entire wedding or for day-of coordination, we’re there to save you time. During the wedding planning process, we’re doing all the research needed to find you the perfect vendors that suit your style, personality and wallet! When hired for day-of coordination, we’re the ones who are coordinating everything with your vendors for the last month, dealing with any last minute issues that may arise, even decorating your hall with any DIY items you bring. Can you imagine having to set up your venue before getting your hair and makeup done? An amateur won’t have the connections, or the knowhow, to get you what you need, when you need it.
2. Stress: This one’s a big one for our clients as it can be an issue dealing with family, friends, and vendors. If anything were to happen during the planning process, or on the day, your professional wedding planner will know what to do in a moment’s notice. Picture this: you’re enjoying a glass of red wine and, somehow, you get knocked, and it ends up on your dress before your ceremony. Yes, a quick google search might tell you how to solve the issue (white wine gets rid of the red tannins that stains), but while your amateur is looking to figure out how to fix it, your professional is already getting what needs to be used to fix it.
3. Money: Professionals have been networking for years, and with networking comes bonuses for our clients. For example, if hiring a professional to plan your wedding, they will have the connections to get your discounts with their vendors. It also means that they will keep you on budget, and know where to allot your funds so you get the best out of the budget you have. If hiring them for day-of coordination, they can not only make sure you get exactly what you’ve paid for, and might know of a way to save you some money in certain areas so you’re not overextending yourself last minute. For example, you may have hired a photographer for eight hours, but a family member is telling you that you need ten. Well, you can spend extra $500 for two more hours, or you can have your planner finagle the day so you get all the great photos you want without having to spend an extra penny.
4. Part Time VS Full Time: When you hire an amateur wedding planner, they’re usually doing it as a side gig, while a professional wedding planner does this full time. The difference? A professional eats, breathes, and lives wedding planning, while an amateur only does it on the weekends. A professional goes out, meets various vendors around the area, meets new venues that pops up, keeps a relationship with them going throughout the year for their clients benefits, but an amateur doesn’t have the time to do that because it isn’t what they do as a 9-to-5 job!
5. Emergencies: Sometimes, an emergency happens, and with professionals, we’ve seen it all, so emergencies don’t stress us out. We know how to fix any issue that may arise because we’ve already dealt with it, when an amateur is still new to the wedding planning world so they may not know how to fix it. Depending on the situation, an amateur might stress out even more, not knowing how to handle it, when a professional has the calmness to execute a plan flawlessly.
Of course, it’s always your decision if you want to hire an amateur over a professional, but do you really want to take the chance knowing what it could cost you in the end?