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[Exquisite Occasions]

Hi everyone,
As a Certified Wedding and Event Planner I am always interested in finding out what are the opinions of Brides when it comes to wedding planners.

Please give me your opinion...

[ER-Bride]

I am debating whether or not to hire a wedding planner for my Oct 2009 nuptials and I have found that this decision is actually based on more emotions than I previously believed! I always thought that as soon as my fiancee proposed I would immeditately get a planner to help me find the venue, caterer, church...everything. It always seemed like a wise investment of money and I was always vocal about setting aside money in the budget for a planner. Now that I am engaged and starting to really gear up for the planning I am resisting getting a planner and I realize that it is mostly becuase of the attitudes that I receive from other women! There is an attitude out there that planners are for celebrities, rich people or cluless women who can't manage to do anything for themselves. I face a lot of judgements and my own feelings of guilt about getting a planner too. I can run a company and a busy life, why can't I manage a 120 person affair? I think that as women, we really feel like we should manage everything and be able to do everything and that asking for help is a sign of weakness, but it isn't. I am intimidated when I visit the wedding planners' sites and I worry that it will cost me a lot of money, but as sad as it sounds, I am most worried about losing the respect of the diy brides and past brides that managed it all.

[Sotiny]

I agree with ER-Bride..
I was having some problem balancing the need of a planner, but I hired my friend to do it for me anyways.

The reason I ended up hiring her is because I know that I will need help on the wedding date. I've been visiting our venue couple times and whenever I am there, I saw bride+groom+their parents and family decorating the place. Sometimes, when things go well, they were having fun (but yet, they would be rushing); sometimes I saw brides and grooms getting into bad mood because of little details. My friend is going to help me that day to ensure little things like this is going to be taken care of and she is going to make decision for me if there is any. Besides, she is going to keep track of time on my BIG Day to ensure that I will have planty of time before I start rushing. She is going to be the "Bad" guy telling my guests that the bride and the groom have to leave so that I would not need to do that.
As I am working on the itinerary for the day, she is there to tell me if my mind set is realistic (i.e. am I including traveling time? Do I allow enough time for me to change? etc) And she reminds me of little things like "who is going to make the tea for the tea ceremony?" "Who is going to make breakfast? pick up lunch? or is a place booked yet for lunch?"
True that it is going to be 120+ adults affair, but they are the most 120+ people in my life. Of course, I do not want to mess anything up and still be able to focus on my groom for that day. So, I am hoping that it will be worth it... I am spending so much time working on itinerary and all kind of different lists (contact list, item drop off list, etc)

[goregema]

I have hired a wedding coordinator for my Jun09 wedding instead of a wedding planner. I guess it really depends what kind of bride you are, in terms of hiring a wedding coordinator or wedding planner. I am the kind that I know what I want and what I need and how the wedding looks like. Also I know that I need someone to help and organize my wedding day. If the bride has someone who can trust, for sure, don't need a wedding coordinator/planner. However, I would like my friends and family to be at the wedding for fun and not to be there for work. Of course, I still need someone to stand by the sign in table, since I am Chinese, we'll having a lot of cash transactions, but other than that, I believe the wedding coordinator can be there to coordinate with all the other vendors/decoration. It's at least one less thing for me to worry on the day.
In addition, it really depends what your in-laws are like. If they are controlling type of persons (like mine), I suggested the bride to hire a wedding coordinator/planner to handle the "heat" on that day, and also if you want your dream wedding to be the way you want... you can communicate with the wedding coordinator beforehand, and they cannot complain about it.