Choosing Your Wedding Planner
Realising your wedding dreams is no easy task, especially when your chosen wedding venue requires lots of DIY elements. If budget allows, a wedding planner can be an invaluable resource and investment, handling various aspects of your wedding day and taking some weight off of your shoulders. They’re pros, they plan weddings day in day out, and their experience can completely transform the wedding planning process. Below, we chat through wedding planners, wedding coordinators, and why they might be a great choice for you.
What is a Wedding Planner?
Wedding planners take on the behind-the-scenes wedding duties to ensure the process is as seamless as possible. From keeping track of your budget, wedding venue and supplier sourcing and handling logistics, their duties span a large part of the wedding timeline. Wedding planners also:
Schedule and attend your supplier meetings and tastings
Track deposits and payments
Attend venue site visits
Advises on wedding etiquette and traditions
Coordinates accommodation
Creates timelines and floor plans
Some planners also provide styling services to design your dream wedding ‘look’. With their creative hats on, these wedding planners can put together the most beautiful wedding designs from your tablescapes to ceremony decor. Combining selected crockery, linens and finishing touches, even the most blank canvas venue can become a masterpiece.
Wedding planner duties can carry over to the day itself, or you can enlist the services of a wedding coordinator. Wedding coordination refers to the direction of the day itself. Some wedding planners will cover on-the-day as part of their package, but you can also book wedding coordinators for the day only. They are responsible for ensuring the smooth running of the day, by organising and liaising with your suppliers, helping with set up and keeping in touch with your best man or MD on the day.
Do I Need a Wedding Planner?
If budget allows and you have a DIY venue or marquee wedding to plan, we’d highly recommend booking in with a wedding planner or wedding coordinator. The peace of mind they bring alone is worth the investment. Wedding planners devote their entire time to planning weddings, and having someone on board who knows the ins and outs of every detail is only going to be a positive! Relying on your groomsmen, bridesmaids, maids of honour and family to bring your special day together can be a huge amount of pressure for you all; a wedding planner will take that stress away, allowing you to fully immerse yourself in your day.
My Caterer Provides an Event Manager
Some of you may think that as your chosen caterer has an event manager on the day, you might not need a wedding coordinator. Although our event managers have lots of responsibility on the day including liaising with your suppliers and time management, a wedding coordinator or planner really does bring everything together. Your catering manager will be zooming around the venue ensuring the crockery is laid up beautifully, the team are briefed on the menu and the chefs are running to time. They won’t be ensuring the right music is playing as you walk down the aisle, or whether the pens are with the guestbook! It’s these little details that can be overlooked without a planner or designated person for on-the-day coordination.
Which Wedding Planners do you Recommend?
We work with some truly wonderful wedding whizzes across lots of beautiful dry hire venues in Wiltshire and beyond. Lucy Ann Events is renowned for executing elegantly refined weddings not only in the West Country but across the globe. Sometimes you’ll find her curating a beautiful black tie look wedding in the Wiltshire countryside, and other times, you’ll find her in the Greek sunshine running wedding planning workshops!
Another fabulous wedding planner we have the joy of working with is Rebecca at Get Wed. Get Wed’s ethos is to plan relaxed and fun weddings for couples that don’t want to conform to all of the usual traditions. Rebecca and her team work at some gorgeous venues including Euridge Manor, their attention to detail is unparalleled!
Luna Rose Events, another lovely wedding planner and coordinator we’ve met along the way. Natalie coordinates all kinds of weddings from intimate restaurant weddings of 20 guests up to 100 guest marquee weddings. She’s armed with extensive knowledge in the wedding world and is a very reassuring hand to hold when planning your big day.
Finally, the hoot that is Georgina Rose! You might have seen her podcast which has seen her touring over the country this year. She recommends you think of her as your super helpful maid of honour, and she’s the queen of the little details! She’s all about styling, and is armed with tips and tricks to ensure your day goes swimmingly.
DIY Wedding Venues
We usually meet these lovely wedding planners along the way at dry hire venues or marquee venue spaces. Parish’s House is one of the most beautiful spots in Bath to host a DIY wedding, with stunning grounds and a beautiful manor house back drop. You’ll even meet peacocks and guinea fowl around the venue!
Euridge Manor allows brides and grooms to truly take the reigns when it comes to putting their stamp on the day. We’ve met some of the best planners here, and we adore seeing how each couple add a personal touch to their styling. This magical venue boasts an orangery, bright blue boat lake and surreal grotto to backdrop your top table.
Fonthill Estate is another breathtaking DIY wedding venue with an array of spaces for special days. Bake Barn is a charming stone barn with quirky architectural features that make it completely unique. This dry hire venue has capacity of 120 guests for the ceremony, and even welcomes your four legged friends. Their venue also comprises of Quarry Wood which is a stunning marquee space by a tranquil lake. The views here are jaw-dropping!
Do you feel like you know a little more about wedding planners, now? Great! Feel free to get in touch if you’d like us to make an introduction to one of our wedding planner friends or DIY wedding venues. We’d love to hear from you!