For the most part, organising our wedding was heaps of fun.
I thoroughly enjoyed the hours of essential research that allowed me to immerse myself in the online world of weddings. What a world it is! It overflows with, with… well, prettiness. I’m having a hard time tearing myself a way from it now the wedding is over, that’s for sure!
Then of course there were the girly shopping trips. Who could fail to appreciate a champagne lunch at the Designer Wedding Show or time spent in the Westfield branch of Jimmy Choo? All heavenly.
Upon reflection, even the dreaded wedding DIY was enjoyable in its own way. Sure, it’s monotonous {and perhaps a little soul destroying}, but for just over a year I had this amazing creative outlet open to me, as well as the perfect excuse to peruse Hobbycraft to my heart’s content.
However, eventually reality hit. Beyond the daydreams of twinkling fairy lights and jam jars filled with wildflowers, lies a very different realm of wedding planning. There are guest lists to compile, RSVPs to keep track of, contracts to sign, budgets to manage, suppliers to keep tabs on, venues to liaise with, timings to think about and logistics to oversee.
Suddenly, you’re throwing the biggest party of your life and none of it can be left to chance. It’s the part of wedding planning that isn’t pretty, no matter which way you look at the countless excel spreadsheets required to survive it.
It’s not just the Wedmin either. As I curated a multitude of Pinterest boards that reflected the details we wanted to include, and even as my stash of wedding paraphernalia grew at an alarming rate, I never once gave a thought as to how all this ‘stuff” was going to be transformed into something worth revealing to our guests.
If these notions were far from my mind in the early days of planning, then the thought of hiring someone to help me with these aspects of the wedding was even further. Totally absent in fact.
A chance meeting last summer changed all that. I met Jenna from Lucky Sixpence Events at the fabulous Love My Dress Soiree and, although I don’t remember much of our first dalliance with conversation thanks to the free flowing mojitos, it didn’t take long for us to bond via twitter over out mutual love of tea and porridge. Now, a shared interest in breakfast goods may not be the most appropriate foundation upon which to base the selection of a wedding supplier but, in this instance, it served me very well indeed.
At the risk of flirting with hyperbole, Jenna made our wedding what it was. She was central to the smooth running of the day and the key to keeping my sanity in tact during the final weeks of planning. There’s just something about her manner, the way she writes an email, that is so soothing, so calming. She sent spreadsheets I could never have compiled myself. She contacted suppliers on our behalf and organised them efficiently. Everyone knew when and where they needed to be, not because of me but because of Jenna. She liaised with the venue and, unlike myself, took last minute changes to the guest list in her stride. In many ways, the term ‘on the day coordination’ just doesn’t cut it, she did so much more.
Of course, there was this too…
Sure, I decorated the jam jars, picked out the candles, stamped all the luggage tags and baked the cakes, but Jenna made it happen, turned the image in my head into a reality. And she did it with such attention to detail, such style.
We could have managed without her.
Maybe. At a push.
The week leading up to the wedding would have been hell, fielding emails and phone calls on top of everything else. We’d have had to spend hours at the venue the night before setting up too, instead of sitting down to a huge family meal at our hotel, catching up with friends that had travelled miles to be there, watching our children run amok in the dining room and celebrating Mr. LA’s birthday with cake and candles.
That’s what I learnt from the experience of hiring a wedding planner. Their involvement in your day is not the indulgence. Instead, it’s the freedom their presence gives you, the freedom to enjoy every second of what the day is really all about. Friends, family, love, community, a coming together… whatever you want to call it. That’s what Jenna gave us.
Brides-to-be, have you thought about the darker side of wedding planning? Anyone booked a wedding planner to help with all, or part, of the process?
Loveaudrey xxx
I’ve written and re-written this post numerous times before publishing, for fear it sounds a little too much like a poorly written piece of PR. Truth is, Jenna is an amazing woman running a wedding planning and events company that deserves a lot of love. If my humble blog can act as a platform for promoting a small, independent, female run business, even just a teeny tiny bit, then so be it. She didn’t ask me to say any of what I’ve written here, it’s just how I feel.
Photography copyright (c) 2012 Eliza Claire
Eeeek, I wish I could afford a wedding planner. Am having to go down the route you have so eloquently described… wish me luck!
As I said, it can be done 🙂
I would delegate what you can and enlist the help of friends as much as possible. Write lots and lots of lists too. I needed them even with a wedding planner! xxx
I will definitely be heavily delegating when it comes to the execution phase! Parents and friends have been prepped that they will be needed before, during and after to help set up, ensure things are running smoothly and then the bit no one wants to do – clean up!
I’m enjoying taking my mind off boring stuff like generators and cabling with browsing etsy for hair clips for my bridesmaids 🙂
I definitely wish I could afford a wedding planner, alas I definitely know I cannot. However, I have lots of friends who have offered to help out with various tasks…however we shall see exactly how much they help out with when the time comes!! xx
Helpful friends are invaluable. I still needed plenty of them! It was lovely getting things sorted with them for the cake buffet the day before. Everyone muddled in to get cupcakes iced and traybakes sliced. It was quite a special time, I’m sure you’ll have fun! xxx
I think you’re right about the potential for a planner to actually save you money. Overall, throughout the wedding we managed to balance expensive items with cheaper things. After all, our wedding planner was setting up a lot of items we’d made ourselves at minimal cost! Reducing stress is pretty priceless too!
Thank you for the compliment. I think I’ve partially come back to reality, my head is still full of weddingness a lot of the time though! xxx
For the peace of mind and ability to know someone else knows where everyone and everything else is and should be, I think a wedding planner is a fantastic idea. My SIL did all this for ours, and however annoying her nickname for me is, I still thank her for our wedding.
It’s a tiny bit like a midwife – sure, the baby would come out anyway, but it’s nice to have someone in charge who knows what they’re doing 😉
SUCH a good analogy! Jenna was my marital midwife!!
One of the best things about having Jenna on board was that it meant my Mum, the person most likely to have taken charge otherwise, was free to just take in the day and enjoy the lead up for what it was. She still found plenty to keep herself occupied and it was by no means totally stress free, but I think it gave her a very different experience to what might have been. xxx
So happy you’ve written this post. I read it all with a smile. Jenna did a fantastic job with your wedding.
Jenna and I have exchanged lots of emails now, and you’re totally right – her mannerism in emails is totally calming. I felt a super sense of relief as soon we hired her for our on the day coordination. I’m kinda half wishing I have a wedmin breakdown and have to upgrade my package!
xx
Oh if only I had read a post like this before we began planning our wedding!! My only regret about our day was that I didn’t have a Wedding Planner – I am not sure who, how or when I thought our reception venue was going to get decorated with all the many candles I purchased or the place settings laid to my seating plan or the venue co-ordinated to my ideas but in the end it was my Mum and brother on the morning of the wedding…. which my Mum absolutely revelled in, but it meant that I didn’t get to spend the special time with her that I had hoped I would – quaffing champagne and awed by the magnitude of the day.
What a difference a great wedding planner would make to your wedding experience.
x x x
First of all congrats to the wedding couples. The arrangement of wedding is simply super. My close friend has the wedding, Planning her wedding using the wedding planner iPhone app and satisfied with the mobile application.