Start with by downloading our rating checklist - found here. This free guide will help you and your fiance decide what is most important, and thus, where the focus of your budget should be. Your budget should be one of your first steps in the wedding planning process. Once you know what items are important to you both, you can allocate portions of your budget and figure out what is remaining.

Once you know your budget, start narrowing down dates. If you want to hire a wedding planner to help with full planning, now would be a good time, but a good planner can also jump in at any point in the planning journey.

Calculate a rough headcount of how many guests you want to invite. This number will drive many of your future decisions, and help you figure out if your budget is realistic, or if you need to make changes to your guest count and/or budget to accommodate your wishes.

Your venue will be next. You will need a firm date and location before you can lock in your other vendors. Ask yourself, “what vendors do I need?”, and “what vendors do I want?” Are they available and within your budget?

Your guest list. This is honestly the most direct way to ensure you stay on budget. Each person you add or take away from your guest list directly effects your food, beverage, dessert, rentals, table florals, seating, stationary, room block, transportation, and many more expenses. We know this isn’t an easy answer, but sticking to a firm head count cap is your best option for maintaining your budget.

Everything. It’s really that simple.

Leading up to your wedding or event, event planners help plan all of the details. How big should of a tent do you need? Round or rectangle tables? Table clothes or runners on farm house tables? Does the venue have a large enough septic capacity, or do you need a portable restroom?

On the day of your event, your event coordinator executes every detail to ensures your vision comes to life. That way, you can be the party’s host, without having to do all of the “not-fun” host duties (refilling the water station, calling tables up to the buffet, plating and serving cake, cleaning up at the end of the night, checking that the bathrooms haven’t run out of paper products, communicating timing with other vendors, finding Grandma some tissues, etc.).

You can hire a wedding planner at any point in your wedding planning journey.

If you are looking for more planning assistance, you will want to retain them early in your planning journey. If you are seeking a month-of or day-of coordinator whose focus will be more on execution, locking them in early in your planning process isn’t as necessary. However, as with many wedding vendors, keep in mind that the earlier you start looking, the more options will be available to you.

This is a great reminder that things take longer than expected on your wedding day. The rule reads “real life tasks that normally take 5 minutes will take closer to 30 minutes on your wedding day.”

Whether that is because of interruptions, extra moving parts and pieces, or the excitement of the day, we highly recommend padding a wedding day timeline with a few extra minutes here and there. Does this mean it will take you 30 minutes to put on your shoes? No, but hair and make up for the entire group might run long, or you might want a few extra pictures with a close friend or family member as you fine tune your accessories and outfit. Extra time can also be needed when moving guests between spaces. It never fails that moving into the reception space from cocktail hour will take a little extra time as quite a few people will want “one last drink” and the bar line will take a little bit to get through.

We always plan for a few places in our timelines that will absorb these unforeseen delays so that our couples do not feel stressed or rushed, and ultimately time on the dance floor does not suffer.

The short answer - no.

As when you build a house, you can try to be your own General Contractor. However, working with a professional who does this every day will decrease your stress, increase the fun, and lower the risk that you miss something that you just didn’t know. Wedding Planners also have many industry contacts and relationships made over the years. Their tried-and-true knowledge of the good, the bad, and what will be perfect for you is invaluable.

For more detail on why we think you need one, see the blog post we wrote on the topic!

https://www.theeventsisters.com/blog/hire-a-planner

We think that is awesome that your loved one wants to help create a beautiful day for you! However, we really advise that you or a close family member do not execute everything on your day. It is a guarantee that this person will NOT be able to enjoy the day. They will spend most of their time setting up, cleaning, running around, and doing everything but being present on the day. Don’t put that stress and work on someone that you want to also attend the wedding (or on yourself) because they won’t be able to do both!

You also do not want to be tasked with clean up on your wedding night or the next morning. When we say the reception and dance area will be a mess, we mean it. By hiring someone to be present at night end to pull linens, organize your decor, and clean up the reception area, you will have a much easier transition the next morning. You will be able to assess the space, gather your belongings, and do a few final tasks without stress.

Let’s schedule a call to discuss what you envision for your wedding and we can talk about how our services can best address your needs. Chipping away at things one small step at a time will greatly reduce your uneasiness and frustration.

We like to say that by the end of the planning process, we feel like we've become part of your family; and that's what we strive for! We want to form a friendship of sorts with our clients so that if decisions need to be made on your wedding day, we know what the right decision will be for YOU. We want to know who the important people in your lives are to help focus on their needs as well ("Does Nonna need a tissue or help to her table?", "Did Dad get a drink from the bar before his toast?", "Is Mom able to relax and enjoy herself?").

Furthermore, planning is a team effort for us. You will have met with your event planner several times before your big day to talk over the details and ensure that we are knowledgeable about every part of your day. Our goal is to is to execute your event as you had envisioned.

Finally, we don't just walk away after the cake is cut or dance floor is open. Our team stays until after the formal end of night so that we can help to clean up, pull linens, consolidate décor items, and often turn off lights and lock up. We never want our couples to get to the end of their wedding festivities and have to clean up or figure out how to get items out of a venue that has a hard cut off time. Thus, we are present to do this for you, allowing you to enjoy your after party or return to their accommodations for the night and relax after a long, fulfilling day.