Written By Michael S. Willms

One of my favorite topics is, "Should I hire a wedding planner and why? After all, my mother and her mom did mom's wedding and everything came out just fine!"

My parents were married 53 years ago. They had cake and punch at my maternal grandmother's house in Princeton, Illinois and they looked radiant in the photos I have from the Big Day. I'm sure Grandma made the cake and sweets from scratch...I'm having trouble writing as I'm tearing up just thinking about it...so precious and so sweet! If you are having a small reception in the same location or one close to the ceremony, it is very possible that you and your family can handle everything along with the church or temple coordinator. But, if you are planning to spend upwards of $25,000.00, get a veteran wedding planner on your side! Not only is peace of mind worth some bucks, but a seasoned wedding planner can help ensure your budget is maintained, and help you avoid making financially-costly mistakes! 

One of the best analogies I can give regarding not having a wedding planner, given my dad is a surgeon, is opening up your own abdomen to do surgery, and then having second thoughts as you nick an artery, and then wanting to reach out for help. Little late I'd say.

I urge you to avoid learning after the fact, because once you’ve had your wedding and you’ve gone through the experience to learn what it is all about, then you’ll know why having an expert on your side is needed.  

Today, I compare weddings to a movie production, but with only a onetime run through. All I can say for weddings without planners is the professionals hired better get it right and the photographer better catch it perfect on camera because if not, we may have Bridezilla comin' out and eating us all alive. Give me some humor here! But seriously, in a large production, there is always the need for a "go to" person to arrange everything and keep the show under control during execution.

From my initial "What I Do First?" list, there are 54 entries of pre-wedding things I count on needing to be done, not to mention any extraneous items from each person's needs...and these are just the pre-wedding details, now imagine it is the week of your wedding. Your family starts to arrive from Sunday to Tuesday; everything begins to be turned upside down. You have all kinds of last minute things you want to do and now most certainly, you don’t have the time as your family and friends want you to go to Universal City Walk, or whatever diversion is comparable in your town.

Most of the brides I work with are not available during the time the vendors are operating their business making it even more challenging for communications. Plus many vendors are occupied with several events at a time, which the event that is fastest approaching usually takes the focus making it difficult and time consuming to get the vendor to respond. A dedicated planner is persistent to get the answers you need and distribute information that is pertinent, confirming the vendor understands it clearly.

Where the real action is, is on the day of the wedding. This is when it’s truly action-packed as far as details. For most weddings, set up begins before makeup; leaving vendors with the need of a point person to fine tune what is live and happening. Most of my time during the last two weeks of wedding planning is spent refining time line adjustments for vendor time in/out, confirming time for highlights (like cake cutting), etc. as there are always last minute changes once everything plays out.

Along with all of what I’ve just shared, imagine the bride being a consummate hostess with a smile plus having to handle the RSVP management, wedding rehearsal execution, guest list management, guest's umpteen million questions that roll in all day long, transportation organization, amenity distribution.... I’d say that a mad woman would be an easier role for a bride left alone! But when you have someone you can trust working on your behalf, available to call, text and email like a maniac to get what needs to get done done, you have the comfort to actually relax, and enjoy your wedding day.

 MSW Event & Design