The Person Behind The Wedding Planner

Wedding and event planning is very a detail-oriented — and sometimes emotionally intense — career choice. There are no industry-standard business hours, and we rarely have a free weekend. We are sometimes portrayed as glamorous in some TV shows and movies; but in reality, it’s a stressful, exhausting business with a massive payout of gratification at the very end.

Wedding planners and venue coordinators handle random texts and phone calls at all hours of the day and night. We walk a fine line between when to turn off our phones and when it’s most important not too, which is usually never.

When we’re in the middle of a wedding week, we can never be unavailable to our couples. When the wedding day arrives, we always get up at the crack of dawn, most likely not having slept well the night before with thoughts of bad weather and late vendors dancing through our thoughts. We are on site early, telling the vendors where to put things, and supervising the arrival of the rental equipment. We don’t leave until the last guest is gone and the mess is cleaned up.

We sometimes have to play the bad guy too — from harassing a rental company until they go back and get the correct chairs ordered, to enforcing whatever rules our bridal couple wants to be observed on their big day (no pics at wedding, no social media postings, no shots at the bar, etc.).

We often deal with extended friends and family having competing views of what a wedding should be like and run interference on behalf of the bridal couple to ensure their wishes are being met during the planning process. Additionally, we handle oh so graciously bloopers like a bridesmaid who forgets her dress, flower bouquets that don’t come out as expected, or a wedding cake that falls apart in the back of the bakery delivery van — these are all potential landmines that can disrupt a wedding. Everyone involved will look to us for quick thinking and action to handle problems when they arise.

There are certainly a set of required skills to look for when choosing “your person” or wedding venue. He or she must be personable and able to communicate and get along well with numerous personality types. They must be able to develop good working relationships with other professionals in the wedding planning industry, and be comfortable with a somewhat high-pressure atmosphere. A wedding planner might work for a wedding venue like we do at The Beaumont Inn or event planning company, or as an independent contractor.

A team of event coordinators and I typically help a bridal couple decide on the key details of their wedding, including ceremony location, sometimes advice on colors and theme, flowers, wedding party details, menu selection, and entertainment. As the day-of coordinators, we also handle details like coordinating different parties such as the officiating clergy, rehearsal practice and dinner afterward, limousine driver, florist shop, and bakery.

In short, as a full-service venue, we handle all day-of details, so the bridal couple can enjoy the day worry-free and live happily ever after!