I have come over to the dark side in this DIY culture. I am a believer in wedding planners.
This is not a testament to my decline into wedding madness - it is practical. I see now why that system works! Vendors (caterers, venue, cake, flowers etc) respond to negotiation and I, as the bride-to-be, am negotiating from the weakest position. Probably the weakest position in all the business kingdom. These vendors know that I have been set up by 30 years of expectations about what a wedding should look like and they hold all the cards in giving that to me. Plus, I need them to like me, so I receive the best service. I have no power in the process.
A wedding planner, on the other hand, is able to operate with cool precision, analyze vendors by the numbers, ask for deals, and has the knowledge and experience to know what to ask for. Vendors need the wedding planner to like them so that they continue to get referrals. The couple benefits from pre-existing relationships nurtured by their planner. It is an entire ecosystem unto itself.
Maybe I should have understood this sooner. Or maybe I'm wrong. (Or I might add, in the Midwest we're not taught to negotiated and ask for what we want.) Anyone have a different experience with their wedding planner?
-Brooke
Brooke, a client of Lace/Hanky, shares her thoughts about what it is like to be engaged– the good and the bad.
Read more entries from The Engagement Story here.