Once upon a time, the concept of having your wedding professionally planned was believed to be the sole province of the wealthy. "Sure, it would be nice," thought many a stressed out bride, "but we can't afford to hire a professional!"
As is the case with many "Once upon a time" stories, this one used to be true. However, it's not so true any longer. Besides, there are two basic questions than any engaged couple needs to ask themselves when discussing the concept of hiring a professional planner:
1) Are we prepared to take on the stress of planning the most important day of our lives?
2) Are we willing to admit that our special day doesn't deserve the expertise of a professional, even though it will be more expensive?
Ultimately, if the answer to either of these questions is "no" then it really makes sense to look into the possibility of having a professional wedding planner take over. By the way, in case you're keeping score at home, for most people the answer two both questions should be "no."
It's amazing how many people dismiss the concept of hiring a wedding planner out of hand, without even looking into the costs. Those couples who do actually explore the concept are often pleasantly surprised by the actual cost of having their event professionally planned.
Regardless, though, it's still extra money. So what does a wedding planner do, exactly, to earn the money you're shelling out? Probably more than you've taken into consideration.
First, the intangible items: the stress reduction for the couple. Far too often, the happy couple doesn't get the chance to ever be the "happy couple" because they are franticly concerned about the success of their day. While a wedding is certainly about the two people being wed, the planning of the event is also about the enjoyment of the guests. When the couple tries to juggle those two concepts, too often they end up lost in the shuffle.
Now, let's talk about tangible items. A good wedding planner has connections that the average couple simply can't match. We're talking here about caterers, photographers, musicians and the myriad of other professionals who end up involved. Sometimes these relationships equal a lower cost but sometimes, and equally important, these relationships provide the planner with knowledge about who is the best, who is acceptable and who should be avoided at all costs. For a couple, they're often throwing darts blindfolded.
A good wedding planner also has the experience to anticipate, and compensate, for potential emergencies and disasters. Hopefully, this is the first and only wedding that the couple will ever plan; thus, they are open to every beginner's mistake in the book. Luckily, a planner got to make his or her beginning mistakes on somebody else's wedding!
You may not like to look at it this way, but if your day is really so "special" then doesn't it deserve the tender loving care that only a wedding planner can provide?