Wedding Planner Meeting

Just make sure her personality and planning style match or complement yours! She could be the perfect planner for someone very disorganized or uncertain and hard to work with for someone very together or who has a clear vision--or vice versa. Think about how you operate and ask questions that give you info about how you'll work together most effectively.

O ok. Yea we should probably get our vision together so we can communicate that effectively. I think I am more organized, but you'd think that would make her easier to work with.

I agree with MS4's comment. It is very important your personalities work well together and she understands exactly what her roll is in helping to plan your wedding. I highered a party planner at the end of January and at first meeting she seemed amazing, knew what I wanted and understood my vision so we hired her right on the spot after interviewing a few people. That was my first mistake, I should have met with her a second time to make sure we still meshed well together although it was possible that we would have still as she was still trying to sell her services. I did not have a problem with her until the florist that she was pushing me to use (I now believe she was getting a kick back) was not seeing my vision and I told her I did not want to use him and I wanted to use someone I knew. Well things went downhill from there. I ended up firing her and hiring a new one that is so amazing. She even called me yesterday to tell me that it was time to start looking at invitations. I am sorry, but that's what you are paying them for and that is what you want them to do. I would make sure that you are able to use your own vendors if you choose to, make sure that you have final say in everything and she does not over power your vision of your day at all because when it all comes down to it we all have different tastes and she needs to embrace your tastes and your visions.

Right Future Mrs. I def already told her there will be no forced vendoring (I made that word up). I am up for suggestions esp if she knows a better deal but there wont be a "use this person" things going on. But because we live out of state from our wedding I will be dependent on her heavily w/ keeping up w/ vendors. She says she have a lot of brides that are out of state that don't think they need a planner at first (only a DOC like most brides) and she says 6 months out they realize how behind they are and that they needed a planner to keep up with everything locally. I already knew, because I am not even from that city.

That's a really good list! I'm meeting with a DOC tonight, so this is helpful.

Being out of town is hard so you def need a planner I would say. I live in town and did most of the vendors myself before I hired the planner. The venue where we are getting married was able to recommend a few vendors to me for each category that they worked well with and really liked and I ended up hiring all that were recommended. I do not know if your venue has that that they can supply to your planner as other vendor options.

Your vision for the wedding is not as important for the meeting as your vision for how you expect to interact with her over the next x months. If she will do design guidance, vision comes later. We are not local and had specific needs from our potential planner... We had already picked the reception venue, didn't want to travel for meetings, didn't have time for phone calls, and really just needed advice and someone to answer my emails. We are busy professionals and wanted guidance on some vendors but the authority to direct and execute on decisions.

By communicating our needs, we ended up with a custom package and the perfect relationship for our busy lives. She proactively scheduled hair trials and cake tastings over the holidays, hammered out all of the design visits in a marathon 1 day trip home, packaged all of my FWDs into the day of guide. Told me which candles to order and gave me her address for the shipment. She Gave advise on bands, but then reviewed the contract when we went a totally different direction. We knew she could execute on vision based on her website and reviews.

Make sure personality fits and make sure expectations are aligned. Anytime you hire anyone, they can't see inside your mind. Obviously you will want to be happy with the output on the big day, but the inputs every few weeks will lead to more continuous drama if you're not aligned. If you don't think she "gets" what you need to help execute your day, try somewhere else.

Wow certainly something to think about kb. thats a huge responsibility.

I totally agree with MS4. Our planner is all about DIY, and I have not DIY'ed a thing!

I just met with one on Monday and she told me so much more than I ever thought of! I hadn't really factored a planner into my budget, but if I have to stand on the street and wash people's windshield's I'm hiring one lol. She was actually reasonably priced and knew her Sh**t. My venue is completely DIY, we have to bring everything in so I needed someone to help me with that. If your venue comes with a coordinator/planner already, you may not need it as much. I"m talking "Day of.." thought, not sure if you need the whole shabang.

Please don't judge me for my bad grammar on these threads..... "windshields" and too much capitalization when there doesn't need to be. English teachers beware I just finished grad school, that should count for something!

I wont judge MrsBest2B yeah we are pretty much piece-milling a reception so we def need one in addition to being out of state.

I can tell you that wedding planners are priceless! The thing is they help you ahead of time and have all the right contacts to help you. They know what you need before you need it. The most important thing is they make sure your day goes smoothly! When you are getting married and have guests you don't have time to figure things out if something goes wrong or someone looses a phone number or you need extra chairs etc..The wedding planner is there to take care of any snags that may occur. They have the experience to know what things might be needed or snags that can come up like I say before you do. Not to scare you or anything but if a vendor suddenly backs out of something, they've got resources to help you handle it. They are truly priceless! best wishes your doing the right thing!

I met with a couple and I could tell right away. One was really nice when we first started talking and was giving me suggestions. I told her I wasn't sure on colors and told her a few and she said No! that will look old and then I told her of 3 venues I was considering and she said have you thought of a hotel. I can get you a nice hotel that is in your budget downtown and not out in the middle of nowhere....well I live out there! She was really sweet at first but the more we talked the pushier she became and I can be a pushover so that was a no go! The other 2 I like and they were both very easy to talk to and didn't seem demanding but I just meshed with the one better so that's how I chose. You should be able to tell who you think you will get along with best and compliments your personality. Like one said I can email her all I want!

Some really great advice here! I had no idea what to ask when I met with mine. Lucky for me I found a good one and I can say our connection and energy meshed almost instantly

Make sure she has a professional back up just in case she is ill or has an emergency and is unable to make it.

What I'm learning is check the contract before you sign! Luckily FH really read the contract before we signed and now we are revising it because she had some liability language in the contract that didn't sit well.

Thanks ladies all good advice