Bride Series: Guest Blogger – Krista from KJ & Co.

Hello There! I am away this week but I have promised to you and myself earlier this year that I will consistently blog 2-3 times per week. So for this week’s first post, I have invited Krista back and ask her to share her insight as a wedding planner. I visited her home studio a couple months ago which I blogged here and she has kindly agreed to give her perspective as a planner. I always ask my clients if they are planning to have a planner in their weddings or not. 50% of the time, I got asked what a planner does so I have decided to throw that question back to Krista. So without further ado, here is from Krista:

The number one thing married acquaintances say upon learning what I do is, “I wish I had a planner when I got married. I was so stressed.”

What’s the biggest cause of stress when planning a wedding? The budget.

How much money is there anyway? From whom? To spend on what? It costs WHAT?!

Every couple will have different priorities and this may skew the wedding budget significantly. For example, maybe your vineyard venue and their 5-star chef is eating up the budget. Or the guest list has quadrupled and the cost of a sit-down meal versus a cocktail reception is starting to seem overwhelming. Don’t give up and elope just yet.

A planner will present you with options to allocate your funds wisely, navigate your priorities and help you decide where best to compromise or find savings. They will also bring to light expenses you, or that pretty budget spreadsheet you found on Pinterest, have overlooked.

While we often seem like magical fairy godmothers, we are not. Not exactly. Your planner will deliver the hard truth occasionally. It’s their job to say so if your budget and your ideal wedding are unrealistic, or when a do-it-yourself project is better left to a trained professional. Never fear, after they’ve gently burst your bubble, they will provide solutions.  

While a planner can find you discounts in some cases, don’t expect them to haggle on your behalf with every single vendor. More often than not, the price is what it is. Majority of vendors try to keep their prices as reasonable as possible to begin with, in relation to their costs. Keep in mind these are businesses and everyone needs to make their living. Don’t be surprised if a potential vendor or venue is unwilling, or even offended, when asked to negotiate. Saving money on your wedding does not mean finding rock-bottom pricing for every category. Your planner makes it their business to get to know talented vendors at many price points.

In planning my own wedding, my must-have “costly” items (besides the obvious, dinner for 160) are photography and cinematography. Being such a sentimental sap, I feel that the photos and video are all we’ll have left after the big day so I was looking for vendors in this category that I absolutely loved and trusted. I also feel you get what you pay for. This is certainly an investment category, not my first recommendation to look for savings. Once photo and video were checked off the list, I was looking for a few opportunities to save. In my case we opted to serve our wedding cake for dessert instead of later on. Realizing what fabulous memories we’ll have with the photo and video, I decided a photo booth would be overkill and slashed it from the to-do list. More savings!  

There are planners and packages to suit every price-point so don’t assume they’re only for weddings with 6-figure budgets. Don’t sweat the money, get help. Most importantly, keep your eye on the prize: marrying the love of your life.