Planning Weddings is a Team Effort

Behind every amazing wedding, there's probably an amazing wedding planner. I found this the case when my wife-to-be and I were putting together our journey to the altar. Now I have to admit that prior to getting hitched, I had never really been the type of person who hired event coordinators or planners even for corporate events. I just didn't believe I needed a specialist to make my life work. Oh yeah, sure, there was a housecleaner every now and then, but I was the type that cut my own grass, changed my own oil, and worked out without the benefit of a personal trainer yelling in my face. However, when I got a sense of the unchartered wedding waters we were getting into, it didn't take much nudging from my fiancé to hire a wedding coordinator--and this, by far, turned out to be the smartest decision of my life... well, besides marrying my wife. The wedding planner, Helena, walked in our door and immediately impressed us with her knowledge of how to coordinate a wedding celebration that would be special and unique to our wants and needs. She explained that a true event planner is like a management consultant. It is her job to deliver a complete wedding concept based on an analysis of the bride and groom--who they are, their ideals, their self-images--so that the nuptial experience reflects the soon-to-be married couple and is a once in a lifetime special occasion. After our preliminary discussions, Helena set up dates and times to meet the potential wedding vendors--the photographer, the cake maker, the deejay, and the caterer. I look back at the experience and realize how much time and effort was saved on our part by not having to search and book the vendors. This is a BIG advantage during a time when things like seating charts, who gets invited, and wedding vows dominate your every minute of the day. The first photographer our wedding planner brought by was late and had forgotten some of his sample portfolios. Easy decision: We pass. The second photographer was on time, had everything in order, and had a collection of black and white altar photos that just oozed wedding day emotion. And just that quick we had found our photographer. The deejay picking was not as easy. The best way to get a feel for these vendors is to actually experience their work. After a couple of weeks of dropping in on other people's special events and weddings, we were a bit ragged. But we persevered and on the third weekend we found a deejay who had a personality beyond the glitz. He was fun to talk to and we immediately felt at ease with his music and his style. (Thanks for hanging in there with us, Helena.) The next notch on the wedding coordinator's vendors-to-pick list was the cake maker. In an afternoon we dropped by Helena's top three picks--a fun, five hours of cakes, icing, and the smell of yummy baked goods. Although every cake creation we looked at was amazing unto itself, the man behind the batter who impressed us was Jean-Paul, an innately endearing full-time chef who walked us through his loft/bakery as if we had just put a down payment on the place. Jean-Paul cleared off a table beside a stack of sugar flower cake toppers that went from floor to ceiling and we began our "perfect wedding cake" search. I was blown away by the creativity that went into wedding cakes these days. Forget the white, round, tiered edifices that you've seen on every TV sitcom. Jean-Paul made unique wedding cakes that looked like busts of the bride and groom, cakes that resembled English castles, and even a cake that looked like a set of designer luggage. This was our man. Beyond the creativity, we felt we had met a kindred spirit. He was a person who cared more about the personal connection than the business deal. In the end, we realized that not only was a wedding planner worth her weight in gold, but her patient guidance helped us find wedding vendors who represented what we wanted in ourselves. We wanted to be clever and sharp and resilient like Helena. We wanted to be organized with a hip edge like our photographer. We wanted to be different and push-the-envelope of weddings a bit like our cake maker, Jean Paul. All in all, our wedding was a wonderful and amazing day. We exchanged vows and committed, with love, to living and sharing our lives with each other. We danced and partied with our friends. We laughed and hugged with our family. And, most of all, there was not one moment that we wished we had done differently. Thanks, Helena. And a tip of the hat to all those wedding planners and event coordinators out there who will help the brides and grooms of tomorrow.