Common Questions
Why should we invest in a Wedding Planner?
Think of wedding planners as wedding day insurance. It is one of the most valuable investments you can make for your wedding day. Hiring a planner will give you peace of mind that the substantial amount of time and money that you will spend on your wedding will all be worth it and handled by a seasoned professional who knows all of the in's and out's of weddings that most don't.
Wedding planners not only take a burden off the bride and groom on wedding day, but they also free up the parents. You and your parents are going to be pulled in a million directions seeing loved ones that you may have not seen in a long time....everyone just wants a piece of you on your wedding day. We want you all to be able to visit and enjoy yourselves instead of solving problems like finding a missing cake knife.
What is one of the biggest differences between your planning packages?
This biggest difference is you! No matter the level of planning you choose, you must still take an active role in the planning process but the service package will depend on the amount of time you have to devote to it. There are so many moving parts to the planning process and it can be incredibly time consuming but some couples simply don't know how or don't have that kind of time. This is where a wedding planner can be essential to the success of your wedding day.
Why are your prices not on your website and what should we expect to invest in planning services?
This is somewhat of a loaded question but here are the primary reasons!
​
1. Every couples needs are different and every wedding is different so we prefer to do a consultation with you in order to get more insight about you, your wedding and your availability so we can recommend the level of service to best suit your needs.
​
2. As in any industry, the ever changing costs of running a business determine pricing. We are proud that our pricing doesn't change often but on occasion it becomes necessary.
​
3. Planning & Coordination services are not an area you want to skimp on. Your wedding day literally depends on great planning & execution! Depending on the service level best suited for your needs, you can expect to budget a minimum of $3000 for planning/coordination services.
​
Why do you need to know how much I plan to invest in my wedding?
Weddings are more of an investment than most couples realize! One of the most common things we see is couples camping out on Pinterest and then experiencing "sticker shock" when they find out what things actually cost. Most of our clients invest approx. $40-$50k in their wedding, which is the average cost for a standard wedding of 100-150 guests in North Alabama. What you are prepared to invest in your wedding has no bearing on our planning fees but has everything to do with us determining if your guest count and vision are realistic and achievable, within your budget. Weddings on a limited budget present a very unique set of challenges that are not within our control and this is where many couples face feelings of unmet expectations - something we want to avoid.
It's important that you are honest and up front with your budget so that we are not at a disadvantage before even starting the relationship as your planners!
​
Are there additional wedding planner fees that we should prepare for?
Typically no, but there could be! Things you should expect to pay additional fees for would be:
-
Travel Fees - if your wedding is outside of our base location (Huntsville, Madison County AL)
-
Additional Coordinator Fee - depending on logistical layout of your venue or if you have a large guest count
-
Set Up Fees - if you have elements outside of a few simple things like your guest book or table numbers that need to be set up. Such as placing linens, decorating, table & chair moving etc and you don't have vendors that are responsible for these
-
Clean Up Fees - if you don't have vendors or volunteers to handle cleaning up and taking out the last of the trash after the party is over
When it comes to set up & clean up, never assume what your vendors will or won't do. This is why having a planner to help you catch and prepare for these kinds of things can be vital!
Are you only available for a certain number of hours on our wedding day?
Heck no! You are not booking us by the hour but to be there to make sure your day is perfect and that isn't something that can always be limited within a certain timeframe. Depending on your timeline and the flow of your event, we are frequently one of the first to arrive and one of the last to leave,
Will you set everything up on my wedding day and clean up at the end of the night?
Short answer - No. While we are happy to set up a few of your placement ready details like your guest book, signs, photos or favors on your wedding day, our focus must remain on our actual responsibilities of ensuring everything is running smoothly so you can be relaxed and enjoy your day. For that reason, we align our couples with professional vendors that minimize the need for the client to provide family or friends to perform other wedding day tasks.
What if we want to DIY the decor or have family serve as our vendor team?
DIY has it's place but not at a wedding. It rarely goes to plan and those friends that were going to help set it all up suddenly remember they still have to get ready for your wedding...guess who they think they can dump it on? The wedding planner!
For this reason, we simply cannot take on DIY weddings. Having a vendor team made of of family & friends is also something we never ever recommend. There is too much risk for conflict and it almost always ends up being a much larger undertaking than they (or you) anticipated...and your wedding day suffers for it.
Do you only work with specific vendors?
We are willing to work with any vendor that serves our clients well. We provide every client with access to our extensive vendor list as well.
Note: We have trusted vendors that we recommend to clients based on our experiences working with them. Unlike some planners, we DO NOT charge vendors to be on our vendor list. There are many on our list that we have never worked with before but our "trusted" vendors have earned it...not paid for our trust.
Wedding planners are so expensive! Why shouldn't I just book someone who is cheap, use my venues coordinator or use one of my vendors?
Planning & Coordination services are not an area you want to skimp on. Your wedding day literally depends on great planning & execution! In general, wedding planners base their pricing on their experience and the work they produce. We are thankful that our tremendous success has enabled us to maintain our company as a full time operation that is 100% dedicated to our clients, 100% of the time! This is not something we do as a side hustle on top of a full time job and this is not our "hobby". While you can certainly book the cheapest planner you can find, be open to accepting the risks with hiring someone who is less experienced.
​
Venue Coordinators: The reality is in their title. They are looking out for the best interest of the venue, not the clients. A venue coordinator is not going to get on regular planning calls with you, request quotes from vendors, review contracts for you or advocate on your behalf. Most will offer their standard list of vendors that they give to every couple that books the venue and they will be there off-and-on for wedding day to make sure no one has burned the place down.
​
Vendors dba Wedding Planners: Some vendors "dabble" in wedding planning to supplement their income. (watch out for those!) Would you trust a car salesman to work on your cars engine, just because he works in the automotive industry? Of course not!
Secondly, your vendors don't want to be a wedding planner...remember that you are paying them for the specific product or service you booked them for, they are not being paid to be your wedding planner and it simply isn't their responsibility to act as one.
​
We will never beg, bargain, offer discounts or chase clients just to book us. Simply put, we understand that just as we are not a good fit for every client, every client may not be a good fit for us.
A WEDDING IS A SYMPHONY...
You are the composer and we are the conductor.
The wedding vendors are the orchestra and the guests are the audience.
At the end of the night, the guests should be left with an overwhelming feeling that they have just witnessed a masterpiece.
Every part of the composition is important but the most pivotal elements of any performance are the tempo and volume of each piece.
The person in control of the ebb and flow of every song, the individual to whom every section looks to for the dynamics...is the person that can make your wedding a showpiece.
This person is your Wedding Planner
At The Event Planner we have created a fantastic orchestral community led by our skillful conductors.
As your Certified Wedding Planners, we will take your vision...the sonata that you may have spent years composing and bring it to life through the connection we have with the brass, woodwinds, percussion and strings that make up our own Carnegie Hall ready orchestra of preferred vendors.
Are you ready to compose your own unforgettable symphony?