The Importance of a Wedding Planner and How They Can Make Your Wedding Day Stress Free

What does a wedding planner do, exactly? What do they help with, and most importantly, how can they make your wedding day go as smoothly as possible?  

To some, a wedding planner may seem like an unnecessary expense. To others, a wedding planner may be a non-negotiable hire. It all depends on what you are looking for and how you want to experience your wedding journey, including how lavish (or not) of a wedding you would like to have. 

At the most basic level, wedding planners assist couples in the planning and executing of their wedding day, helping draw up a budget that works for them, finding and hiring vendors, and overseeing every detail of the big day. 

Whether you decide to go the wedding planner route or not, I thought it would be helpful to provide insight as to what specifically a wedding planner can help you with, including tips from an industry expert. 

Duties of a Wedding Planner 

• Budget management: Helping clients create and stick to a budget that works for them is a wedding planner’s number one job, as it will dictate all details of the wedding day. 
• Venue selection: A wedding planner will recommend and secure a suitable venue for a couple based on the couple’s taste, style and, of course, budget. 
• Vendor selection: Suggesting and coordinating with vendors like photographers, musicians, florists and caterers, a wedding planner will pair a couple with the vendor best suited to their vision. 
• Guest coordination: A wedding planner may manage invitations, RSVPs and any guest other accommodations. 
• Timeline planning: As most (if not all) wedding planners are excellent organizers, they will create a detailed schedule with a couple for the ceremony and reception, and perhaps even the rehearsal dinner, if that is part of their contract. 

Dana Watts, founder and owner of Thyme & Details, explains wedding planning is about alleviating as much stress as possible for the couple. “There are a lot of emotions involved and a lot of family dynamics involved,” she says. “Having a wedding planner allows the couple to be more present and enjoy the presence of their friends and family.” 

Incorporating a wedding planner into your budget is about setting realistic expectations, she tells me. “In a way, we’re therapists helping couples navigate the issues they run into,” Watts says. The point is to take the pressure off the couple so they can fully enjoy this day they have been dreaming about for years. 

“Helping a couple fully understand their vision is a huge part of the wedding planning process,” Watts adds. “What do they do for fun? What is their style? What is their story?”  

This means finding a venue that meets a couple’s needs—such as capacity, style and budget—and keeping track of rental orders and invitations. “It’s about understanding a client’s foray of styles and personalities, developing trust and connecting couples to the right teams of people,” Watts adds. 

While every wedding planner is different, typically what is important to the couple matches what is important to the wedding planner. In Watts’ case, this is a commitment to sustainability, never letting flowers go into the trash and even cutting a vendor if it doesn’t make economical sense. 

Thyme & Details partners with organizations like Stems for Seniors, which works with brides in the Columbus area to repurpose their wedding flowers into bouquets to be delivered to assisted living facilities, as well as Food Rescue Columbus, which sends volunteers to grab any leftover food from wedding receptions (that is safe to consume) and then delivers that food directly to local social service agencies that feed the food insecure. 

“It’s about being efficient and helpful,” Watts says of her sustainable business model. “Having sustainability at the top of your mind shows people how we can do better.”