How do you know if you need an event planner for your wedding? Whether you are planning an outdoor wedding or an indoor one, a planner can help your vision become a reality. A planner can in fact help a couple hone in on what their vision for a wedding really is. It can also be a smart move economically - the planner knows your budget and can help you stick to it. Plus, it’s easier to have fun on your wedding day when someone else is taking care of any unexpected catastrophes.

The top five reasons for hiring an event planner are:

1. Your wedding will be stress free. Even the best-planned wedding will have challenges. The pleasure of wedding planning can go out the door when the bride and/or groom are trying to handle everything and they become overwhelmed. A professional planner will supervise all the events related to your wedding so you no longer have to be anxious about the details.

2. You will have more time for yourself. The average wedding can take over 250 hours to plan. Event planners can assist in many ways. They are exposed to numerous weddings and suppliers so they may well know the best in the local market. They can recommend and source products and suppliers in a fraction of the time it would take if you were to do it yourself.

3. Your special day will be more organized. Event planners are prepared to help you with design, financial, legal, etiquette and many more related issues. Simply put, they can assist and guide you in making informed decisions. You can depend on your planner to evaluate vendor contracts and get clarification before you sign. Your planner will also coordinate dress fittings, florists, reception venues, etc.

4. An event planner will save you money. A lot of people argue that the reason they do not hire an event planner is that it would be an extra cost on their part. What they do not know is that discounts are more likely to happen because the event planner has extensive connections with wedding vendors.

5. The decisions will still be yours. The decisions are still with the couple, even if they opt to hire an event planner. The planner will just guide, make some suggestions, and assist you in making some decisions. You will still be able to have your own style and preferences when it comes to your wedding.

While wedding organizer books can help you stay on top of things, they are no substitute for a professional wedding planner. The right wedding coordinator with the right wedding package can work miracles for your special day, while you and your loved ones relax and enjoy yourselves.

About the Author

Adam O’Connor is the owner of http://www.handheldguru.com which provides free information on handheld electronics. He is an expert in this industry and his website helps people find helps people find answers to questions like how can you compare PDA’s or what is the best pocket PC for you.

12 Months Prior To Your Wedding Day:

· Announce your wedding date
· Work out approximately how much it will cost.
· Check out Wedding Organizers if your budget allows.
· Assemble your guest list (Will they all go to the wedding
ceremony and the receptions?)
· Think about ideas and themes for your wedding
· Reserve your Ceremony location
· Select your Master of Ceremonies
· Book your Reception
· Book a Photographer and/or Videographer
· Book Caterer
· Book Florist
· Book Music (Band, DJ, etc.)
- Choose your Wedding Song
· Select and call the bridesmaids and grooms men
· Shop for a Wedding gown, bridesmaid dresses and Tux’s allowing
time for alterations and fittings
· Choose one or more stores for your Bridal Registry
· Pick your Honeymoon Location.
· Apply or update your passports, if you are going out of the
country for your ceremony and or Honeymoon

6 Months Prior To Your Wedding Day:

· Finalize the details of Wedding Ceremony and Reception
· Order/make invitations and thank you notes
· Make book and finalize your Honeymoon plans
· Book a caterer
· Choose a florest
· Order the Wedding Cake
· Finalize arrangements for transportation (ie., Limo) for the wedding day

3 To 4 Months Prior To Your Wedding Day:

· Deliver invitations
· Confirm wedding details and contracts
· Choose gifts for your Wedding party members
· Set a date for the rehearsal dinner (a day or two before the
Wedding)
· Final alterations for the Wedding Gown, bridesmaid’s dresses
and Tux’s
· Make an appointment with a Beauty Salon for day of wedding

1 Month Prior To Your Wedding Day:

- Confirm who will be doing readings at the ceremony and/or
supply them with a suggested reading
· Obtain the marriage license
· Purchase your wedding bands
· Go over the list of music with the band or DJ (and no-play ist)
· Shop for and make insurance arrangements

1 To 2 Weeks Prior To Your Wedding Day:

· Confirm the rehearsal arrangements
· Place wedding announcement in the newspapers (optional)
· Arrangements for name & address change, if any.
· Finalize details of the reception venue and the Caterer
· Pack your bags for the honeymoon
· Go over the final details of the ceremony and reception with
family,bridal party and the people with whom you delegated
wedding plan tasks

A Day Or Two Prior To Your Wedding Day:

· Get a relaxing manicure and pedicure (and if you can swing it,a massage!)
· Go to the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner.
· Supply the ushers with the final guest list and seating plan.

On the BIG DAY you should have everything in order if you have followed your plan. Relax as you get your hair and make up done. Put on your wedding dress. When you get ready to go to the church make sure you take some touch up make up assessories in your clutch and also bring along a change of clothes for your honeymoon when you leave the reception.

This really is your day, enjoy. You’ve planned it all out to the last detail and it will run smooth as silk.

Best Wishes
Janet Bagchus

You don’t need to be celebrity to have a Wedding Planner!
by CardsMadeEasy

Every woman’s dream is to meet the perfect partner and have a perfect wedding. With an average wedding costing approximately £20,000, planning a wedding now requires the professional expertise of a wedding planner. Brides and grooms are far too busy earning the money to be able to actually organize such a mega event. Hence the need for a professional wedding planner.

However, not any old event planner will do. No bride or groom is going to hand over the planning of the most important day of their life to just anybody.

Weddings are an emotional event that must be dealt with sensitively.

In addition to all the arrangements, meetings, schedules and finances to handle, there are also ruffled feathers to smooth.

The wedding planner is thus more than just a hired hand; they liaise between the bride and groom’s families. They must balance the flaring temper of the bride’s father with the unreasonable demands of the groom’s mother as well as the sensitive emotions of the bride’s mother.

If that wasn’t confusing enough, the wedding planner is often called upon to act as judge and jury on debates raging within the family itself, and has to guide them on the proper wedding etiquette.

Weddings are no longer the simple affairs they were in the past. They have become lavish events geared to celebrate the couple’s union.

Brides enjoy nothing more than the chance to plan and enjoy their fairytale wedding and spend the day being Cinderella.

Grooms who traditionally took a back seat when it came to wedding planning have now started seeing it as an opportunity to be the gracious host.

Is it any wonder then that weddings have taken on a larger than life dimension and require considerable time, effort and money to organize?

Any couple that approaches a wedding planner are looking to take away a lot of their worries away from them: a wedding planner can assist in the following ways:

- to prepare a Wedding Plan (schedule)
- step by step wedding planner list of all the tasks involved in planning a wedding
- picking the perfect wedding invitation cards
- Prepare a wedding budget
- provide advice for planning the wedding ceremony
- Selecting the wedding date
- Choosing where the wedding will take place
- Finding a wedding officiant
- Selecting wedding ceremony music
- obtaining the marriage licence
- The wedding ceremony rehearsal
- Planning the wedding reception
- Choosing the time of day
- Choosing a Theme and place
- working with the venue staff to create a fabulous
- Wedding reception activities (receiving line, speeches, first dance, bouquet toss, cake cutting, etc)
- arranging the details on the tables from name seating cards to favours and right down to cutlery placement.

On any first meeting, it is vital that the wedding planner comes across as being professional, in control and level-headed. Why not first present your business cards to them, containing all contact details, they just might keep it and hire your services.

In our busy society, an increasing number of couples need to hire a wedding planner to plan their special day.

According to the Association of Bridal Consultants, the percentage of couples using wedding planners has doubled in the past three years, from seven percent to 15 percent.

With more than 2.5 million weddings taking place in the US alone in 2006, there are more opportunities to become a wedding planner than ever before.

Whenever a couple marries someone is needed to oversee all the details to ensure the wedding is a success.

About the Author
CardsMadeEasy, The Business Cards Company

So probably by now your head is swimming, relax. With good planning you can still do it yourself!

Best Wishes,
Janet Bagchus

· Catering: Who’s the best person to handle the arrangements for the food and beverages?

· Invitations: Addressing and delivering the invitations

· Seating arrangements: creating the seating plan.

· Decorations for wedding ceremony and wedding reception including center pieces for the tables.

· Rehearsal dinners arrangements

· Pre-recorded music, a DJ or a live band of some kind.

· Gifts for the Bridesmaids and grooms men

· Gowns and tuxedos

Most of these things are involved when it comes to planning a wedding. Unless you elope or get married at City Hall by the Justice Of The Peace.

Select people who are capable of taking over some of the smaller jobs. All of these thing seem small at start, however they can quickly add up.

Once you have delegated some of the duties, you should set a specific time line in which to have the tasks completed. Work your wedding plan!

Set up regular specific appointments with the delegates to discuss their progress of thing as well, thing are not on track. This will help make sure that all thing are going smoothly.

Best Wishes,
Janet Bagchus

The first thing that needs to be considered when planning a dream wedding is the amount of time you have available for planning. Essentially, this means from when you set the date to the actual wedding date itself. This is very important since you may find that you may not have the extra available time to spend on all the wedding planning details yourself.

It might seem trivial however it really is important because it will let you know what the time limit is for each step of your wedding plan.

Typically, weddings take up to 3-4 months to prepare for and plan. How much more time is dependant on the size and budget. Do you want a small wedding? Do you want a simple wedding? Do you want a large extravagant wedding or something in between?

If you have less than a month, then your wedding plan will be relatively different. Due to the differences in the time that you are giving yourself to planning the wedding, use the best planning methods suited to your time limits.

Another important factor when planning a wedding is determining who you will be giving specific duties to. Some of this will of course depend on who is paying for what and in some instances some family and friends may offer their expertise like floral arrangements.

By differing some of the various duties to others that you trust, you will not become too overwhelmed and flustered by all the tasks involved.

Best Wishes,
Janet Bagchus