Wedding planner question

Did you hire her for just Day of Coordination? Or did you hire her for the entire planning process?

Hi Cydney, we hired her for the entire planning process. We don't live in the US but are getting married in Orlando, so we thought it would be better to hire a planner to make things easier =).

As a wedding planner...no matter what package a bride goes with, I try to be as available as possible to my brides. It's one thing I know is important and communication is huge. I've been a bride (see above) and I know how it feels if a vendor isn't communicating with you on something that is important (and likely one of the biggest days of your life)...so it's unsettling if a vendor (especially a very important one) doesn't get back to you right away.

Did you hire her as a DOC, or did you hire her for the entire planning process? When is your wedding day?

If you hired her as a DOC, I can understand why she's not as involved.

But, if you hired her for the entire planning process, she should respect your want to plan your wedding and help you with ideas...if anything, she needs to help calm you and make you feel like you are her only client (even though you are probably not).

I'd contact her and let her know you'd like to setup a meeting to discuss expectations and communication.

LadyGuinevere (this is also Cydney J...I'm also a wedding planner aside from being a bride) so to communicate with you as a wedding planner, I have to sign into my vendor account

It sounds to me like you need to jump on a call or skype your wedding planner. If you have hired her for the entire wedding planning process, she really needs to communicate with you better. If you don't have faith in your wedding planner, you're going to be more stressed than if you didn't have one.

When are you getting married? Has she done anything at all to help you out?

Wait, she said it was way too early to start planning? What kind snaggery is that? My wedding planner was lock step with me from the moment I retained her. She's at my side at every vendor meeting, bridal show, dress fitting, etc. She's the bad guy when I don't want to be, and she's the first person to I call when I have an idea. I don't know what I would do without her.

When are you getting married?

I would shoot her another email or contact her by phone. If you have a phone conversation, I would confirm your conversation, via email, and point out what was discussed or agreed upon. This way you have everything in writing and there are no misunderstandings.

It depends on your wedding date and what the contract says. If you are getting married more than a year from now, it probably is a tad early to begin some of the planning, notice I said planning not communication or information gathering.

If she has a specific start date in the contract that she will begin the process, you need to abide by that date.

If not, call her, email her and message her until you get can speak with her in real time and help her understand what your expectations are and how much planning and communication you were expecting. If necessary have an addendum added to the contract that specifies those items.

Just saw that the wedding is this June. To be honest she should have been on board long before now and you may want to cut your losses and figure out how to sue for breach of contract. Unless it is a super small wedding, and you have almost all of your vendors booked, you may have to start looking at alternatives for everything.

Thank you for your replies =)!!

I will give her a call today to set up a Skype meeting.

In my second e-mail to her I asked her what her planning timeline was, so that I could have an overview on when she would like to have things done etc. But unfortunately she didn't reply.

I am so afraid of coming across as a bridezilla and souring our 'relationship'.

I'll keep you updated =).

Is it June of this year as in in three months? What do you have done? If there's nothing done and your wedding is in 3 months you need to talk to her on the phone or in person to figure out what's going on. I could understand (not the not answering part) if you were a year and a half away but this close, that is NOT acceptable.

When is your weddding date? if it is this year you need to get things going and fast. alot of detail goes into weddings and i cant even imagine planning it all in a three month span.

LadyGuinevere...never be afraid to come off as a bridezilla if communication is lagging. You don't want someone to take advantage of you at the same time. You need to stand your ground...you have paid for a service, the service needs to be fulfilled.

In the beginning I thought my planner was the same way. We hired her in September for our wedding in August. So our communication was very limited, but as of the end of February she has been way more responsive w/o delaying so I figured maybe it was too early. But with your wedding being in June it is NOT too early....you should call her instead of an email and go over your contract and clear up any misunderstandings because June will be here before you know it. Good Luck!

Whoa, we hired ours in September of last year and stated talking and planning the next day.

Is she a DOC or full planner?

I have an hour long conference call with ours monthly and we email almost daily. We spent 2 jammed packed days together back in Feb meeting with all of our vendors. She has even fired a baker of us. The only time I do not hear from AnneMarie or Barbara is when they are at an event and even then she emails me in advance letting me know she will be out of the office.

If you've paid for a service then she needs to be giving you the service stated in your contract.

Regular, quality communication is the key to successful wedding planning. It is important that the bridal couple feel they are in the right hands when entrusting their wedding to any wedding planner. In your case being in another country adds to the importance of feeling comfortable that you have chosen the right fit. From the moment the planner is commissioned, they should update the client regularly to keep the couple informed of every step that is being taken. A wedding day is a very personal expression of the uniqueness of the couple and to discover this, crystal clear communication is needed. For a wedding to be celebrated in June 2012 everything should have been finalized by now and you should only be paying attention to the finer details, to make it everything you dreamed it would be!

Maybe refer back to your notes or contract as to how many meetings and when you will have them with her. When we chatted with our day of coordinator she told us before we even hired her when our meetings would be. Because we are only hiring her for a DOC. We won’t need to have any meetings with her until closer to our wedding date but if you hired your planner to do actual planning I would talk to her about expectations outlined in your contract.