Your Planning Team. How to pick the right Wedding Planner (Part 1).

1. “Personality goes a long way, especially for the length of time you will be working with them.”
2. “Check out what their past couples have to say about them”
3. “Ensure the planner fits your overall wedding vision and budget.”
4. “Nobody is perfect. But the most important thing is that you feel safe and confident when working with your potential wedding planner.”
5. “It is good to know and ask how they handle the last-minute emergencies on the day.”

We’ve collected expert tips from fellow wedding and event industry professionals to help newlyweds-to-be on how to pick the right wedding planner.

LISA JANINE EVENTS

1. “Personality goes a long way, especially for the length of time you will be working with them.”

Throughout Lisa’s at the Hospital for Sick Children and her involvement with medical conferences and workshops, she developed a keen interest in Event Planning, leading her to complete the Event and Meeting Management program at George Brown College. 

LJ Events is a day of coordination service created to ensure your event
is stress-free and executed as planned and in the most affordable fashion.

EXPERT ADVICE:

“When picking a Wedding Planner for your special day, it is important to find someone that you feel you can trust, be open and forthcoming with and that they have your best interest at heart.

When doing your research, it’s beneficial to have a sit-down coffee meeting or conversation with your potential planner; this will allow you to get a good feeling of whether they are a proper fit for you as a couple.

Personality goes a long way, especially for the length of time you will be working with them.“

– Lisa Abreu, Lisa Janine Events, @lisajanineevents

NARELLE JANINE EVENTS

2. “Check out what their past couples have to say about them”

Narelle Janine Events is a full-service event planning & design company specializing in creating a fresh, whimsical, and elevated design concept for their clients’ event/s.

They take on a select number of events per year to ensure each client and their guests are presented with the utmost attention to detail.

The level of hospitality and professionalism + individual requirements are met. They bring forth an elevated design concept to manifest and exceed their clients’ vision.

For them, a beautifully designed event doesn’t just happen; it is perfectly curated – with 7+ years in the hospitality industry, planning + designing weddings, social events, and corporate events.

EXPERT ADVICE:

“Wedding Planning is overwhelming, and without a doubt hiring a wedding planner is one of the best investments you will make through this process. So how do you choose the right one for you?

We’ve listed a few items below on how to choose the right planner for you!

Before even inquiring – I would suggest going on their Instagram/ other social media platforms – does their work, style and overall visual aesthetic resonate with your style as a couple? 

Go on their website; their website will additionally give you an overall vibe of their brand. Learn more about your planner, check out the services they offer, the past weddings they’ve planned, and most significantly, their reviews – check out what their past couples have to say about them. 

After you’ve seen their social media & website and you think they would be a great fit to be your planner – reach out to them and ask them more about their services and get on a Zoom call or phone call with them.

Let them know more about your wedding, your guest count, items you absolutely want at your wedding, your budget and they will direct you towards the best package for you. 

Some key questions to ask your planner are:

• what services they have offer and what would service would best fit you as a couple
• how payments will be handled towards other vendors
• how email correspondence will work with other vendors.”

– Narelle Allen of Narelle Janine Events

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ELENA SIAVELIS

3. “Ensure the planner fits your overall wedding vision and budget.”

Events By Elena is a full-service wedding and event planning company based in Toronto. They plan and create chic and stylish weddings and events for clients looking for a unique and unforgettable event experience.

They listen to their clients’ vision and get to know them to meticulously plan every event detail, from concept design to venue selection to the day of event production and coordination. 

​With over 10 years of hospitality and events experience, they deliver a first-class service and round the clock availability to all their clients.

Committed to being passionate about creating ‘WOW’ events for all their clients and want their planning experience to be fun, exciting, and stress-free.

The team at Events by Elena works tirelessly to create a beautiful and thoughtful experience their clients and their clients’ guests will discuss for years to come.

EXPERT ADVICE:

“Do you research by checking the company website, business Instagram page, and reviews from clients.

Once you have done all those steps, schedule a zoom meeting and ensure the planner is the best fit for you in terms of your personality, the overall vision for your wedding, and budget” 

– Elena Siavelis – Owner and Creative Director, Events By Elena

AMY A. PEPPERMINT&CO.

4. “Nobody is perfect. But the most important thing is that you feel safe and confident when working with your potential wedding planner.”

Amy A. is the Logistics Lead & Associate Planner at Peppermint & Co. Event Consultants.

With her 8+ experience in event planning and on the catering side, together with the logistics team, she shares her tips on how to pick the right wedding caterer and things that you should ask/discuss/go-over with your potential wedding planner.

EXPERT ADVICE:

Make sure to meet and greet your planners (not just the lead, but also the assistant and the rest of the team if possible!), ensure there is a vibe or a connection, you will be working with this person for the most important day of your life.

Understand their commitments and rate, some planners do half-day, full-day, or 6 weeks leading up to the wedding. Make sure you understand what you want.

This is probably the closest and longest relationship you will have with a wedding vendor. Like any relationship, both parties should be able to work on some differences.

No matter how great the “chemistry” is, there will be discussions that will need some firmness and boldness.

A great question and discussion is, “How do we go over disagreements and solve sensitive problems?”

The answer to this question will reveal a problem-solving, collaboration, empathy, and understanding process that a wedding professional practice.

Nobody is perfect. But the most important thing is that you feel “safe” and “confident” when working with your potential wedding planner.

Another good question to ask for their “response hours,” meaning what the usual turnaround time in terms of correspondence is. This will also help you have an expectation and avoid any confusion in the future.

If you are working full time and have a 9 am-5 pm schedule, and your wedding planner’s office hours are also 9 am-5 pm, does this mean you are most likely to only have conversations over the weekend?

Great wedding planners are usually flexible as long as you book a call in advance so they can plan around your availability. But having this conversation from the get-go will help you understand your dynamics with your future wedding planner.

– Amy. A & the logistics team | Lead Logistics & Associate Planner at Peppermint & Co. Event Consultants

HANA J. PEPPERMINT&CO.

5. “It is good to know and ask how they handle the last-minute emergencies on the day.”

With over 5 years of experience in events across the Americas and Europe, Hana J. understands that the secret to the best events is about meticulous preparation and the management of the unexpected. As well as adding that touch of creative sparkle!

Hana J. is a resident Event Planner and Coordinator at Peppermint & Co. Ltd. Event Consultants. Together with the planning team, she shares her tips on how to pick the right wedding caterer and things that you should ask/discuss/go-over with your potential wedding planner.

EXPERT ADVICE:

Hiring a wedding planner might be one of the best decision in the lead up to your big day. Not all wedding planners are the same.

It is essential to know what each wedding planner has to offer and finding the right wedding planner means to do the research.

A good wedding planner is a fantastic communicator, organizer and delegator.

They can help you with the day coordination or full wedding planning. It is good to know how they handle the last-minute emergencies on the day or if they offer styling assistance before you make your final decision. 

When you sit down for a consultation, ask about previous weddings they have planned.

How they speak about their past clients will show how they could form a great relationship and honestly care for the events and weddings they take on.

Ask what platform/s they use for their planning. This will also give you an idea of the organizational structure they have. Again, you can go online after the consultation and explore the platform they use, see if it is easy to learn and manage.

– Hana J. & the planning team | Event Planner and Coordinator at Peppermint & Co. Event Consultants

There you are! How to pick the right Wedding Planner. (Part 1)!

Stay tuned for How to pick the right Wedding Planner. (Part 2)!