Why you need to hire a wedding coordinator/planner.
Updated: Aug 20, 2020
image via @lexflemingphoto
You're savvy, clever, organised. Of course. Sure. I was exactly the same. A total control freak who found it bloody hard to admit when I needed help. The budget was tight, our folks weren’t able to help us and I wanted every penny to be carefully spent. I wish I knew then what I know now…
My other half and I got engaged in Dubrovnik (our fave holiday destination and one of the most romantic cities on the planet), and for us, it was a no-brainer to tie the knot there with 50 of our nearest and dearest (aka the party crew).
We booked everything ourselves which went pretty smoothly at first. We flew out 3 weeks before the D day to check on everything and sort out the loose ends, but if I’m being honest, mostly to get a pre-wedding tan. But, our pre-wedding relaxing holiday turned into a stressful sweaty hell. How naive were we...
First, there was a problem with our paperwork (the bureaucracy in my homeland is a pain in the neck!). We ended up running around the town from one office to another in 35-degree heat on a daily basis managing to sort out very little. I’m not even going to go into the rest of the malarkey we had to deal with - like some guests missing their flight and the best man splitting up with his girlfriend the day before he was due to arrive! Needless to say, we had very little tanning opportunities and plenty of teary arguments.
On the actual wedding day:
I had to get up at 6 am (after not sleeping much for being excited/nervous) to make sure everyone and everything was running on time. I had to meet the friar to open up the monastery garden where we were holding our ceremony. The perfect ceremony spot was around an ancient wishing well - which we found locked up. The friar was only an hour late and didn’t have the key for the well lock nor knew where to find it.
The florist thought that (I was obsessed with everything Viv Westwood at the time) she would surprise me and include white feathers in all the flower arrangements, including my bouquet (seriously it looked like she’d killed a chicken and stuffed it amongst the flowers!).
I foolishly didn’t check on the wedding cake (ran out of time) and hated the decoration. We couldn't cut it fast enough!
The reception venue didn’t have the sufficient PA system they originally promised, so my poor DJ pal had to run to one of the restaurant's waiters' houses to get what he needed.
By the time I was walking down the aisle with my dad, to the string quartet playing Des'ree’s “I’m kissing you”(it was 15 years ago), I couldn’t hold back the stress and emotions and bawled my eyes out. Which made me look like Alice Cooper (look him up, he's frightening) rather than a beautiful, serene bride I imagined myself to be.
So you see, although I know that today's couples are more than capable of choosing and booking everything, it is oh so important that you hand over the reins to a pro wedding coordinator at the last stage, to step back and actually enjoy your day the way you should. Let me be the one running around sorting everything out and fixing the problems.
And if you think mum or auntie Doris will do, I beg you don’t do it. It’s not fair on them and definitely not worth it for you. Especially as Auntie Doris doesn’t share your taste, will most probably disregard the little things that are important to you, prioritise the wrong thing and even be tempted to sample the bubbly, ending up knocking over the expensive ceremony backdrop. Not to mention that she wouldn't know who to call (ghostbusters?) when something goes wrong or things don’t turn up.
Stay in your room, get dressed slowly, enjoy having your hair and makeup done, be with your pals and sobbing parents, and get excited about your wedding day. I’ll be there to make sure it all comes together perfectly.
Love Zuza x