Today on the blog I want to discuss a topic that may seem a little self-serving, but in the end is actually bride-and-groom-serving, literally! I’ve had many brides and grooms tell me that they don’t need my services because they have a (insert friend, relative, co-worker, etc) who can handle their wedding planning for free, or that they consider wedding planning/coordinating to be an unnecessary expense. While I do not doubt that friends and family have the best of intentions with regards to assisting with wedding planning, even the best laid plans can fall by the wayside on the road to your big day. Let’s discuss three reasons to hire a certified wedding planner.

I say certified because the wedding industry is largely unregulated, and hiring an uncertified wedding planner is risky because essentially anyone can masquerade as a wedding professional. Insisting on hiring a certified planner creates a safeguard for the investment you have made into your big day. For example, Whim Event Coordination and Design is certified through the Wedding Planners institute of Canada, and as such we are governed by a strict Code of Ethics. A certified wedding planner will offer you expertise, convenience and value.

1) Expertise
A certified wedding planner brings many skills to the table. For example, Michelle and I have an intricate network of vendors who know their way around most venues in the GTA. These are consummate professionals who are dedicated to customer service and creating a magical day for our brides and grooms. Since wedding planning is our passion, we are careful to create lasting relationships with other vendors who are just as passionate about weddings.

A good planner will have the skills to avoid (and if required, artfully fix) most wedding-day disasters. By employing a wedding planner at the onset of your planning, you will avoid a world of headaches on your wedding day itself. Your planner will know the vision of your wedding day, will be intimately familiar with your venue, and will have met and communicated with all of your vendors. Your planner will assist in creating your wedding day timeline, and will have a detailed list of your vendors and their set up times. Michelle and I usually act as a buffer between the vendors and the bride and groom on the wedding day, so that our couples can sit back and enjoy their day, and the vendors still have a point person to work with to ensure that everything flows smoothly.
An expert planner also has a fully stocked wedding day emergency kit and knows how to use it! A knowledgeable planner knows how to get red wine out of your white dress, how to quickly sew on a missing button, will have extra hairspray to fix your hair, knows how to repair a run in your pantyhose, and probably even has double sided tape to ward off any wardrobe malfunctions. Michelle and I always carry a huge emergency kit that has everything from safety pins, backdrop pins, snacks to keep the bridal party alive during photo sessions, lint brushes for the groomsmen’s suits, and even sanitary napkins in case of an ill-timed monthly visitor!

2) Convenience
Probably the most common reason that Michelle and I get contacted for wedding planning services is the convenience that we provide to our couples and their families. Since we are so well connected in the events industry, we are easily able to provide our couples with recommendations for almost every type of vendor to suit the theme and feel of the event. If we don’t have a particular vendor recommendation, we are always able to reach out to our WPIC network to find a great vendor who is backed by other planners who had positive experiences using them.

The average wedding takes over 250 hours to plan, and that is time that most couples do not have to spare to comb through every vendor in the pool of thousands that exist in the GTA. By partnering with Whim Event Coordination and Design, you are afforded the luxury of time – time that you can use to enjoy the fun aspects of wedding planning, like dress fittings, cake tastings and being pampered!

3) Value
We often have couples tell us that they feel as though they cannot afford a wedding planner because of a tight budget. While expertise and convenience ultimately save you time, which is, of course, valuable, a qualified wedding planner can save you actual money. We are the advocates of our clients and we represent their interests with every interaction with other vendors. We also spend a lot of time ensuring that your budget is followed so that you do not break the bank on your event.

I also mentioned that Whim Event Coordination and Design is WPIC-certified, and as a result, we adhere to a strict code of ethics. A key aspect of this is that we do not accept kickbacks. What I mean is that if a vendor offers us an incentive to refer our clients to them, we pass on any savings or perks that we receive directly to our clients. The reason for this is simple – when you sign a contract with us, you are our client and we are working for you, not for anyone else, therefore we do not accept payment from any vendor for referring them to our clients.

Many vendors offer kickbacks to incentivize their services, but a WPIC-certified wedding planner recognizes that vendors are only referred based on their merit, not based on any perks they may offer us. We have many vendors who are more than happy to offer discounts to our clients simply because of the relationship that we have built with them. Since we work for you, we are always very excited to pass along these perks to you! After all, it in our best interest for you to have the best wedding experience possible!

After spending so much money and time dreaming and planning for your big day, it would be a terrible shame to see those efforts wasted because there wasn’t an extra set of hands and eyes dedicated to making sure that all of the details were in place. At this point you have spent a lot of money to have a wonderful event for yourself, your family and your friends, so doesn’t it make sense to take precautions to protect that investment? As certified wedding planners, we are like insurance for your wedding; we make sure that your wedding runs beautifully and you get a top return on your investment!

Thanks for reading,
The Ladies of Whim