Working with a planner for 'Full Wedding Planning' comes as an investment, but it's a decision that more couples are now seeing the true value in and ultimately, booking.

Even prior to selecting a venue and booking vendors, the first supplier couples should consider before anything else is to work with a wedding planner. Some of the main regrets many couples feel post-wedding is not budgeting properly, feeling stressed and not enjoying the wedding day enough, picking the wrong venue and more often than not, not having worked with a planner from the very beginning. Each stage of the planning process is as crucial as the next, but especially the beginning as this will essentially define your whole planning experience and will have a knock-on effect for future planning decisions.

One of the biggest oversights couples tend to underestimate is the importance of industry knowledge, budgeting and understanding realistic logistics that a wedding day can face, all of which can take years to learn. Couples who carry out their own research online will never truly receive an accurate representation of what is needed to plan a wedding, let alone think about the overall aesthetic and how they go about creating it. In order to have an enjoyable planning experience, it’s key for couples to get the foundations right in order to get onto the right path to begin with.

After becoming engaged, it can be tempting for many couples to dive straight in head first without thoroughly thinking it all through. Typically, the amount of hours involved to plan a wedding can take anywhere from 300-600 hours, sometimes up to 1,000 depending on the event. Nowadays, planners who offer Design & Styling inclusive of their Full Plan services are having to dedicate even more time, due to the demand for uniquely creative weddings.

What couples tend to forget is that planning a wedding is a full-time job in itself, so couples who make the decision to take on all of the planning themselves are more than likely to feel the pressure at some point. Once that pressure starts, it then tends to be a cascading ball of stress and anxiety that leads to rash and unconsidered decision-making. Bad decisions then lead to a potentially unpleasant and overwhelming experience and can tarnish the process up until the wedding day itself, which no couple should endure.

There are many eligible reasons as to why hiring a wedding planner for ‘Full Wedding Planning, Design & Styling’ from the outset is a sensible idea. By having a planner to hand from the very beginning, will give couples the very best start to the planning process possible.

A planner will be there to help and guide on important discussions and tasks, such as:

• Budget Management & Allocation: Key for couples who are struggling to understand how much certain suppliers and items cost, as well as how much should be allocated to certain elements of the day. It’s also key for couples who generally struggle to stay on top of and manage large costs. Nearly half of couples who got married back in 2021 ended up spending more than their planned wedding budget. The skill that planners bring is about knowing how to spend a couple’s money more wisely and prudently, stretching the budget as far as it can go and allocating it realistically.

• Sourcing & Booking the right Venue: Being one of the biggest decisions a couple will make throughout the entire process, it’s understandable that finding the right venue can feel like the hardest challenge. Sadly, many couples get it wrong and ultimately pay the consequences later on in the process. Couples tend to either regret the decision to commit to a venue that was either too expensive to begin with or struggle to understand the difference between certain packages and offerings, as well as what to look out for in the small print.

• Sourcing & Booking the right Team: Second to venues, it’s then crucial for couples to book the right team. Bringing a wedding together takes trust, teamwork and clear communication from everyone involved. Many couples make the mistake of booking the wrong supplier, which can lead to un-met expectations, miss-communication between styles, approaches and visions, increasing budgets and an unreliable team on the wedding day itself. As a planner, we cannot stress enough the importance having the right wedding team behind you on the day.

• Manage Expectations: An enjoyable planning process is all about managing a couple’s expectations. Planners are there to create a day solely based on a couple’s loves, wants, likes and requirements, but are also there to manage expectations, keep things realistic and keep couple’s grounded. It’s easy for couples to get caught up and carried away with the process. As planners, one of our biggest jobs is to educate our clients so that their expectations are managed from the very beginning, resulting in little to no upset should something not be achieved.

• Take Charge of all Tedious & Time-Consuming Tasks: First and foremost, planners are there to work alongside couples, where it should never feel as though a planner is taking over. There are many wed-min tasks that are enjoyable for couple’s to be involved with, but there are also many that are not, with most being incredibly tedious and time consuming.

• Knowing how to Elevate & Execute a Vision: Many couple’s come to a planner with a strong vision in mind for their wedding, but are then unsure about how to make it happen. Others come to planners for help simply because they have no idea where to start or they end up having too many ideas and aren’t sure what direction to go in. By working with a planner and a stylist from the beginning, couple’s get to experience a more well-rounded process complete with mood boards, colour palettes and comprehensive design guides. Planners and stylists are experts when it comes to working with a brief and knowing how to not only elevate it to a level that is more unique and tailored to the individual couple, but are also experts in executing the idea and making it a reality.

• Deal with & Manage any Foreseen & Unforeseen Logistical Restraints: Key to anyone who hasn't planned a wedding before. This is where industry knowledge really does come in valuable to Full Plan. Sometimes, bringing in a planner half-way through or at the end of the process isn’t enough to resolve any issues that might occur due to couples arranging and sorting suppliers, timings and set-ups themselves. Planners are there to foresee and manage any issues or problems that may arise, so that come the wedding day, it all runs smoothly. It can be hard for couples to preempt certain situations if they’ve never planned a wedding before.

The truth is, the list as to why you should consider hiring a wedding planner for Full Plan is endless. Planning a wedding is a monumental task, so why not have an expert manage it all for you.

If you’re reading this and are considering working with a wedding planner and stylist, it’s important to finally note how crucial it is to work with someone who you wholeheartedly trust. It’s an investment and commitment that can last up to a year, mostly longer, and a relationship that needs to be transparent and reliant throughout. With any decision you make for your wedding, make sure to take the time to think it through properly. Aside from proposals and quotations, find someone who gets and understands you as a couple as well as your vision. Weddings come as a ‘one in a lifetime’ opportunity, so make sure it feel right.

If you’re interested in working with Studio Porter for ‘Full Wedding Planning, Design & Styling’ please feel free to reach out via the form on the Contacts Page.