Do I need a wedding planner?
Planner: CheChic! Weddings
A wedding planner is there to hold your hand through the whole planning process and in the lead up to your day. Their role covers everything from helping you to select and lock-in suppliers, manage your budget, solve any issue that comes along, through to coordinating logistics, styling concepts and keeping your supplier team pumped and on track in the lead up to and on the day. They’re the best wedding crasher of all time, they’ve seen it all and they’ll apply everything they’ve learnt to making sure your wedding is the best it can be. A good wedding planner is worth their weight in gold, especially when planning in Italy. An investment in the right planner saves time and money and ultimately sets the tone for your whole supplier team dynamic.
‘We wouldn't have gotten through our wedding journey without our planner. Their level of organisation, attention to detail and professionalism was second to none. Putting us at ease throughout the planning journey which was absolutely needed as I am very much a type a bride who was very particular about all aspects of the wedding.
2023 Bride
This person or team is going to be in your life for a long time. They’re responsible for knowing you well enough to plan one of the most important events in your life. If they’re not someone you feel comfortable being completely yourselves with, they’re probably not the right planner for you. When interviewing, you should come away from a first chat feeling heard, excited and calm.
Don’t be afraid to do some background research into your potential planner. Speak to ex-couples, check that the work they post is their own, ask for specific examples of weddings they’ve planned, speak to suppliers they’ve worked with. It’s a lot of background work but it’s a very important decision that will affect your life at this moment in time.
• Are they flexible with who they work with or do they only work with a set list of their recommended venues/suppliers?
• When they present options to you, how many are you given?
• Are they charging commission on top of their fee to you? Working from a commission model does happen in Italy, so be sure you have the knowlegde and transparency to make a clued up is a relatively normal model in Italy, so be sure you understand it and it is clear what total you pay the planner.
• How are their team organised? Who will be responding to your emails? How often will you get a call direct with your planner and how does the frequency change as your wedding day nears?
• How long have they been established? What are their strengths as a business?
• An obvious, yet still so many couples miss this - thoroughly read their terms and conditions, including cancellation policy.
We vet the planners listed on our Directory so you can trust them to deliver excellence.
“There is no way in the world we could have had the perfect day that we had without her guiding us through the process.”
2023 bride
Planner: Happy Brides
Each planner offers a unique service. It’s worth speaking to a few planners and obtaining detailed quotes for their work so that you can compare what is included. This may well be the first time you’re hiring someone in a service-like capacity and it’s intense! Familiarising yourself with what different planners include will help you to understand what you do and don’t need from yours.
• Ongoing, regular communications
• Setting and maintaining a budget
• Sourcing venue/s and perhaps chaperoning you on a trip to view them
• Sourcing suppliers – photographer, videographer etc. and understanding their role in great detail, ensuring that they are hired very specifically for your exact requirements
• Obtaining contracts for all suppliers
• Briefing suppliers ahead of your wedding
• Producing all ‘on the day’ documents: table plans, budgets, run sheets
• Wedding day management
• Arranging accommodation for guests
• Arranging airport transport for guests
• Designing the wedding: there is a stark difference between a planner that creates a look-a-like Pinterest board and one that fully designs every element of a wedding. You will pay more for the latter
• Creating wedding stationery and website
• Arranging the civil/religious ceremony paperwork
You’ll find that some planners will offer a range of services to suit their skills. Some planners will only offer full planning where they know they can curate the whole event in line with their standards and brand.
Usually supporting on some of the tasks above and on the day. We find that with Italian weddings, it’s hard for a planner to do partial planning as they need to get involved in all aspects to fully ensure the day is what you want it to be.
This option is often more expensive and comprehensive than some might think. A planner can’t just turn up and make it happen, there’s some serious prep work to ensure that they understand the wedding and that suppliers are ready and well-briefed – only then can they be sure the day will happen as it should.
Want to know what thousands of other couples planning their Italian weddings are doing? Be part of the conversation and feel supported by your own wedding squad. Join La Lista’s private Couples Facebook Community now.
