5 Things To Consider Before Going It Alone

By Lynette Quinn from Quinn Essential Events

We understand planning a wedding can be daunting, overwhelming and of course extremely stressful. As a wedding consultant I often speak to couples whom originally thought they could plan the whole wedding day themselves, to find out it isn’t as easy as it looks. Here are some questions to ask yourself before diving in the deep end…….

1. Time!

Do you really have enough time? It is estimated the average wedding can take up to 300 hours to plan and execute perfectly. Considering both the bride and groom to be work full-time and longer hours these days, finding the time to plan a wedding in 12 months or less might be an issue. Do you really want to consume every weekend away from work to ring, book, plan, and ponder?

2. Location

Are you getting married in another location not completely familiar to you or interstate? You might find it difficult to get to your location on a regular basis and find yourself making a lot more phone calls. It’s often ideal to have someone in the area to research your suppliers, venue and ceremony locations. You can then look at the information and consider your suppliers from afar. This will minimise the need for you to make numerous trips. You can see the people you want to see in one or two trips from the information already gathered.

3. Suppliers

You are about to go through a long list of wedding suppliers and there will be lots of them! Are they reputable? What are their MyDayMyWay?.com.au value & service ratings? Are they charging you too much?

It’s not advisable to pay a deposit to the first supplier that comes along with a quote. Like anything you need to “shop” around, however don’t jeopardise the quality of service to save some money. This could possibly cost your wedding day if your supplier doesn’t show or turns up with a result that is nothing like you expected. It is expected if the supplier has been operating for a number of years, then they have serviced their fair share of weddings. In saying this new suppliers need the chance to prove the worthiness and build their business so they can continue to operate for years to come.

4. Budget

Unless you have unlimited access to funds for your wedding, you will need to budget. I hear most of you saying “Well I have never been married before; I don’t know how much things cost”. This of course is a valid response. More often than not, couples don’t expect how much it does cost. As much as we don’t want to see this happening, there are a handful of suppliers which will take advantage of you. If you opt for a wedding consultant, they will sit down with you and explain what the associated costs will be before you even consider suppliers. This gives you peace of mind, instead of your $15,000 wedding costing you $30,000.

5. On the day

Many venues offer a wedding coordinator to look after the chain of events at your reception (and ceremony if applicable). Although you will still need to make last minute confirmations with suppliers and ensure all suppliers turn up on the day with the correct items and/or services. If you are having an independent ceremony and reception (i.e. a lovely park wedding ceremony and a reception at an independently hired venue) you may need assistance coordinating the day. You don’t want to have your family members running around ensuring everything is going to schedule, in particular your mum! These special people are at your wedding to enjoy the day with you. In this situation a wedding consultant might be a necessity.

Quinn Essential Events make your wedding their top priority! They understand every wedding is unique, and tailor their services around your requirements.

They are currently giving one lucky bride the chance to win a full wedding co-ordination package. To enter their competition or book Quinn Essential Events for your wedding click here.