Before L’Oreal and I got engaged, we had a conversation about planning our big day. At the time, she was blogging about weddings for another publication and I was working in finance. I knew that I wanted to contract a wedding planner (or at least a day-of coordinator) to help with the process, but she was confident that we could do it ourselves. I asked her “Have you ever thrown an event for 150 people?” No? Well, that’s what wedding planners do on the daily.

So I gave her these five reasons why I thought we needed professional help:

1. You can’t/won’t think of everything

Your planner has the ability to remain objective during the planning process and will be thinking two steps ahead of you at all times. Her goal is to make sure your vision for your day comes to life all while sticking to your agreed upon budget (if you have one). When we discovered that our reception space needed up lighting to enhance the look, our planner and fellow blogger, Tami Smallwood-Brown of Blush Wedding & Event Planning Firm, sent us affordable options on do-it-yourself lighting vendors that she trusted. When the catering quote came back (much) higher than what we had anticipated, she helped us crunch the numbers and cross out what we didn’t need.

2. Weddings are a business, planners are professionals who know the industry

Let’s face it. Weddings are parties, and these parties are expensive. You want to live in holy matrimony with your love? Fine, set up a small service at your church or courthouse, but you want to feed 100 guests? Well that’ll run you the cost of private school tuition for a year. What the what?! We hired our planner because she knows the business. She’s honest and will give us a true “going rate” for the items we need and offer alternatives for things that we wouldn’t have thought of on our own. This information has been invaluable.

3. Someone has to run the show

Having a professional whose sole job is to ensure that your day goes smoothly is the fundamental reason why wedding planners exist. In addition to having someone help you plan your event, you’ll have someone who can make sure your event goes off without a (noticeable) hitch. You can’t be the emcee, the program director, caterer liaison and be the star of the show at the same time. He or she will sit down with you to work out an order of events for your big day so that everyone will be on the same page.

4. It’s a good plan for procrastinators



I’m not a planner by nature. My motto is: “I’ll get it done…eventually.” Well, that doesn’t work when you have DJs, bakeries, and other vendors waiting for their payments. Our planner helps us to not only budget for the event, but to keep up with payment schedules and prioritize what needs to be taken care of next.

5. You can relax and enjoy the day

After all the planning, the phone calls, the vendor contracts, and tastings, what’s left? The big day of course! I don’t know about you, but the last thing I want to worry about on the wedding day is whether the caterer has the right shade of linens, or if the DJ brought enough equipment for the event. Your planner is there to address these concerns so that you don’t have to. He or she will keep copies of all signed contracts so that they can quickly be reviewed if an issue arises.

Your Turn: Are you planning to hire a wedding planner for your big day? Or do you wish you’d use one when you tied the knot? Tell us why or why not in the comments!

About L’Oreal and Jeff

L’Oreal and Jeff met in May 2008, became friends and went on their first date at the Pittsburgh Zoo & Aquarium in May 2011. They currently reside in Chicago and are planning a fall 2014 wedding in Baltimore with a LOT of purple details. Despite rooting for rival NFL teams, they love laughing and having fun together and look forward to getting married!