What is a wedding planner and do I really need one? - HAWAII WEDDINGS AND EVENTS blog at BridesClub.com

This is the number one question asked from brides from all over the world.

Not that long ago, wedding consultants were thought of as a luxury to be used mainly by the elite, but in todayﾒs world, over sixty percent of couples use the services of a wedding consultant, commonly referred to a ﾓwedding coordinatorﾔ or ﾓwedding plannerﾔ and the numbers steadily grow.

So what is a wedding planner? She/he is a specialist that plans weddings or assists in the planning of weddings on a professional basis. Wedding consultants have vast knowledge of the products, services, and vendors available in the area and can recommend those which are a perfect match for the couple's "vision" and style, saving them endless research time and opening up a world of possibilities. Often they can suggest unique or hard to find services or products which are perfect for the couple, but which the couple would have been very unlikely to find on their own. The coordinator can be involved to any extent the bride desires - as much or as little as is required.

A consultant does not take over the planning of your wedding for you (unless, of course, you want her to), but rather, she/he advises you and assists you so that you have the all the information you need for the most spectacular wedding possible on a budget you can afford, and then you make all the final decisions.

A wedding planner is a very organized and detailed person with a superb sense of style and becomes your advocate, advisor, counselor and often ﾓnew best friendﾔ all rolled in one. There are endless details to arrange, many logistics to organize, large numbers of vendors and service providers to hire, schedules, timelines (one of the most critical aspects of the day) and budgets to manage, and as a result so much room for oversights to occur and for things to go wrong.

The reality is that few couples have the level of time in their schedules required to successfully plan, manage and executive such an event effectively; unfortunately, however, many couples donﾒt realize or acknowledge this until it is too late when parts of their wedding dream has already disintegrated into disappointment.

In recent surveys, 72% of married brides who did not use a wedding coordinator for their weddings said that based on their experience, if they could do it all over again they would indeed hire a wedding coordinator to assist in the planning process, or at least be on hand to supervise the wedding day itself.

Most consultants offer couples a free initial consultation so the bride and groom can learn how the consultant can make their wedding better, and then decide whether hiring a consultant is right for them. Sitting down with a wedding planner for a free consultation is the best way to learn of the many benefits to be had in using his or her services and to learn a little about each other, and determine what your specific needs are.

Couples can choose from a wide range of service levels, with the wedding consultant doing as much, or as little, as the couple would like. A bride and groom may choose to hire a wedding consultant simply for one 'planning power session' to get their wedding plans off to an amazing start; or they may hire the consultant to oversee the planning from start to finish. As yet another option, there is an increasing number of requests from couples opting at the very least to use the services of a wedding coordinator just on the wedding day itself, so that nothing is left to chance.

With all of the costs involved in producing a wedding in the first place, the fee for on site services of a coordinator on the big day is a small price to pay to ensure that, when the crunch comes down, everything unfolds as it should, just as you planned.

After all, you only get one shot at the biggest day of your life. Only one chance to make it amazing... why take the risk?