So why do you need wedding planners for amazing small weddings?
Because a wedding is a wedding is a wedding. Big or small, traditional or anything but, a wedding planner can not only help you survive the planning of your big day, but they can also help you thrive.
We all know that ‘practice makes perfect’, but planning and coordinating a wedding isn’t something most people get much practice with before it’s time to plan their own big day. When you bring a wedding planner into the mix you not only get their connections, recommendations, and day-of coordination, you get their experience and expertise. They have a lot of practice and they’re ready to help.
The 3 Myths of Planning a Small Wedding
A lot of people think that having an intimate wedding means they don’t need a wedding planner, which frankly isn’t true. The joy of a small wedding is the intimacy and the customization you get, but the logistics and budgeting remain just as complex as with larger weddings.
There are three major myths about small weddings that lead people to try and plan their wedding alone, so we’re going to break those down and debunk them for you here.
1. SMALL WEDDINGS ARE EASIER TO PLAN
Shrinking your guest list doesn’t shrink your to-do list. You still need to research, select, and coordinate with nearly the same number of vendors, and figure out the same design and experience details that go into making your wedding a reality.
A venue, catering, bar, officiant, seating, ceremony arch, florals and decor, entertainment and music, clothing and grooming, photography and videography are typically all part of even simpler weddings.
Small weddings still do give you many advantages. You will have broader choices for venues and many of your vendors, giving you more freedom to create the experience that you want. But reducing the number of guests only cuts the scale of work and that to-do list can still easily be overwhelming to manage.
2. THE LOGISTICS OF SMALL WEDDINGS ARE SIMPLER
If you’re still going to need that long list of vendors described above you’ll need to coordinate all of them too. Shrinking your guest list only shrinks the scale of what needs to be done: you may only need 30 chairs instead of 300 but you still need to find, book, and coordinate a vendor to provide those chairs, and the same holds for just about every aspect of your wedding. A wedding planner can not only help guide you through the planning process of figuring out what vendors you need, they help you find, book, and pay them too. They will also be your wedding day superhero, AKA your day-of coordinator.
Getting everyone and everything, where it needs to be on your wedding day, shouldn’t be a job for you or any of your guests. Let a wedding planner manage the setup, coordination, and running of your wedding so you can focus on you, your partner(s) and celebrating this moment, and let your guests be guests. A wedding planner will do things such as:
- Coordinate your vendors advising them on when/where they need to set up and make sure they have all the information they need to do their jobs properly
- Oversee the setup of the wedding, set out any personal items you may have, and make sure every last detail is exactly the way you would want it
- Make sure you, your wedding party, and your guests are where they need to be when they need to be there
- Be the master timekeeper, cueing all the different moments, adjusting the timeline as needed, and communicating that to the right people
A small wedding is still an event that needs a venue, seating, entertainment, food, guests, and time management: leave that to a planner and ENJOY your big day.
3. EVERYTHING WILL BE CHEAPER FOR SMALL WEDDINGS
Don’t get us wrong, shrinking your guest list is the fastest way to shrink your wedding expenses, but a lot of expenses are fixed and won’t fluctuate much. Guest count only affects around 40-60% of your wedding budget. Expenses like entertainment, clothing and grooming, photography and videography, are fixed, whereas other expenses like venue, equipment rentals, stationery, and food/drinks fluctuate to some degree with guest count.
Even small weddings can benefit from the planning and budgeting help of a wedding planner. They know when to save and when to splurge, can ensure no money is wasted or lost, and can help you find room for the luxuries you’ve dreamed of. A wedding planner may be another line in your budget, but they are going to help you use your budget as efficiently as possible.
So why hire a wedding planner? Because that way you get to have the kick-ass wedding of your dreams.