Hello, my name is Michelle.  I’m engaged to be married in 100 days! 

And I hired a wedding planner….

Yes, you read that correctly.  A wedding planner HIRED a wedding planner.  Shocking, right?!  But in all actuality, it really is not as shocking as it seems.

Let me put things in perspective for a minute.  

What do you do for a living? 

Do you have a 9-5 job in an office?

Would you ever walk in to another office building, sit down at a desk and just jump in and try to figure out someone’s job on a day when that person needs to be the center of attention and give a very important presentation?

Uh…no, that sounds scary, right?!

Maybe you are a chef or in the service industry?

Would you ever just walk in to a random restaurant, head in to the kitchen, and start cooking?  Or walk up to a table, introduce yourself and take someone’s drink order?

Awkward, right?  Where are things kept in the restaurant?  What is on the menu?  What is the recipe to make that dish that everyone raves about online?

For many people, their reaction when I say I hired a wedding planner has been “but why??  You plan weddings EVERY day.  Why wouldn’t you plan your own?”

Well!  Here are the reasons why:

• —Working with a professional to guide you is KEY during any major events in your life. Heck, professionals can be beneficial even with your decisions day to day.  Maybe you wanted to get healthier and you joined a gym at some point in your life.  That first day when you walked in, did you just jump on a treadmill, increase the incline and max out the speed?  (PS…if you did, I’m very impressed!).  Most likely you talked to a trainer or a point person at the gym so that you didn’t harm yourself.  Or when you decided to start saving for your retirement, did you just say “ok, let’s just put some money in a savings account and watch it grow”?  Hopefully, you talked to a financial planner or advisor that had knowledge and experience and outlined what your best options were for the maximum growth of your finances.  Winging it in life sometimes works but on your wedding day, it really is not suggested. 

• —Wedding planning is oh so much fun!

BUT…

It is also time-consuming, stressful and very, very overwhelming. 

Take it from me-I’ve been planning weddings for over 6 years.  I’ve planned over 100 weddings.  I have been blessed with a successful business and have worked with some pretty incredible clients and vendors.  They have trusted me on what is one of the most important days of their life.  I love what I do. I really, truly do.

But at the end of a busy 10-12 hour day, whether at my desk or at an event, the last thing I want to do is sit down and try to make decisions about my OWN wedding day.  At the end of your work day, do you want to sit down and continue to think about all of the things that you needed to get decisions on during that day or even better, make rational decisions?  No, right? 

I have looked to my planner for suggestions for vendors, to keep me on track with decisions that need to be made, equipment orders, venue layout.  You name it!  All of the many details that go in to a wedding day.  And you know what, she has made the process FUN for me!

• —I WANT TO BE A BRIDE!

That’s it…right there in a nutshell.  I want to be a bride.

I want to be that girl in the white gown that everyone oohs and ahhs over.  The one that gets pampered that morning without a care in the world.  The one that walks down the aisle to marry the man of her dreams in front of their guests.  The one that smiles pretty for the camera all day and night, toasts her champagne glass and dances the night away surrounded by those she loves.

I do not want to be the person running around making sure the linens are steamed and the napkins are folded correctly.  I do not want to be that person wondering where the lost vendor is and calling them 5 times to make sure they are on their way.  Or that person telling that guest “please put that camera away during the Ceremony per the couple’s request”.  I do not want to be the person making sure that everything is running smoothly and on time and everyone is seated for the dinner.  Nope, I do not want to be any of those people on my own wedding day.  That is what people pay me to do on their wedding day and what I am paying someone to do for me on mine.  I know the value of having a professional there on that very important day.

So for the many people that have questioned why a wedding planner hires a wedding planner, I hope it all makes more sense now. 

Thank you in advance to Tiffany Learned of Detailed Engagements for working with me and my fiancé on our wedding.  She has taken on a big task of working with a wedding planner/bride-to-be.  It’s not an easy task—I have worked with four clients that were actual wedding/event planners in their real life.  I am so grateful for her reminders that I need to embrace this time in my life and enjoy being a bride and to turn the planner side off in my mind from time to time.

Cheers to the next 100 days of my life!