When it comes to destination weddings there is so much excitement an adventure ahead. You’ve searched the internet far and wide for inspiration, you’ve been looking at work from destination wedding photographers to try and find the perfect location for your wedding. Once you’ve got some solid ideas behind your destination wedding, you’ll seriously want to consider hiring a destination wedding planner. If your looking for a dreamy big wedding in Italy or just looking for the best places to elope in Europe its always good to have someone who knows what thier doing on your side.
Well with a huge thanks to Charlotte of Charlotte Elise Weddings and Events. She has put together a short guide on hiring a planner for your destination wedding. With there being so many pros and cons of destination weddings Charlotte can guide you to having the perfect planner for your wedding.
Charlotte is a UK based wedding planner, planning luxury weddings and events all over the world. I hope you find this article helpful. Im sure if you have any questions Charlotte would be delighted to answer them for you!
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When it comes to planning a destination wedding there is more coordination required over weddings here in the UK as there is much more room for error. Also, it may not just be the wedding day itself that you’ll need to plan for. Often with a destination wedding, couples like to have either a pre-wedding event, a post-wedding event or both. These can be in the form of BBQs, cocktail receptions, brunches or casual get-togethers.
All of this can be helped if you have the right destination wedding planner.
One of the main benefits of hiring a destination wedding planner is that they can do that hard work whilst you just focus on your vision for your day. They’ll be able to remove plenty of stress with all of their experience.
If hiring a destination wedding planner is something you think will work for you then here is a little more on everything you need to know.
Why You Should Hire A Destination Wedding Planner (in more detail)
Your Time Is Precious
There are so many amazing wedding suppliers across the globe that could potentially be the right fit for you. The downside to this is that there are so many. Knowing where to start can be tricky and finding the wrong supplier could have a huge impact on your wedding day. That’s not to say that wedding planners just choose for you, they’ll communicate with you to find the right fit for your vision and will always recommend the right suppliers for your wedding.
First Hand Experience
Top destination wedding planners not only have experience in planning weddings, but have hands on experience at doing it all over the world. They’ve been faced with huge logistical problems and have had to find a way to solve them. With many years of experience there is not much that can go wrong if you have the right destination wedding planner. A planner is also invaluable in the early stages of planning. This is because you’ll have plenty of questions about your wedding and they’ll be able to advise you on what will work or even ways to make the wedding even better.
Just a short list of things they have experience in; Planning from a distance, currency issues and international payments, international legal differences, language barriers, working with suppliers and vendors for the first time, cultural differences and more.
Understanding Your Vision
There are many planners out there who will organise a wedding for you and arrange all of the suppliers and logistics which alleviates stress and worry knowing that someone is on hold to ensure the day is perfect. Make sure you find the right planner for you by looking for someone with experience, passion and someone you personally get on with to make sure the wedding goes just how you picture it.
Help You Set + Balance Your Budget
Creating and setting a budget can be difficult especially if you’re trying to plan your perfect wedding and not having the experience to know of different costs in different locations. A destination wedding planner can maybe make your budget work further for you. They can tell you how realistic things are. They may tell you where it’s best to spend more and can help you save money on things you never knew you could as they often have good relationships and therefore get the best prices for you. Wedding costs can easily spiral out of control and you could end up having to start again with your budget resulting in not having the wedding you truly want.
We all know that making decisions can be tough. It’s so easy to over think things. Sometimes too much choice is a bad thing, also sometimes having too few options can leave you feeling like you’re missing out on something. Ultimately you’ll need to make these decisions, though your planner can do enough research to make your decision making much easier.
Give Your Guests A Helping Hand
If you’re planning your own destination wedding, you can imagine how much you’ll have on your plate with it all. On top of this you’ll also have to provide strong logistical information for your guests. With all sorts of guests having different experiences in travel, hotels, flights and other activities associated with travelling abroad. Your destination wedding planner can give guidance on flights, transfers, hotels, timings, recreational activities, places to eat and transport. This will be super helpful to your guests and a huge weight off your shoulders.
Complete Peace Of Mind
All of the planning that goes on does come with the pressure of chasing emails, telephone calls, finding out vendors are booked or finding out about hidden charges, cancellations, plan B’s and much much more. Next time you’re at the cinema or out for a meal do you want to be overthinking people getting back to you or chasing suppliers or information from a venue or a florist overseas?
Rest assured with a destination wedding planner you’ll have complete peace of mind.
How Much Does A Destination Wedding Planner Cost?
It would be great to be able to answer this question with a simple fee. Though in reality destination wedding planning is such a bespoke service the cost can vary widely.
Planning services can vary as well as the location, the number of wedding guests amongst other things.
If you’re looking for an extremely reliable planner with a wealth of experience who also includes the design of the wedding itself, then you’ll be looking at 10-15% of your budget. There may also be additional travel expenses or costs for additional work that may crop up during the planning service.
In terms of pricing, destination wedding planners usually price in one of these ways;
One Flat Fee
Total hours worked and then billed for.
A percentage of your wedding venue and supplier invoices.
A mixture of the above. For example; A flat fee with a lower percentage of vendor invoices.
Source your wedding venue considering style, capacity, location and more.
Find the perfect suppliers for your wedding that work to your vision. From Destination Wedding Photographers to Cakes, Flowers and more.
Creatively helping you build and create the perfect wedding day with ideas and inspiration.
Create and develop mood boards to ensure your wedding is uniquely styled.
Manages your budget so you don’t overspend and help you spend more wisely in the areas that matter.
Meet and consult with suppliers to ensure unity for the vision.
Create minute by minute running orders of your wedding and ensure all suppliers have access.
Hands on setting up of your wedding day including floor plans and decoration is perfect.
Monitoring your wedding in physical attendance ensuring your day goes perfectly.
Regular Meetings, email correspondence and telephone calls for support.
Additionally they can also help with;
Accommodation and local information for all of your wedding guests.
Receiving RSVPs.
Planning of a rehearsal dinner.
Post and pre wedding day events.
Honeymoon planning.
How To Find The Right Planner For You
With there being so many destination wedding planners all over the world, it’s worth noting some simple tips to find the right planner for you.
Instagram
Using a wedding planners Instagramwill give you a great overview of the type of weddings that the wedding planner has experience with. You’ll be able to get a sense of vision and creativity that the planner is able to create.
Read Up On Their Testimonials
Now you like the planners style, vibe and vision from their instagram. You can look through their testimonials on either their website or social media pages. This will give you a great sense of how the couple felt with the service provided.
Find Out More About Them
With wedding planning being such a personal and intimate service, knowing who the person is is such a huge part of your responsibility when finding the right planner. have a look on About pages on their websites. Make sure they have a good few paragraphs on their website here.
Arrange A Call
Arranging a call with a wedding planner is absolutely the best thing you can do when finding the right planner for you. You’ll be able to have a great two way conversation discussing styles and visions and you’ll soon know if your on the same page. Beautiful weddings don’t always mean that they’re good at problem solving on the spot.
During a call you’ll be able to ask all about some of your favourite images of theirs on their instagram and website. You’ll soon feel why they love doing what they do.
