I’ll never forget the wedding when a guest came up to me and asked, “Who are you? JLO?” We all know JLO from the classic, “The Wedding Planner.” Now, she was a wedding woman. Complete with her emergency blazer, ear pieces, and all the knowledge. Now, you may see us at the weddings we plan and coordinate, wear ear pieces in and dressed in all black - I mean we like to blend in like the secret service. But, even though for that night we think quickly on our feet and blend into the vendor world, we play such an important and large role in your wedding day. So, the question boils down to what is our role as a wedding planner?
We’re going to take you on a journey on what our journey looks like with our clients from start to finish. We want to clarify that each journey is different. Although we offer a variety of packages, we really work to customize towards our clients’ personalities and needs. We always start with the initial consultation. This is a time where we get to have an honest conversation about your needs and what we can support you with. We talk about the basics, like wants, needs, and of course the budget. Once we come to an agreement with potential clients, we move forward with signing the contract and alas – our role begins!
We like to consider us your guru, your bestie during this season of your lives. We help with budget creation, we will be honest with you if those blooms you love will bust your budget, or if dahlias are out of season in January. We support you with finding all of your vendors. This includes a detailed list of preferred vendors. These vendors are our ride our dies, they are the ones we can count on and collaborate with on a regular basis. We can even set up meetings with vendors and handle all the “back end” work to get the ball rolling. This includes, gaining proposals, reaching out to vendors to ask about availability and pricing, and we never turn down a catering or dessert tasting.
Beyond the selection and coordination of vendors, we help you with all the decisions leading up to your wedding day. Depending on the package you select, we may help you substantially, or we may just provide check-ins to ensure your stress levels are down. We offer design support, can attend rental or decor meetings and even support with DIY, when agreed upon in the contract. We are here as a shoulder to lean on and to provide support with the decision making process.
One of the biggests perks of hiring a wedding planner, is that we help execute and ensure that your wedding day has a timeline and maintains that timeline. We sit down with you and coordinate with vendors, the arrival times, departure times, and determine what needs to be done to ensure they have everything they need at the venue. Through careful communication, we create and distribute the timeline. We keep it up to date, and provide copies to all vendors on the day of. This ensures that everyone is on the same page and each detail of your day is accounted for and carefully executed.
On the wedding day, we are there, sometimes from start to finish. It is really up to the package selected or the hours agreed upon. We support set up, ensure that vendors arrive on time and have everything they need. We ensure that decor is placed and we’ve even put together floral arrangements and bouquets a time or two. We support your guests, make sure that Uncle Jo doesn’t have one too many drinks and that you are able to check all the items off your timeline during the ceremony and reception. We are ALL in during your wedding day, just as we have been during the planning process.
What you see us do on the wedding day is really just the tip of the iceberg. The bulk of our planning and execution of details happens before the big day. But, the wedding day is truly magical, because it is our planning, endless calls, countless hours of work, coming to fruition as your wedding day.
And at the end of the day, as long as our couples enjoy a stress free day – our job is done. We love our couples and our role is truly to support them on this journey from the beginning to the end. We always tell our couples, we can do as much as you need, or provide as little support as you need.
If you’d love to know more about the services we offer, we’d love to sit down and chat with you. We truly love to customize our roles, to what our couples need. So, if you’re ready to make that decision to hire a wedding planner – we’d love to be your gals.
Lori Losee is the owner of Elegant Affairs, a Seattle Wedding Planner with over 19 years of experience. We create awe-inspiring experiences—Events filled with meaning and refined elegance. Behind the scenes, our experienced team collaborates on each stage of the process, executing your vision and a wedding, celebration, or corporate event that is unique to you.
