How Full Service Wedding Planners Work
There are several options for full service wedding planners in North Carolina. However, couples are often confused on what exactly we do. What is the difference between a full service wedding planner and all the other wedding planners that offer many levels of service?
The answer goes far beyond timelines and logistics. The best full service wedding planners are an advocate for your entire celebration. Someone who not only drives the planning process, but also protects your priorities and ensures you are getting exactly what you need from every vendor involved.
What do full service wedding planners do?
Full service wedding planners guide every step of the process, from the earliest ideas to managing all of the final details of your wedding weekend.
One of the most valuable roles we play is expanding on what couples know is possible. Most couples don’t know what they don’t know, and part of our job is to expose the full range of opportunities available to them for their event design. We help shape ideas into something more thoughtful, personalized, and truly story-driven than they initially imagined.
We also act as a consistent point of advocacy. That means:
- Matching you with the right vendors for your personality and style
- Managing communication and expectations
- Ensuring every partner involved is aligned and delivering at a high level
Should I get a full service wedding planner for my wedding?
Some couples can successfully plan a more straightforward wedding on their own, especially if they are working with a highly hands-on venue and are keeping their design fairly simple. But when a wedding involves more complex logistics, a full service wedding planner will make your life WAY easier and save you tons of headaches.
Such weddings that typically benefit from a full service wedding planner include:
- Tented weddings
- Private home or estate weddings
- Non-traditional venues
- Multi-day wedding weekends
- Highly detailed, custom design
These types of events require management of the production across many moving parts, and without an experienced planner, it becomes difficult to execute everything appropriately.
Where Clients Feel the Biggest Impact
One of the biggest points of relief for our clients is venue and vendor selection. First, booking your wedding planner before your venue is a great idea. There are many venues that are hidden gems that only your planner is aware of. Additionally, your wedding planner can help you understand how your venue will impact the rest of the planning process down down the road. For example, if you’re researching wedding venues in Raleigh, NC – there are many options. Some include rentals, some require you to have a tent, some require an in-house caterer. There are lot of things to consider that can impact the rest of the process! Not all venues are apples-to-apples.
Your vendor team can also have a huge impact on the planning process. It is important to have a wedding planner help you vet vendors (especially in the age of social media.) Ideally, you are only getting married once ;). Therefore, you likely have no idea what a vendors’ track record is. Couples without a wedding planner also don’t know the right questions to ask when they are vetting their wedding vendors. So having an expert in your corner is huge. They will make sure you hire someone that is reliable, professional, and delivers a high quality of service. With a planner in your corner, you’re able to consider more than just the vendor’s price and their well-curated instagram.
Another major factor is design. Many clients come in with a feeling or a general idea, but they can’t quite put it into words. Our role is to take that vision, refine it, and translate it into something clear and actionable that vendors can bring to life. We will create something that is so much better than what you see on your Pinterest board. Pinterest is a wonderful tool for inspiration. However, you don’t see price tags on Pinterest. And, you may see something you love but you’re not even sure what kind of vendor could make that happen. Finally, you may not even know what your options are within the investment you’re hoping to make. A full service wedding planner can help with all of that!
Your Full Service Wedding Planner
Hey there! I’m Haines, the owner and lead planner behind Significant Events. We are a team of full service wedding planners in Raleigh, and we serve couples across the Southeast. With over 10 years of experience in the events industry, I take a unique approach to creating a streamlined experience for my clients. With an eye for creativity and a background in Industrial Engineering, our team brings the perfect balance of design and logistics to your wedding day.
I love the weddings and events industry so much that I left my reliable corporate job in favor of long weekends filled with 24,000 steps and collaborating with vendors on unique designs that tell my clients’ stories.
When I’m not behind my laptop dreaming up my client’s next wedding design, you may find me on a yoga mat, or hanging out with my besties at our favorite local coffee shop. When the husband gets home from work, we are usually spending time with our beautiful daughter, and loving on our pets (2 kitties and a beautiful long haired German Shepherd!) If it’s time to get out of the house, we’re calling the babysitter to head to the movies
Looking for a wedding planning experience that feels like a breath of fresh air and totally you? We’d love to meet you!
