The 5 Super Secret Secrets Of The Wedding Planner
Psst! Don’t tell anyone, but WeddingPros.TV sat down with Lindsay Kennedy of LK Events & Design for a little powwow session on how to make sure your wedding goes down without a hitch – or if there is a hitch, to ensure that it will be dealt with quickly and as invisibly to you and your guests as possible.
You don’t want hitches when you’re getting hitched.
Since founding LK Events & Design in 2009, Kennedy has taken the wedding world of the Mid-Atlantic region by storm, overseeing some of the most high-profile weddings in the region.
The reason? She takes responsibility for the weddings she plans and comes up with tricks and hacks that you never have heard before, until now. But shhh! They’re secret!
1 || Make Sure You Have Baby Powder, Hair Spray, And A Diaper Pin On Hand For Your Big Day
Hairspray and baby powder can take care of sudden wedding dress stains. A diaper pin can hold up falling bustles, because they’re made for holding up sturdy fabrics, like you might find on…diapers.
2 || Hire A Planner And Wedding Pros That Understand Delicate Family Dynamics
“You have to be very sensitive to the family dynamics,” says Kennedy. “Are there any wild cards involved? Are there any relationships I need to be sensitive about?”
Do the future in-laws clash with each other? Is their gamesmanship, religious or political differences, or just general discord between parties involved in the wedding? The planner should know about these, yes, but so should the photographer, DJ, and everybody other wedding pro involved.
If not, you run the risk of having two people who hate each other made to hug for a photograph (or causing an awkward situation by refusing), or the DJ playing a song that has strong negative connotations to the family. No bueno. Keep your wedding pros informed to the hilt.
3 || No Unscripted Toasts
These, according to Kennedy, “don’t ever work out. In fact, they’re quite massive disasters.”
There’s strong consensus in the wedding pro community that these work out 0% of the time. Worst case scenario, Kennedy has been involved in weddings where the rogue toaster got thrown out for their offensive remarks.
**And if you want to see a terrible wedding toast, email me, I’ll share with you one toast that you’d never want at your wedding.**
Perhaps you feel that spontaneity is the soul of wit, but this is the biggest day of your life, so don’t take chances.
4 || Get You A Wedding Planner That Understands Both The Gravity And The Uniqueness Of Your Wedding.
Kennedy understands that “”with a wedding, you’re not just planning an event. You’re planning a once in a lifetime moment. There’s no dress rehearsals.”
That’s why the event – unless you want it this way – should not be about the planner and their grand ideas, but about you and YOUR grand ideas. “I truly, truly preach to my clients that this is YOUR wedding. You can do what you want,” says Kennedy.
5 || Know What You’re Getting, And Know The Costs.
Remember when I said to let your wedding planners know about any dicey family dynamics?
Seems like it was just a few items ago. One way to avoid any unforeseen unpleasantness – in that area or any other – is to have an detailed write-up of how the wedding and reception is to go down, from when to cut the cake to who sits where, ahead of time.
You can do this yourself, but better event planners will do this for you. Kennedy: “”I make my brides and grooms sign off on their ceremony outline so that there’s no question, ‘this is how it’s gonna be.’ and I seem like the bad guy.”
That last part is important when picking a wedding planner. Kennedy makes it a policy to run interference, so to speak, and be that bad guy when you’re forced to make decisions for your wedding that some guests will be unhappy with. Your planner should do the same.
Likewise, “Educating the brides on how much of an investment it is” is one of the things Kennedy has to do all the time. This is because, she says, brides and grooms rarely have any idea of how much wedding-related items and services cost.
If you want to avoid sticker shock, do some homework on the typical price in your area of everything from wedding cakes to wedding DJs.
So there you have it. Five hush-hush keys to make your wedding a low-risk, high-reward affair, all for the time it took to read this. What a time to be alive.
If you want more tips on how to make your wedding something the guests will talk about for years, sign up for your FREE copy of 3 Things You’re DJ won’t tell you about how to take your wedding from average to Legendary!
Then, make sure you come back here and…