I'm a Wedding Planner (ex) AMA

[tootsieglitterballs]

I’m a wedding planner (however I’ve currently left the wedding world to make babies) - ask me anything!

What is the biggest budget you've ever had to work with?

Most bizarre request that you’ve had to deal with?

What are the things that make the best and worst weddings?

What's your worst bridezilla story?

I was also going to ask worst bridezill tale.

Biggest budget - £400k+

Most bizarre request... fluff the grass 🤣

Things that make the best and worst weddings:

Best - small, intimate, not too much ‘fuss’ with meaningful details , not doing things just for the sake of it.

Worst - the list is endless. But the single thing that makes a wedding really bad, and that I have seen over and over again, is when the wedding becomes more important than the marriage. A la Carrie & Big.

The worst bridezillas stories rarely involve brides! It’s normally the grooms who are control freaks and take over planning every detail who become groomzillas .

I’ll rack my brains for the best groomzilla story, as in all honesty, the really bad groomzillas always end up being rather nasty too, so I try to block those weddings out of my mind 😔

Oh, and fathers of brides who get too involved 🙄

The worst mother & father of the bride story was a sad one really. They believed because they were paying for everything that they could make all the decisions, choose all the guests, and even stay in the honeymoon suite at the venue. They fell out with the bride & groom over it all, were banned from the wedding (the budget for drastically cut so they could pay for it themselves) and they haven’t spoken to them since. This was over 10 years ago. All over one blooming day 😔

Can you tell if the couples look like they will divorce?

@bluetrampolines Generally, yes. I’ve only ever had a couple of surprise divorces, most of the ones who have got divorced I thought would! I usually got it right from the first meeting!

@bluetrampolines sometimes i don’t get the feeling until the wedding day itself though, it’s often in the dress.

The dress? That sounds strange. How do you mean?

@bluetrampolines it’s bizarre really, but you can tell a lot about the bride / wedding etc by the choice of dress for that particular bride. You get to know a bride over the course of a year or 2 of planning , and often the choice of dress can speak volumes. Most people wouldn’t get anything like divorce vibes from a choice of dress, but after 15 years, you do get vibes!

I'm intrigued by the dress thing too. Can you give an example? Is it if they're a couple who can't agree then there's a flashy dress? Something like that?!

Like a boring man and a vavavoom dress?

How do you get into this type of work?

What's the worst thing you have ever had happen while planning a wedding?

A good example is the try to hard dress, combined with far too much makeup and a hairstyle that just doesn’t suit the bride! That’s usually a good indicator if that’s not the norm for that particular bride.

Do you get what you pay for with suppliers or is it always worth negotiating?

Worst thing was actually at a wedding when a guest actually died - it was terribly tragic , and a grandparent.

Worst thing in the planning has been dealing with different religions in terms of 2 different faiths, and parents being anti wedding, but if the wedding goes ahead it must be done to their faith etc. That’s very hard to manage.

Suppliers - yes and no!

Paying more certainly does NOT guarantee you a better supplier, however going for a cheap supplier does usually mean not up to standard.

It is however always worth negotiating for value added rather than a cheaper price, but the best suppliers may simply just turn down your business as they know they can get their fee from someone else easily.

A bad supplier will chase and chase and chase you, and will keep reducing their price / throwing more in. Those should be warning bells.

How do you know if a couple end up divorced? Do you keep in touch with all the people you plan weddings for?

@Samewitches I have stayed in touch with many of my couples - some I’ve become firm friends with , however the wedding world is a funny old world - there’s always someone that knows someone. Most of the time though I’ve heard from a supplier who has perhaps been at another wedding they have been at. Luckily my divorce rate isn’t that high!