There are many blogs and articles out there about the virtues and benefits of hiring a wedding planner. Not surprisingly, most of these are written by wedding planners or wedding planning companies, but the best, and most honest, are written by couples who wish that they had hired a planner or scrambled to hire one at the eleventh hour.

We have to agree that there really is an immense value in hiring a wedding planner/coordinator/designer for a tented wedding. We applaud those that do the whole process without hiring one and have seen many people successfully do so. We have also seen the unsuccessful side of things where 2 months out from the event, the nerves set in, and everything that seemed like it would be so much fun now seems like a scary proposition. The advice that we give people is to at least consider a planner. At least peruse a few websites and see if any of their “visions” speak to you. If budget is holding you back, maybe call one or two, you’d be surprised that they aren’t all as expensive as you might expect especially when you consider that their valuable insight may save you money other places.

If you still decide that a planner just isn’t “your thing” or if it’s not in your budget then we definitely encourage hiring someone for “day of” services. This probably isn’t necessary at a venue with its own coordinator but if your chosen location doesn’t have one then, by all means, please consider it. The day of your wedding will be a frenzy of activity. All of the vendors really need one common thread in order to work together seamlessly and to keep the timeline running smoothly. The last thing that anyone in the wedding party (parents included) will want to do that day is to be that thread. For most planners “day of” is really a misnomer, as they actually get involved a few weeks to a few months out to do basic coordination. They do a double checking of all vendor contracts, time lines, orders placed etc. They’ll get to know you and what your day is supposed to be like so that they can execute all of your hard work!