10 Things A Wedding Planner Does That You May Not Know About

As a Wedding and Event planner, we have many tasks that are familiar to the vast majority of people. What you may not know is that there are things we do outside of the norm and I’ve listed my top 10 things a wedding planner does that you may not know about.  All of these things I’ve done at some point or another as well as many of my colleagues. It’s imperative that a wedding planner is well versed as well as being able to adapt to any situation that may arise.

• Pin boutonnieres: It’s often assumed that the florist will be there to pin on the boutonnieres for the groom and groomsmen. Many brides don’t know that it’s the job of the wedding planner to make sure that they’re securely fastened and on the correct lapel.
• Repair wedding cakes: There are times when the wedding cake falls apart or succumbs to the heat of warmer temperatures. As a wedding planner, repairing a wedding cake, without it appearing to be damaged, requires quick thinking. Sometimes it’s with flowers and other times, it’s adding more icing. In either case, the planner needs to be able to think fast.
• Cut wedding cakes: Sometimes, a venue doesn’t cut the cake or there is a cake-cutting fee to do so. There are some brides that either don’t have it in their budgets or the fee is simply too much, such as $1.50 per guest to cut the cake. Although a wedding planner doesn’t cut wedding cake often, once the baker has left and the venue isn’t cutting it, the cake needs to be cut somehow while ensuring that there are enough portions for your guests. So, it’s up to the wedding planner to ensure the guests get dessert.
• Create ring bearer pillows: Although the ring bearer bowl and the ring bearer box is the latest trend, the ring bearer pillow is still widely used. In the hustle and bustle of planning and the many details to consider, it can sometimes be overlooked. With tools in the emergency kit, a wedding planner can quickly create a “pillow”, with a little ingenuity and the items around her, that’s sufficient for the little guy to walk down the aisle.

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• Serve meals: The bride and groom should always be served first, regardless if it’s a plated meal or buffet style dinner.  When the meal is a buffet style dinner, it’s not appropriate to have the bride and groom walk through the buffet line. If there aren’t enough servers provided by the caterer or the venue, the wedding planner should be prepared to serve the bride and groom, which I’ve done a few times.
• Make bouquets: Whether it’s an oversight of the florist, a bouquet left behind at the ceremony site, or simply the bouquet has fallen apart before the reception. Once the florist has gone, the wedding planner often has to make a bouquet on the spot for the bride or one of the bridesmaids with the flowers that have been left behind by the florist or repair the ones in the present bouquet.
• Stage detail shots: With your wedding planner, you’ve worked so hard to put every detail together and make it special. When capturing the events of the day, sometimes a wedding planner needs to step in, with specific items, and help stage them, with the photographer, to captured in a memorable photograph. We always like to get an extra set of the stationery and jewelry for moments such as this.

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• Bustle wedding dresses: Every bride is different. When selecting her wedding dress, she may take an entourage of friends and family and sometimes include her wedding planner in the process of the selection. When it’s time to learn how to bustle the dress, the friends and family may be too caught up in the excitement of the moment to focus on how to do so. It’s then the job of the wedding planner to know how to bustle the dress so that the bride is comfortable upon entering the reception and able to dance the night away.
• Sew guests into dresses: Believe it or not, some guests’ dresses are too tight or they just dance right out of them, ripping a seam. Every wedding planner needs to have in her emergency kit some needle and thread and be ready to sew at a moment’s notice.
• Fire bridal party members: Selecting the people that will stand beside you on your wedding day is a big deal and shouldn’t be taken lightly. Many couples put a lot of thought into the selection and some feel that they have to choose out of obligation. However the decision is made, sometimes the person doesn’t work out, for various reasons. It is not uncommon to have the wedding planner to break the news as it may be a little less bitter for the person to take. If the bride delivers the message, there’s a chance that the friendship can’t be repaired later on, where’s there’s no emotional attachment if it comes from the wedding planner.

Wedding planning looks very glamorous when you see the end product. It’s hardly ever seen what goes on behind the scenes. I hope this list of things a wedding planner may do, that you may not be aware of, has given you a little insight.

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