Wedding Planner Interview for Brides

I came across this while I was archiving my emails late last night and I thought that it would be great to share with brides. It is by far one of the most thorough interviews I was ever asked to complete. After I sent it back to the potential client, we had a phone consult, which we could use to talk more about her wedding- so efficient. I should have known; turns out she was an event planner.

1. Is wedding planning your only job?
2. How many clients do you have right now?
3. How many weddings have you planned & designed, start to finish?
4. How many weddings have you planned and executed in the last 24 months?
5. How many weddings have you coordinated (wedding day coordination)in the last 24 months?
6. Who were the last 4 photographers you worked with?
7. What venues have you worked at in the last 6 months?
8. Can I get a recommendation from one of your last 4 full service clients?
9. Can I get a recommendation from one of your last 4 coordination clients?
10. Where can I see samples of your creative or design work? And are all the pictures on your website weddings that you planned?
11. Are contracts with vendors with my name or yours?
12. Do you only work with select vendors or at select locations?
13. Have you ever worked for the venues you now plan weddings at?
14. Do you accept any kick-backs or commissions?
15. Do you offer invitation etiquette assistance?
16. Can I order any products from you, such as linens, invitations, and chairs?
17. How quickly can I expect replies to phone calls and emails?
18. Do you have assistants that will be helping at my wedding day? How many?
19. Will you be on site the entire length of my wedding day?
20. Are your rates negotiable?

Want to know my answers? Check back tomorrow!

Preferred Vendor Lists

Recently I was meeting with one of my clients, reviewing all the plans for her wedding. When we got to the videography tab in my planning binder, I asked a few basic questions and her answers lead me to realize that she had hired this company without doing research. I cringed. She had selected them simply because they were on the venues preferred vendor list. She hadn't seen one of their wedding videos or even a wedding clip, She didn't know what her tangible product would be or what options she would have, or how this compared to other vendors who charged the same amount. This isn't the first time I've heard this from clients.

You wouldn't choose your venue ONLY because you saw it in your favorite magazine, so don't take this path with any other part of your plans.

You'd consider the costs, the location, the menus available, the atmosphere, the contract terms, what you get for your dollar, etc.
The good thing is that you can trust that preferred vendors are well versed on the property. Most of the time (please note that I did not say always), its okay to trust that the professionals on venue lists are quality, dependable wedding vendors. But this is not always the case, and there's much more to consider than this.

A few things to keep in mind when you start your vendor planning:
1. Realize that some venues charge vendors to be on their venue list or pay a commission every time they work there.
2. Realize that there may be many other reputable high quality vendors that are better for your event, better suited for your personality, offer better services/products.
3. Invest the time to compare. Get samples of each professionals work that applies to what you are asking for, and compare to other professionals.
4. Don't rule out vendor lists, but don't make them your play book either.
5. Get referrals from everyone, other vendors and previous brides (recent brides, married in the last 16 weeks).
6. Check out wedding planners blogs. Wedding planners are notorious for only highlighting good professionals because these are vendors who are good to their clients.
7. Remember that price is not everything and that great marketing is just that- great marketing (look deeper).
8. Look for experience and talent.

A few wedding planner-bloggers who highlight great wedding pros (and there are many many more (check out "My Friends say" on the right sidebar):
www.blog.emilieduncan.net
www.perfectpartysolutions.blogspot.com
www.weddify.com
www.greenweddingshoes.blogspot.com
http://www.stellaeventdesign.com/blog/

My email is down

Good evening everyone. I wanted to let you know that my Weddings by Socialites email has been down and out for the majority of the day today (Sunday Feb. 8th) and may be down for a couple days. The "engineers" are working on it, and hopefully it will return sooner than later.
In the meantime, please email me at the WeddingTidbits{at}gmail.com address.
Thank you very much in advance for your patience and even more so, for reading my blog!

The Legality of Destination Weddings

The first question we had in planning our destination wedding was whether the marriage would be legally recognized in the United States.

The U.S. State Department actually has a website for U.S. citizens interested in getting married in a foreign country.

You need to follow the legal procedures of the country where you will be married. Most countries have residency requirements (the length of time before the wedding you need to be in the country). In the Bahamas, the residency requirement was one day. However, Tahiti has a residency requirement of 30 days, essentially eliminating it as a potential location for destination weddings.

You will need to produce legal documentation (usually your passports), but could also include birth certificates, death certificates (widow/widower) and/or divorce decrees. Since this was the first marriage for both us, we only needed our passports and copies of our birth certificates. In the Bahamas, we also needed to go through a brief interview with a local official (about 10 minutes). We did not need to do a blood test, which can be a major issue for some people getting married in some countries (including Mexico).

The other major issue that people encounter is getting their marriage certificates/licenses translated into English (which is required for your marriage to be legal in the U.S.). The official language of the Bahamas was English, so we did not have any troubles. We wisely obtained multiple notarized copies of our license, which came in handy when we got home. We needed extra copies of the license for the name change.

Destination weddings can introduce some additional hopes you might need to jump through with respect to legal issues, but it is not a major problem.

Engagement Sessions for just $25!

One of my favorite photography studios, Impressions Photography, is having their annual engagement portrait mini session day on March 1st.
You know what makes me really happy to pass along this information? The session fee, which is typically $150 (and worth every penny) is just $25 and its going to be a donation to the Animal Refuge Center!
Oh, and remember this mornings post about the PWG blog? Here's a link to their blog post on making the most of your engagement session. One of the things they mention is having your hair & makeup professionally done for the shoot. I agree something fierce.
Hmmm, I wonder if they'd take a picture of my pooch since I'm already married?
Don't wait to reserve your session, the day is certain to sell out.

Scrappy Jack Bauer McWilliams

The Perfect Wedding Guide

{Resource for you} If you haven't figured it out already, not all wedding pros are listed in one place. Can you imagine how awesome that would be? Anyway, browse the web to get a good idea of who is out there.
Last week I bumped into the Perfect Wedding Guide (via twitter) and I have to admit, I was pleasantly surprised by what I found! They have very easy to use planning tools. The seating chart manager alone could keep you from losing your bridal sanity. There's also about a million wedding vendors listed (slight exaggeration), bridal show listings, tips and giveaways.
And of course, they have a blog. More importantly, a good blog- full of tips that are worth searching the archives for.
The PWG doesn't have a big presence in our immediate neck of the woods (they should come to the We Wed brunch!), but if you're just about anywhere else in the country- you are in luck!

Because I love to look at chic things

Add the word "wedding", and I'll usually come running.
I love this book and I think you will too. Colin Cowie nailed it again. Frankly, he never fails me. So yes, this was my book buy this week. There are so many fabulous ideas and pictures to get you started on making your wedding that much more special, it's amazing.

Next week I think I may go after this one, Beautiful Weddings, by Carole Hamilton, which I just found on Amazon: