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Bridal consultant, wedding planner, wedding designer, bridal coordinator - what is the difference, AND, do you need one for your wedding??
After listening to an amazing interview between Damien Allen of Vertio.net and Lois Pearce, a Master Bridal Consultant of Beautiful Occasions, (and our Expert!) it was vital that I share with you the highlights of this discussion.
Of course, you can also listen to Damien and Lois. Just click on the WeddingDetails Radio banner on the left.
Our site is dedicated to helping you plan your special day. If you have a tricky wedding question, just ask our experts, Lois, Sally and Paul. You can even contact our Vendors if you are looking for something in particular, but can't seem to locate it.
Congratulations on your engagement!
Linda Missler
WeddingDetails
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What is the difference between a wedding consultant, wedding planner, wedding coordinator or a wedding designer?
They are reasonably the same. The differences are the extensive service provided by the individual.
A consultant or a planner may provide information services much like an accountant or an attorney and can assist you on your wedding day.
A coordinator may specialize in pulling together all of the different facets of the wedding in addition to providing you with information and wedding day service.
A wedding designer, also called the wedding producer, may develop the concept, lead a team of specialists, plan, hire those vendors, and then orchestrate your event.
The differences between many of them come down to price more often. |
When should I hire a wedding consultant?
The sooner the better. If you are attempting to save money, you need to hire a consultant as soon as after your engagement as possible.
A professional consultant may have suggested vendors within your budget or recommendations that utilize their buying power. You're only going to use this vendor once, and therefore, the consultant will use or recommend them multiple times; therefore, she or he may have buying power that results in cost savings or even added value or services that you may not be able to get, because you are a one-time customer so the sooner the better. |
What are the benefits of turning to a Master Consultant, rather than listening to someone in the family?
The classification of master bridal consultant is a title through the Association of Bridal Consultants. The requirement is that you have gone through years of study and are working, teaching others to be consultants or working with the media. So you have a lot of experience.
Again, I had mentioned before about the fact that a consultant has buying power or has relationships with different vendors and understands what the particular vendor may be able to bring to you.
Your friend or your family member has your best interest at heart, but may not understand what you would like your event to particularly be like; a consultant is part psychologist, part event planner, also a good part friend, and can work with you in a way that can remove some of the emotion that a friend or a mother will have in making a decision.
They are objective, they are able to let their experience really just give you what you need and not be as emotional about it as a friend or a mother can be. |
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WEDDING LORE
The kiss that seals the wedding is much more than a sign of affection. It has long been a token of bonding - the exchange of spirits as each partner sends a part of them self into the new spouse's soul, there to abide ever after. |
What if the banquet facility has a wedding coordinator?
The banquet coordinator, her role or his role, is to make sure that the facility comes off looking like a star. So their primary interest is going to be to make sure that the wedding that the couple is planning is going off so that the facility looks good, that the food comes out when it should come out, that the bridal couple is prepared for different aspects of what their facility is coordinating.
An independent coordinator also works in a way as what used to be called a 'Lady in Waiting'. They are the ones who may be in the background, understanding the dynamics of family and friends, and making sure that people are where they need to be, that the time line is working accordingly, that people are being attended to, often start at the home where the bride may be getting dressed.
They may be at the site where the groom is getting dressed, they will definitely be at the church to make sure that the ceremony starts promptly, that the processional goes well, that the recessional as well occurs with the receiving line if they so choose.
The wedding coordinator at a banquet facility is only at the banquet facility. So depending on the dynamics of the wedding you are planning, you may or may not think of having an independent coordinator to be at the banquet, but there is also a role that can be done, because what will happen is if there isn't an independent planner at the facility, an outside planner, then the role of coordinator will fall to either the DJ, the band, or the photographer, and you want to allow them to do their job well and have one person who knows all the different parties and pieces and vendors and coordinate it with the banquet coordinator. |
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What type of training should my consultant have?
You are looking for someone who has had some business background, who has coordination skills in organizing people, as well as, logistics.
The training comes in various different forms. There are many online schools now, there's a course that is available through the Association of Bridal Consultants. For example I also give a training course for wedding consultants to be, and it's a matter of study.
There are persons who have come from the inside; they've been a banquet coordinator or they have worked for a banquet facility, or they have worked for a corporation as an event planner, but you're really looking for someone that has the skills of logistics, organization and lots of patience. |
How does ethnic and diversity differences impact the wedding?
Many couples now are multi-racial or inter-faithed, and multi-cultural, and once again they are trying to find a way to make their wedding unique. How do you bring some of these cultures together? You may have two different backgrounds who have been accustomed to having weddings in a certain way, and particularly for parents or grandparents. They need to be made comfortable at the wedding so that they will be comfortable with this relationship.
Let's say by using food or colors or clothing, or aspects of the different religions, and finding a way to intersperse these things throughout the wedding that in the end ends up being a more colorful wedding, a cultural rich wedding, a personalized wedding, and one that the guests will be able to look at and identify with.
A guest might comment 'Oh, I see they have used such and such a tradition from this part of the background, or ''I recognize a food that our culture enjoys.'
When you incorporate elements from both cultures, it gives the guests a wonderful experience on the day of the wedding where they feel they have been included, because the traditions and the culture and the ethnicities of the families have been represented. |
Are there any new trends in 2010 for Weddings?
Really what is old is new again. Today's bride is looking to definitely put a personal stamp on her wedding.
And that stamp has become what their grandmother may have done, more traditional, and even the traditional wedding of maybe 30-40 years ago really was a lot of fun. It had elegance, but there was a lot of fun and that has come back again.
These girls today are looking for beauty, they're looking for signature weddings, they're looking for personalization, but what they really want is fun. So what's old is new again.
Certainly with the fashion industry, there's always new colors that are coming more popular. This year's color, the 2010 color, is more of a purple and we are seeing some of that, a deep purple, in the wedding palette this year, but really what is old is new. |
Bachelorette Party - a funny video
A funny video on what you should and shouldn't do on your Bachelorette Party. (With a touch of Britney Spears in the background) |
Our site is dedicated to helping you plan your special day. If you have a tricky wedding question, just ask our experts, Lois, Sally and Paul.
If you are not engaged, we hope you will send this information to an engaged couple. We're here to help couples (and their families) plan their wedding!
We hope you will choose to be our Beautiful Bride!
Linda Missler
Wedding Details
P.S. Hope you enjoyed our great photos. These were provided by some of our professional photographers on www.weddingdetails.com. |
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