Planning a wedding can be a stressful task. That’s one reason couples say “I do” to enlisting the services of a wedding planner.
A wedding is supposed to be a happy day, but the year or so of planning to get to that day can strain relationships and fray nerves. Of course, nobody will forget to order the wedding dress, but there are
dozens of small details to consider before the day. Hiring a wedding planner is like having an assistant who can do the legwork.
“I helped plan my best friend’s wedding and I am confident I could plan my own. Still, I wanted somebody to make sure I didn’t forget anything,” says bride-to-be Lyndsay Pearce, who will tie the knot with
Chris Cowell Aug. 28. “It’s nice to have a person who can make sure things are done.”
Traditionally, the mother and friends of the bride would pitch in to help make arrangements for everything from caterers to florists, the limousine, photographers and the flower girl’s dress.
But most women have full-time jobs and don’t have time to spare. Some couples are also hesitant to leave the planning to amateurs.
A professional wedding planner’s role is to make sure everything runs smoothly.
“My job is to make sure all a couple has to do is to show up and have a great time,” says Barbara Hastings-McLeod of Sweet Beginnings Wedding Consulting. “Depending on the bride, I can help set timelines,
find vendors, put together a budget and co-ordinate events up to the end of the big day.”
She says her clients are often shocked by the time required to attend to all the small details that planning a wedding entails.
Each couple has individual needs, so fees vary. A full wedding planning package generally costs $2,000 or Hastings-McLeod can be hired for $750 just to co-ordinate events on the day of the wedding. She
doesn’t receive fees from the suppliers she recommends.
“I figure I couldn’t have done it more cost-effectively,” says Pearce, who admits she had no clue where to start to look for some suppliers.
But not every couple chooses to hire a wedding planner. They can draw on the services of a hotel’s catering manager. Most hotels have banquet rooms suitable for a wedding reception, in-house catering
facilities and rooms to accommodate out-of-town guests. Apart from arranging the reception venue, the catering manager can be a wealth of free information.
“Frequently we are the first point of contact for brides-to-be,” says Leigh-Ann Stephenson, the catering manager at the Four Points by Sheraton Victoria Gateway, which will see about 20 wedding parties this
year.
“You can’t have a wedding date until you have a venue for the reception, so we’re usually the first people 1/8couples 3/8 see.”
She says catering managers often work with the couple or wedding planner to arrange details for the reception — and sometimes even the ceremony — on the premises.
The service offered by catering managers is included in the cost of the room booking, making it a popular alternative for budget-conscious couples. But Stephenson points out catering managers cannot provide
assistance on other personal details a couple might need help with, such as working on dress and tuxedo fittings or renting limos. They can recommend suppliers or put couples in touch with wedding planners
if extra help is needed.
The major difference between a couple attempting to co-ordinate the wedding details on their own and a wedding planner is that the latter has done it more than once and knows what to anticipate, say experts.
“Typically, brides-to-be will focus on the frilly stuff and not think about the mechanics to make it happen,” says Kluane Bickerton, a former wedding planner who now publishes Weddings West, a wedding
planning directory.
“It sounds lovely to hold the ceremony outdoors. She may anticipate ordering portable washrooms. But will she know to get one with a door wide enough for her to fit into wearing a wedding gown? If the
ceremony is to be performed on a beach will she remember to warn people beforehand to wear flat shoes?”
Oversights such as these are easy to make and hard to forget when they happen.
Bickerton says a wedding planner’s strength is knowing the right questions to ask and being the go-to person when things go awry.
She cringes when she recounts one wedding she attended where the caterer didn’t show up, the bride needed to have her dress stitched up on her wedding day and the music consisted of a tape recorder.
“No one seemed to know what to do. Everybody was running around asking: ‘Weren’t you supposed to do that?’ ” says Bickerton, who worked as a planner for 15 years.
“There was nobody in charge.”
That’s when the services of a wedding planner can be invaluable.
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Despite not having any industry experience in wedding planning, Khoo Kien Ling has set up such a school, relying on her strengths and love for happy endings, writes MEENA SREENIVASAN
Khoo (left) with two of her students who work with her now
SHE found the perfect career by marrying her eye for detail with her love for happy endings. Khoo Kien Ling took the bold step of setting up Adamas School of Weddings last year and has never looked back since. Prior to wedding planning, she spent almost five years in research at University of Leicester in the United Kingdom.
She received her doctorate in 2003 upon completion of her PhD in Computational Modelling and Dielectric Properties of the Hollandite (a natural occurring mineral or compound in the ground).
After working as a quality management representative for three years, she decided to to pursue her passion in wedding planning.
Most might find the transition from science researcher to wedding planner odd, but Khoo says the connection between science and weddings is not all that different.
“Both have a common base and require analysis, concept, execution and action.” She sees wedding planning as understanding the couple (analysis), proposing concepts that the couple may like (concept), looking for the right vendors for the wedding within the couple’s budget (execution), and making the couple’s big day a success (action).
“It’s quite simple. You need to believe in fairy tales and dreams for them to come true,” she quips, adding that since young she has loved to plan themed birthday parties and help out at family functions and events.
Without any industry experience in wedding planning, she’s banking on her strengths such as attentiveness to build her wedding school.
“My philosophy is that to-be-wed couples should be stress-free on their big day because it’s a once-in-a-lifetime occasion.” Adamas School of Weddings is the only licensed institute in the country which offers the Weddings Beautiful Malaysia & Singapore course to produce wedding specialists. Its first intake was last November.
The course is licensed by Weddings Beautiful Worldwide, US.
Since becoming a certified wedding planner by Weddings Beautiful Worldwide two years ago, not only has she set up a school, but also currently serve as president of Weddings Beautiful Malaysia & Singapore, lecturer for Weddings Beautiful Malaysia & Singapore, International Division of Weddings Beautiful Worldwide, and community leader of The Association of Wedding Professionals International. On how her school got its name, Khoo says: “Adamas means diamond in Greek. This precious stone symbolises love between a couple. It’s hard to find a diamond with the perfect cut, making it precious, and that’s how Adamas sees weddings.” Students will be exposed to industry requirements such as fabric knowledge and whatever that’s relevant to wedding planning.
“Besides classroom learning, we believe practical lessons are important for hands-on skills and expertise. So students will undergo practical training with real clients,” says Khoo.
Conducted in English and Mandarin, the course will see students developing proposals for couples with detailed questionnaires and market pricing for wedding planner services, inculcating time-consciousness as time is vital for wedding planning, drafting and negotiating contracts with vendors and clients, and learning the protocols, customs and traditions of various cultures to provide couples with the relevant advice. Students will also learn the latest trends and styles in bridal fashion, and effective management and communication techniques. The course can be taken through a self-learning home study programme or classes at Adamas. The home study option costs RM3,000 and takes a year to complete while the school option goes for RM7,500 and includes lectures, tutorials and practical sessions with industry professionals. For further enquiries, please call 012-550 3378 or visit www.adamasweddings.com
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Seating Chart Strategy
According to Mindy Weiss, there’s no right or wrong way, but she believes “the good old-fashioned way for seating” is to lay everything out visually.
“It is good to write the guests’ names on individual index cards and then start grouping the groups of people together,” she says.
In her “Wedding Book,” Weiss also suggests writing down names on Post-it notes and using paper plates to represent the tables.
The more modern approach, she says, is to “use an Excel spreadsheet to group tables.”
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-discuss your budget with everyone who’ll be contributing to the event
-interview wedding planners, if using one
-pick the ceremony site and meet with the officiant
-work on the guest list to get a rough head count
-visit reception sites and reserve one
-shop for your gown
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A. Start by cutting back on the options. To prevent the guests from noticing, vary the types of drinks and liqour you do offer. Try selecting three specialty drinks: one that’s “girly” such as a fruity daiquiri; another that’s masculine, like a Manhattan, made with whiskey; and a third that’s in between, such as a champagne cocktail (made with a dry sparkling wine, which is less costly). Also provide a red and a white wine, and only two types of beer. Have the cocktails premixed in pitchers so you can save on bartender fees – all they’ll have to do is shake and serve- and buy larger bottles of liquor, which are a better value. A final trick is to have the cocktails passed as guests enter the room. More times then not, they’ll happily accept a drink from the tray and won’t even realize there’s a limited bar.
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