WEDDING PLANNERS: 10 Things You MUST Do Before Your Client Walks Down The Aisle
by Debbie Tobias
As a professional wedding planner, overseeing your client's wedding day is the culmination of months of planning. As you finalize the preparations for the big day, keep these 10 Wedding Day tips in mind..
1. Check the local weather forecast & traffic reports
A quick check and you'll know whether the forecast has changed since last evening. Your local DOT website should announce any major road works or closures; knowing that information ahead of time, allows you to make any alternate arrangements for transportation.
2. Have the bride and bridesmaids wear button-front or zippered shirts
No doubt the female members of the bridal party will be having hair and possibly their makeup professionally applied before the ceremony. Suggesting button-up or zippered clothing makes the change into their dresses easy and avoids the issue of destroying makeup application and hairstyles.
3. Suggest hair before makeup
Styling hair usually requires hair being wet which can ruin a makeup application. And hairstyles that require heat will likely cause sweating and cause makeup to run. Hair spray can also ruin a makeup application. So avoid a potential disaster by suggesting the ladies do hair before applying makeup.
4. Deliver snacks to the bridal party
Arrange for the delivery of a snack basket to both male and female bridal party members while they are dressing for the wedding. Fruit, crackers, and water are good ideas. The cost is minimal and it lets your clients know that you've thought of everything. **Tip: suggest that an upbeat CD play in the background too. It gets everybody in fantastic mood.
5. Carry copies of each contract,
each vendor's contact information, time lines and a fully-charged cell phone. And make sure you have cell numbers where you can reach someone on the wedding day. Having the cake maker's office number is useless if s/he is out delivering cakes!
6. Make follow-up delivery calls
Make sure that items are delivered as scheduled and listed on your timeline. You don't want to wait until you arrive at the reception site—20 minutes before the cocktail hour--to discover the wedding cake has not been delivered as planned.
7. Have a 'risk assessment' plan in mind
Sounds pretty serious, I know. But as a professional wedding planner, thinking ahead is an absolute must! Just be mindful of some common wedding day risks that could occur and how you will potentially deal with them. For example:
* Vendor no-show (no cake, no DJ)
* Severe Weather Conditions (high winds, lightning)
* Union staff at the reception site goes on strike
* Streets around the venue are closed (car accident, water main break)
Think through what the most likely risks are for your wedding and have a 'plan B' (and possibly a 'plan C') in mind.
8. Familiarize yourself with the area hospital locations
Hopefully you will never have to utilize this tip. But just in case, keep the address and directions of the nearest area hospitals and/or urgent care facilities with you. Of course, having this information doesn't replace the use of 911 in the case of emergencies, but is helpful if someone needs it. Also ask your clients if they know of any guests that have a chronic illness (such as diabetes, asthma) that may possibly require immediate medical action.
9. Prepare a security plan –
Outside of managing a high-profile or celebrity wedding, your security plan should be relatively simple. The wedding gifts are usually the largest assets, so be sure to have a plan in place as to how gifts are monitored and secured. Whether or not you decide to take on the personal responsibility of managing gifts, you should discuss a plan with your clients to deliver gifts safely after the reception.
10. Make sure your emergency kit is ready to go.
Your emergency kit is a vital piece of equipment for the wedding day and contents vary for each wedding planner. But whatever you plan to have in your emergency kit, gather items before you need them. The day before the wedding isn't the time to do this! Replenishing items immediately after each wedding is a good rule of thumb to follow.
HAPPY PLANNING!
© 2009 Debbie A. Tobias. All Rights Reserved.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Wedding expert and self-proclaimed life-of-the party, Debbie Tobias, is the creator of Weddings For A Living, a wonderful, one-of-a-kind resource for wedding planners and wedding professionals who want to skyrocket` their wedding planning business to ultimate success.
NOTE: You're welcome to reprint this article online as long as it remains complete and unaltered (including the "about the author" info at the end), and you send a copy of your reprint to debbie@weddingsforaliving.com.
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