I’m a wedding planner, and I’ll be quite honest, this job is pretty much overrated. Wedding planning, for the most part, is glorified waitering. You order off the menu, the waiter brings what you want (efficiently), end of story. For something so simple, you would think it would be easy to find a good waiter – I mean wedding planner. Think again. You’ll run into more bad planners than good. They don’t answer their phone, they are disorganized, dishonest, and some are just flat-out stupid.
So why would you want to hire one? I’ll get to that.
THE PROS: If you’re dealing with a good wedding planner in Hawaii, they can make everything very easy. Most are a one-stop shop, like myself, and they can get almost everything for you. If they can’t get it for you, they’ll refer that business out.
THE CONS: Many wedding planners are dishonest. Their pockets are greased, meaning they’ll push business to vendors who give the biggest kickback to them. Now, I’m not self-projecting here, as I don’t get any kickback, from any of my vendors. Some wedding planners are cheaters. I knew a planner who told their couple to spend $110 on food for their reception, then hired a caterer who charged $30 per head. The wedding planner was pocketing $80 per head, making more than the caterer. Can you believe that? That’s just horrible. They’re supposed to look out for the couple, not profit from them.
Dishonesty can come in all forms. I’ve done photo work for other wedding planners and I’ve seen my photos appear on their websites. I was not credited with those photos. Instead, my work was used to book clients for them. And the wedding planning company, my competitor, wouldn’t hire me to deliver the quality advertised on their website to their couples.
SHOULD YOU HIRE A COORDINATOR? YES AND NO.
Let me state the obvious. You should not hire a dopey-dishonest-doofus coordinator. If you call a company up and you say to yourself, “I dunno about this person, they sound pretty dopey,” then don’t go with them.
- If you’re eloping or planning a small wedding, want to save money, or are hands-on, for the most part, the answer is “you don’t need to hire a coordinator” If you use google and yelp efficiently, you should be able to find great vendors. All you need to know is that you need to find a minister that is licensed by the State of Hawaii and that you need to go to the Department of Health to get your marriage license.
- If you want to make everything much easier, then the answer is “yes.” Then you can hire me out and make my wallet very happy – haha. I’m a dude who is a professional photographer/videographer who’s been in the wedding industry for 20 years, and can plan weddings with one hand tied behind my back. Hate to brag, but I’ve done over 6000 weddings so far, and have far more experience than most of these fools. And I’m honest – unlike these other fools (man, I sound like Mr. T!) Prices will be a tad more expensive than if you were to do it on your own, but nothing that would rob your bank account.When you book one of my Hawaii Wedding Packages, you’ll automatically get planning “glorified waitering” with each package, and if you read my reviews, you should be happy. I’m easy to reach all the time, just don’t call when the Philaldelphia Eagles are playing, or on Super Bowl Sunday or else I will not forgive you.
Steve Young
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