Everyone knows that a wedding can get expensive very quickly – after all, there are so many pieces that go into making your special day a dream come true! Couples often think that if they hire their friends to save a little bit of money it will help ease the financial burden. When you try to save money on important features of your wedding, it usually creates more stress for all those involved. Hiring true wedding professionals is key to the success of your wedding running smoothly.

Scenarios:

Perhaps you have a favorite band that plays at your hometown hot spots or a DJ friend who plays at local clubs and has all his own equipment. They are awesome at what they do but without performing weddings as a profession they won’t know the standard timeline and how things are run: Do they know how to introduce your wedding party, announce your first dance and parent dances, and coordinate with your best man and maid of honor for their toasts? Most likely the answer will be no. A professional wedding DJ or band knows how important it is to orchestrate all of these formalities. They also guide you in determining your wedding reception timeline of when to do each of them throughout the night. Another important thing to remember is venues require insurance for your DJs and anyone else who is plugging into their power supply.

“My Aunt Susan makes delicious cakes and offered to make our wedding cake as a gift!” That’s so sweet! However, venues require you to have license and insurance for any food items that are being brought into your reception.

If you have a friend who has offered to be your photographer, they miss out on enjoying the festivities as a guest. Also, even if they have a really nice camera to take the photos, they probably do not have editing capabilities or printing possibilities the professional photographers do.

When you have décor that you created yourself and numerous other items that you want displayed throughout your wedding ceremony and reception space you may think “my mom will help set that up” or “my best friend will be able to do all that .” Your mom and closest friends should be alongside you getting pampered, sipping champagne, and enjoying all the pre-ceremony festivities instead of focusing on how your reception room turns out. This is why it is very important to hire a professional wedding planner who will be there on wedding day to ease all your worries and make sure that everything is set just as you imagined.

As you start planning your own wedding, keep all this in mind when you are researching and contracting with your vendors. Your venue coordinator can assist with recommending vendors who will fit within your budget and theme of your wedding.