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You're engaged!! Congratulations! Now you have an entire wedding to plan, and you feel like you're going crazy with all that there is to do! So much so that you're looking to hire a Dallas wedding planner to take some of this burden off your shoulders. :) So what exactly do wedding planners do to help their brides and grooms? There's a LOT of variations between wedding planners in Dallas, so in this blog post, we'll share with you exactly what we do as wedding planners and how we help our couples bring their Perfect Dream Weddings to life!
Are you a bride who feels like you have SO MANY ideas that you can't even choose which ones would be best? Or maybe you're the type of bride who has NO IDEA what you actually want!
Regardless of which type of bride you are, nailing down your wedding vision is the first thing that we'll do together! Once you book with us, we'll get a planning meeting scheduled right away. And in this planning meeting, we'll go through what we call the Wedding Vision Exercise! This is where we'll guide you through every part of your wedding day, without any inhibitions or expectations or obligations. You'll be able to freely imagine your Perfect Dream Wedding and what you and your fiancé actually want, instead of feeling that pressure to please everyone else.
The Wedding Vision Exercise will help you get crystal clear on every single part of YOUR Perfect Dream Wedding! Your venue, your food, your music, if you want more a formal or more laid-back feel, who you want as your bridesmaids, your desserts...every little thing. And by the time we're done, you'll have so much clarity on what your dream wedding looks like, feels like, and sounds like! You won't be confused anymore on what to choose. :)
After we finish the Wedding Vision Exercise, we immediately go into figuring out your priorities and the things that are MOST important to you! Because let me tell you, honey, not everything on that to-do list is a priority. You need to know which things are actually valuable to you and your fiancé! You need to know which things are worth spending your money on.
When you drive off in that limo, what will you be SO happy about? If you could only have 3 things at your wedding, what would they be? We'll go over all of this during our first planning meeting, so that we know what's most important to the two of you. And then, we can allocate your budget to those things first!
Now that we have your biggest priorities for the wedding day, we know exactly where to put your budget first! Because the last thing we want is that you spend money on something and later regret it. We want you to KNOW without a doubt that everything you're putting your budget toward is the perfect thing! We don't want you to settle on anything. So knowing your budget and knowing your priorities are a must to make sure that happens. :)
When we calculate your budget together, we'll figure out these 3 things:
These things are exactly what we as Dallas wedding planners help you with! We'll create your tangible total budget with you, we'll have a complete list of everything you'll need to pay for, and we'll give you an estimated budget that you can expect to spend based on what you're looking for!
Once we have 100% clarity on your wedding vision, we'll create your own personalized vision board for you! This will have your color palette, what your bridesmaids and groomsmen will wear, which flowers you'll have, your centerpieces and decorations, and just your overall theme!
The picture below is a board that we created for one of our couples. :)
As your Dallas wedding planners, we keep you on track throughout the entire wedding planning process! Every week, we'll send you an email that has your updates for the week (which vendor we're reaching out to for you, which vendor payment is due next, etc.), as well as your specific to-dos that you need to focus on! Then, you don't have to worry about if you're forgetting something, or if you should be doing a task that you didn't think about. We've got you covered there! Think of it like we're your project managers, keeping you on track with everything you need to do. :)
Throughout the planning process, we'll be using the Digital Wedding Planner to keep every detail organized and in one place! This resource is super helpful, because it has everything included: all your vendors, your guest list, your seating chart, your budget, your timeline and checklist, your music list, and all the other things you need to keep track of! It's a Google Sheet (similar to Excel) that each of us can go into to look at, make edits, and add things in! Because as your wedding planners, we want to plan your wedding WITH you, not FOR you. This is your Perfect Dream Wedding! You're in the driver's seat, and we're simply the navigators giving you advice on where to go. We're just the GPS with the directions, but you get all the say. :)
We'll help you find every vendor you need that's local to the Dallas Fort Worth area! (If you're getting married in Dallas, that is.) Your venue, caterer, baker, florist, decorator, DJ, photographer, videographer, security, bartenders...any and every vendor you need for your wedding day. :)
As we're finding all your wedding vendors, we use the Rule of 1 and 3. This simply means that we only focus on 1 vendor at a time, and we only give you 3 options at a time.
For example! Let's say we're finding your perfect wedding venue. We'll take your wedding vision (that we talked about in our first planning meeting) and go find 3 venues who fit your vision, who are available on your wedding date, and who fit your budget! We'll bring those 3 venues to you, and you'll take a look to see what you think. If you like any of those 3 venues, then we can schedule a tour! If you don't like any, then we go back to the drawing board and find 3 more venues for you who are a better fit for you. :) And we just rinse and repeat until you find one you love!
And same goes for every other vendor! We'll focus on finding only one at a time, with only 3 different options for that specific vendor at a time.
Because girl. Analysis Paralysis is a real thing, haha. Have you every typed into Google "Dallas wedding planners near me," and literally hundreds of results pop up? It's so overwhelming! So that's why we use the Rule of 1 and 3. To keep it simple and make sure you don't have too many options at once. :) So if we're still finding your venue, then we're going to focus on just that! We won't go looking for DJs or photographers, as well.
The whole reason why we became Dallas wedding planners is because we saw how stressed our friends were who were planning their weddings. :( It really broke our hearts! Because this should be one of the MOST EXCITING times for you! A time you can spend celebrating this covenant that you're about to make between your fiancé and the LORD! A time where you can spend quality time together and build a strong foundation for your future marriage. Not getting stressed out about napkin colors or cake flavors.
And that's why we became Dallas wedding planners and coordinators! To carry this burden for you. To be your wedding planning person and confidant and friend and counselor and therapist and mentor. To be someone who will be just as excited as you are to get married, if not more!! (We get pretty excited about our couples getting married, haha.)
So we are here for you whenever you need, girl. We have a 24/7 policy, which we really are serious about. Whether it's 2:00pm or 2:00am, we want you to reach out! If you had a wedding nightmare, please text us! Or call and leave a voicemail! We silence our phones when we need to. And who knows, maybe the Holy Spirit will wake us up. :) But we seriously want you to feel so welcome to reach out at any time of day, any day of the week. Because that's what we're here for! To help you in any way we can to make this time so special and memorable for you.
This is something that we offer as wedding planners that most other wedding planners in the Dallas area don't! Or really anywhere else that we know of. When you hire us as your wedding planners, we also include Christian premarital counseling free of charge to you! It's included in our wedding planning packages. :)
You'll be meeting with a couple who has over 50 years of marriage experience and who has counseled hundreds of Christian couples. The curriculum includes 5 sessions, and you can either meet in person in the Dallas Fort Worth area (they live in Arlington), or you could also meet via Zoom! The timing on the sessions is flexible, as well. You could meet every week, every other week, or once a month! You'll meet with them for about an hour to an hour and a half every week, and there's about two hours of homework for each session.
If you'd like to apply for our premarital counseling, please inquire with us for our wedding planning packages! Our premarital counseling is included with each package that we offer. :)
As your wedding day approaches, we'll reach out to confirm all your wedding vendors and everyone who has a job on your wedding day! We'll make sure they have the correct address, the correct times, the correct guest count, all the correct details, and anything else they need to know. :) We want you getting ready to be a beautiful bride, not worrying about if everyone will show up or not!
As your wedding planners, we will coordinate your entire rehearsal for you! Typically, your rehearsal is a day or two before your wedding day, but some venues require you to hold the rehearsal the morning of the wedding. Regardless when your rehearsal is, we'll take care of it! All you have to do is show up and make sure everyone gets there who needs to be there, and we'll handle the rest!
We'll let people know which order to walk down in, when to walk, where to walk, where to stand, how to stand, what to say...all the teeny tiny details. :) And we'll make sure to go through the entire thing a couple times, too, so that you and everyone else feels confident!
And finally, the most important thing that we do as your wedding planners is actually coordinating the day!! The day that you have put SO much time and love and thought into! And we're here to make sure everything goes PERFECTLY and exactly the way you imagined. Actually, scratch that. Even BETTER than you imagined. :)
With both our Day-Of Coordination Package and our Full Planning Package in the Dallas area, you'll get one wedding coordinator and a coordinator's assistant for 10 hours on the wedding day!
During the 10-hour window that you choose to have us, we will...
- Perfect your setup and décor
- Make sure you've have food and water (it's easy to forget when you're so excited!)
- Collect your details (things like your jewelry, shoes, bouquet, rings, veil, garter, etc.) for your photographer so they can start shooting right away when they arrive
- Check on the guys to make sure they're getting ready on time
- Help your vendors when they arrive and answer any questions they have
- Have a little pow wow with your DJ to make sure they have all the correct songs and know how to pronounce everyone's names correctly
- Make sure pictures start on time and that everyone's ready
- Line your family and wedding party up 15 minutes before the ceremony so we start right on time
- Cue the DJ to start the music
- Check on cocktail hour and the bar during the ceremony so they're ready to start serving
- Get you and your groom ushered one way and your guests the other way after the ceremony (so pictures don't get delayed!)
- Help your photographer with family photos if they need it
- Make sure your guests get to cocktail hour and know where they need to be
- Get you and your wedding party lined up for the Grand Entrance
- Let the DJ know when to announce the Grand Entrance
- Make sure the caterers are ready to serve dinner
- Make sure whoever's saying the blessing has a heads-up
- Get plates of food and drinks for the two of you
- Release each table to the buffet line if you're having a buffet
- Make sure everyone gets food and isn't left out
- Collaborate with the DJ for him to make an announcement for guests to go grab a drink for toasts
- Get the toasters ready for their toasts (tell them where to go and remind them to bring a drink to toast with)
- Prepare your dad and his mom for their dances with the two of you
- Get everything ready for your cake cutting
- Make sure people are signing your guest book and engaging in any other activities you have for them
- Prepare the items for send-off
- Get everything loaded up into your car that you need
- Make sure your wedding party is decorating your car if you want them to do that
- Remind your guests to take their wedding favors with them when they leave
- So much more!
Ultimately, we don't want you to worry about a single thing, so that you can just relax and enjoy your special day! We'll make sure everything is taken care of! And if anything doesn't go according to plan, you won't have any idea about it. ;)
If you'd like to inquire with us as your wedding planners for availability and pricing, please click the button below! We'll get back with you ASAP via email or text. :)
Are you interested in working with us on your wedding day? We’re Dallas wedding planners and coordinators who specialize in Christian weddings, and we help you plan every detail you need for your wedding so you can enjoy every moment of it! Fill out our contact form to see if we have your wedding date available! We're currently booking 2024 and 2025 weddings in the Dallas Fort Worth area. :)
We want to take a moment to thank all the phenomenal vendors who helped us with this wedding! It turned out absolutely perfect. :)
Wedding Planners & Coordinators: Chelsey Morin with Double Blessing Events
Wedding Venue: The Bowden Events and Weddings Venue in Keller, TX
Catering & Bar: The Bowden Events and Weddings Venue
Photography & Videography : Lorena & Jeff with Lorena Burns Photography + Films
Florals: Joche Westmoreland with Joche W. Events
Wedding Cake: Melisa Allen with Sweet by Design Cakes
Baklava: Iola Emes with Sara's Market & Bakery
Officiant: Frank DeLeo with LoveNotes Weddings
DJ & Photo Booth: Complete Weddings + Events
Hair & Makeup: Ana Lemons with Beauty by Ana Faith
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