#164 Finding the "perfect" planner for you

For the past 12 years, Meredith Commender, CSEP (certified special events professional), has been the Owner, Lead Event Coordinator & Designer at Significant Events of Texas - an event coordination firm based in Dallas producing an average of 50 events each year including weddings, social events, corporate events, and charitable events. She is a regular speaker for various Event Industry organizations in North America as well as at Event Industry Conferences. Meredith joins Christy to speak about how to pick the perfect planner for your wedding. Big Takeaways The average wedding in Dallas right now is around $45k-$75k. When you are in the average budget range, it opens you up to the largest segment of the market. By working with a variety of budgets, your planner will be able to work with all kinds of vendors, and not be limited, which is important for diverse clientele and making your big day unique. Though capturing beautiful, happy moments is valuable, you can’t communicate how smoothly a wedding went with just pictures. That’s why it’s great to have testimonials with each event. Both Christy and Meredith share photos on instagram and social media throughout the wedding. If nothing else, it gives the couple something to look back on and celebrate immediately that evening. Factors to consider when a wedding planner chooses a client and vice versa: Availability Budget (planners tend to be 10-20% of it) Responsiveness Do you get along? Personality clicking is important. Be realistic about your family dynamics Know what you want out of it Know yourself, know the situation before you bring a planner in. Interview the planner, be upfront if your family might be a difficult situations! No one wants to be surprised or feel bad. Just make sure the fit is right. Your planner should help you make your dreams come true, but you also must be able to understand limitations. Overall, compromise and understanding are super important on both sides. No planner should make you feel like the things that are important to you are weird, or bad, or crazy. Links we referenced www.significanteventsoftexas.com instagram.com/significanteventsoftexas The Big Wedding Planning Podcast is... Hosted and produced by Michelle Martinez. Edited by Veronica Gruba Music by Steph Altman of Mophonics On Instagram @thebigweddingplanningpodcast and be sure to use #planthatwedding when posting, so you can get our attention! Inviting you to become part of our Facebook Group! Join us and our amazing members. Just search for The Big Wedding Planning Podcast Community on Facebook. Easy to get in touch with. Email us at [email protected] or Call and leave a message at 415-723-1625 and you might hear your voice on an episode On Patreon. Become a member and with as little as $6.99 per month, you get 2 exclusive, ad-free episodes, + Zoom Happy Hour with Michelle and fellow patrons every month! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices