Getting married involves a series of evaluations that transcend the dimension of the event. Don’t believe your friends who took just over three days to decide everything, because what they put into such a flexible concept is all the details, not the organization of an event. After setting the budget, setting the date, setting the agenda, you have to stay calm, arm yourself with patience and read what the Wedding Planner we asked our questions, Alessandra Marciano , owner with Manila Sorvillo , of the SposiAmo agency advises us. of Pavia. 1) The organization of a wedding is always a tiring but happy operation
Yes… Following our spouses is often tiring, whether it is a few services or a complete wedding. The beauty of this job is precisely the complicity that is created with them, but this means that they often rely completely on you and your professionalism, putting their most important day in your hands, whether it is simply the choice of a participation or whether it is the organization as a whole. This means working every time as if you were actually organizing your own wedding, because you know that you cannot disappoint that couple, precisely because of the trust they place in you. And this is very tiring … those who have already tried their hand at organizing their wedding know what I’m talking about. Here, think about organizing your wedding 50 times …
In addition, there is often a slightly distorted image of the Wedding Planner. We imagine a girl dressed elegantly who accompanies you to choose certain services and that on the wedding day she stands there to check that everything is fine. Few know what there is because somehow all those beautiful settings have to be created, assembled, painted, transported; they do not know that we stay awake nights and nights preparing, planning, creating; they don’t know that on the wedding day we often spend 30 hours without sleep to make sure that everything is perfect when the first guests arrive and that when the last guest is gone for us the work starts again: disassemble, fix, load , clean up…. In short,
But when you deliver a participation, when you deliver a wedding favor, when you satisfy a bride’s wish or, even more, when one of your couples is in front of the altar, you can’t help but be moved and tell yourself that THAT is the job you want. do. Being able to make a couple’s dreams come true pays off for all the sleepless nights. 2) What moves a young professional to deal with the hysteria of a betrothed, her family and the management of a portfolio / budget
I believe that in this job the passion for what you do is very important. Making events, managing the organization of every little detail has always been in me, since high school…. From there to decide that in life I wanted to do that was a moment. And it takes a lot of empathy. It must be understood that the bride, even if she asks you for the pink bow and, when you give it to her, says that it is not how she wants it, but of a different shade, and subsequently it will not go well yet, she does not do it because she is hysterical, but because he wants his day to be perfect and he is afraid … He is afraid that something will not go as he always dreamed of, but above all there are often deeper fears, combined with the emotion that they are about to start a new life, they are about to create a new family… Each bride, in her own way, will be nervous and hysterical. Our job is to help her overcome her fears. As well as helping her manage the family, which often makes the bride even more hysterical, advising a thousand different things and instilling doubts … Always trying to understand that in reality they do so because for them it is certainly a nice change. Regarding the budget, in this historic moment, it is very important to respect it. And being able to give the spouses what they dream of is a challenge that we like to accept, always driven by passion.
Only passion allows a Wedding Planner to do her job in the best possible way and become a person whom the spouses trust. 3) In this swarm of courses to become a wedding planner, what are the winning cards in terms of training and experiences that could be reported to clarify that this profession requires a specific path
My first course was in 2008 at the SposiAmo Wedding group Planners, of which I still belong.
I approached their first 3-day course with the presumption that, unfortunately, many aspiring wedding planners have: it takes nothing to be a wedding planner! I was wrong. And I immediately noticed it in those three days of the course. I decided to join the group, which gave me a great training, which continues to this day. Being a wedding planner is much more than knowing how to make a beautiful composition, knowing how to deal with certain suppliers. The market has been quite damaged by people who have approached this job because “I like to organize parties”, “I organized my sister’s wedding and I realized it was my way” and so on…. It still happens now to show up in new locations and see the owners turn pale at the phrase “I’m a Wedding Planner”. Fortunately, we have a very solid background and suppliers have to change their minds in the end. But it happened to me, over the years, to want to do other courses, partly to update myself, partly out of curiosity. And it is very sad to see how certain 24 hour courses ensure that you are a professional Wedding Planner.
Therefore, the advice to those interested in this new path is: always make sure that those who hold these training courses have a consolidated experience behind them and that the training does not end in those 3 days. Nobody can train you in three days and nobody can learn a job in just 3 days. 4) The proliferation of sites, blogs, specialized portals above all allows brides to consult a multitude of offers and imagine a wedding structured in all its aspects. But there is no risk of reproducing cloned receptions and ceremonies
It could actually be a risk. But often, to propose stereotyped weddings are not so much the sites or blogs, but the locations themselves, which more and more often include an all-inclusive package: set-ups, centerpieces and their own
internal wedding planner (). Surely this lowers costs, but we see more and more identical weddings, using the same equipment, the same flowers, the same vases and above all a stereotyped timing of the day that is the same for everyone. One thing that I often heard was: “I give up on this location even though I like it because my cousin got married there and I don’t want to have the same wedding” … And who says it must be the same wedding
Having a professional by your side serves specifically to create different scenarios every time, without following the fashion of the moment, but only the wishes and personalities of the spouses.
Sites, blogs and portals, on the other hand, can also help spouses understand the multitude of solutions that can be implemented, if the right suppliers are chosen. 5) It happens to have to dissuade the spouses (especially the newlyweds) from unimaginable solutions that they have fallen in love with, because they are fashionable or discounted or even in bad taste
Yup! Yup! Well yes! Our task is obviously to make the dreams and wishes of the couple come true, always trying not to be influenced by their own tastes. But sometimes the requests are so impossible that we have to try to mediate. Some fashions such as real fish in centerpieces are, in my opinion, absurd, if then the poor fish are “abandoned” … Or the shabby chic wedding fashion: brides who have chosen a hypermodern and modern location and then want to completely upset the room to recreate a vintage and classic style… Perhaps then the choice of location should have been different
. In short, relying on a professional must also include trusting her and her advice. 6) The Web has flattened the vision of the spouses
The shabby chic trend, American weddings, outdoor ceremonies that were once very far from our tradition are in such demand since these contents became accessible
Yes. And in part it may have been a good thing. Fortunately, the spouses, browsing the web, are able to appreciate the importance of having someone who takes care of the style of their wedding in every detail.
I work both in Pavia and in Liguria, in the province of Imperia, and I must say that I see many differences. Even now in Liguria there are many “classic” weddings… the restaurant has a standard setting, without personality, with banal centerpieces. No importance is given to beauty, detail, fun and the involvement of the guest, who does not have to go to the wedding aware of being bored, spending endless hours at the table to eat.
From this point of view the Web helps to open your eyes because, until you know what the alternatives can be, you are satisfied with what you think is normal to be like this. As for the various “American” trends … what to say … Probably all these things move away from the tradition of Italian marriage, but they can help create a festive atmosphere.
The important thing in my opinion is always that of not wanting to do something at all costs just because it is fashionable, but only if that thing is suitable for your style and personality. 7) Hint: there is still a wedding calendar to follow so that everything is right.
Of course yes, even if most brides seem to forget about it. Obviously these are simply suggestions, but even today we happen to June brides who still have to do the invitations in April and are taken by anxiety.
Then the calendar varies from region to region. Usually in the north, weddings are organized in a year or less, while the times can even double in the south.
The first piece of advice we give is that, once you have decided to get married, you quickly decide on the date and place. The best locations may already be completed a year before, so if you want to be sure of winning the location of your dreams you have to think about it in advance, as well as for the church. Once you have established where and when you can relax and think about the details.
Another very important step to which you need to think in time and clarify the budget you have available. You can’t decide to approach the organization of a wedding if you don’t know how much you want to spend.
It is also important to think about the bureaucratic side. The documents are all in order to proceed with the publications
Also remember that they have a value of 6 months, so it is useless to rush to do them too soon. You would risk having to start the bureaucratic process all over again.
About 8 months before you can proceed with the choice of the dress, but often the bride who has always dreamed of the white dress, at this point has already decided or at least considered many alternatives
About 6 months before it is important to choose the photographer, to be sure to find it free, define the theme that the wedding will have, choose a florist or a decorator, establish the wedding list and the honeymoon (which now more and more often coincide).
Approaching the fateful date it is necessary to define the music and order the invitations, which should be delivered about 3 months before the wedding to allow everyone to organize themselves.
Two months before the wedding favors and wedding rings will have to be chosen.
The month before the wedding must be used only for confirmations and final decisions: last dress rehearsals, make-up and hair tests, definition of the participants and their arrangement at the tables.
In all this, when to contact a wedding planner
Surely the best choice would be when you decide to take the road of marriage. In this way the spouses can have a person who helps them in the choice of individual services and helps them to be careful with budgets and deadlines, but often we only come into play when you decide that your wedding must be special, have a theme, a fil rouge and above all when you realize that, as the fateful date approaches, it is important to have someone who can take care of checking that everything is going well in place of the spouses, committed to keeping the family at bay, relatives and anxiety. 8) Which is the most expensive wedding followed and which is the least
The average of the marriages we have dealt with has always been more or less the same. But experience has shown us that having a higher budget does not always mean having a more beautiful wedding. Compared to a few years ago, the spouses are more careful to spend less, but we still manage to make beautiful and classy weddings. The important thing is to know how to organize your budget. 9) According to Federconsumatori, in 2013 for a wedding on average it was possible to spend up to € 58,476.00. We are still at these levels or you have registered a decrease in the maximum budget that the spouses make available to you
There is certainly a drop in the budget, but above all a greater attention to the economic aspect and how to use one’s money. The spouses who come to us do not necessarily seek savings at all costs, but a fair quality / price ratio. They are less willing to sign quotes and contracts before carefully comparing them with others to find the best deal, which is not necessarily the lowest.
The slice of spouses who, on the other hand, has cut their budget a lot no longer turns to professionals, increasingly trying to resort to DIY: a friend for the organization, the mother for the favors, the aunt for the flowers, the cousin for photos and so on … 10) Based on your experience, what are the essential points for everything to be perfect
What, on the other hand, can be cut because frankly linked to tradition alone
It would always be essential to turn to professionals and not to people who invent a job overnight. Personally I am very wary of the location owner who proclaims himself as a wedding planner because he has been doing weddings for 15 years, of the florist who proclaims himself director of the event because he has always made weddings, of the friend who proclaims himself as a photographer because he has always had a passion … in short, attention to the budget is fine, but I believe that for that day it is essential that everything flows perfectly and only with professionals this can happen.
What can be cut
Personally, everything the spouses do not for themselves, but to please someone. In the north, the budget for bumblebee fishers is now considerably reduced because it is something that “must be done” … who says it
must be done if it is important for the bride and groom. Everything else can be avoided.
But I always like to give a purely personal advice to my brides: guests should have fun and eat well. It is therefore very important not to neglect the quality of the restaurant and catering and the presence of a good musician able to involve their guests.
