Planning: The Hard Part

So you think you have it figured out.

You hired...

• The DJ
• The Florist
• The Photographer
• The Cinematographer
• The Stationer
• The Make up Artist
• The Pastor
• The Hairstylist
• The Venue
• The Limo company
• Etc.

And so the hard part is over right? Well:

What is your DJ going to play, when will they start, do they have insurance, do they MC, how many bars of your first dance song will they play, which song is a do not play, when should they play slow jams, when should they drop it like it's hot, where do they set up, what equipment do and don't they need, etc.

What kind of flowers do you want, do you want high & lows or all highs and or all lows, do you want peonies, roses and lilies or all of them or some of them, what color white, off white or cream, do you want flowers for the ceremony, do you want flowers by the head table, do you want a hanging bouquet or a round bouquet or a bouquet purse, will you need a bouquet to toss, what kind of vases do you want lacquer or round or reflective or hurricane or square or rectangle or oblong, or etc...

When does your photographer arrive, how many shooters will you want or need or have, who will go where and when, what photography style do you want, to reveal or not to reveal, when do you take your portraits, where do you take your portraits, what are the must have family pics, what are the must have detail pics, etc.

What typography do you want, how many invites do you need, what color envelop, what type of paper, what weight in paper do you prefer, what kind of design, calligraphy or not, table numbers or table names, with return or E-RSVP, save the date or not, etc...

I think you see where I am going with this. 

In the past 6 days I have had 3 inquiries into JunePlumm Events Partial Planning Service in which the bride said "We have the hard part done since we have all of our vendors". I quickly ran down the list, similar to what I have stated above and it was a light bulb moment or an OH Sugar-Honey-Ice-Tea moment. I had to remind them that compared to everything that needs to be done, finding the vendors was the easy part. The hard stuff is all the itty bitty gritty details that have to be asked and answered for each "Hard Part Vendor" that was booked.  That's where the real hair pulling comes in. It's like this, you move out of your parents house for the first time. You know you need a bed, a sofa and a dining room table. BUT did you remember that you need, sheets, pillows, pillow cases, pots, pans, spoons, forks, knives, dish rags, toaster, broom, garbage bags, garbage pans, sanitizer, 409, Lysol, Fabreeze, grater, lotion, strainer, spoon rest, dish washing liquid, sponge, potato peeler, bathroom mats, glass cleaner, band aids, gas, cable, wifi, light, and the list goes on and on and on. Those are the little things that you forget you need until the moment you need them and then OH Sugar-Honey-Ice-Tea again...I don't have it. Off to the corner store you go. 

This is why you need a planner. We put it together, we pull it together and we keep it together.    

The REAL hard part!