Becoming the Client – what an event planner discovers when she becomes the bride

We asked our Sales Manager Sarah, 4 questions on what it’s like to become the client when naturally you have always been the person in charge. Read on as she shares her answers.

What were you expecting the planning process to be?

Being the planner naturally, you have an idea of what comes first and what needs to be done. I found that I took a very practical approach at times thinking about guest requirements, timings and caterers timetables rather than what I as a bride I would like. Whilst I would say I haven’t been ‘bridezilla’ much… others within my bridal party may disagree. At times the process has been what I expected it to be there has also been some reflective moments which have been lovely to pause for, without getting too carried away in ‘work mode’.

What surprised you the most about planning the wedding?

Being the planner, I always said I would have a UK wedding (mostly to calm the control-freak in me), my Italian Fiancé and I didn’t want to get married in the City as we both work and live here; so we looked outside the city for inspiration. Having not found anything that ticked the boxes and most importantly sat within our budget we made the decision to look abroad and naturally chose Italy as a starting point. When people say ‘you just know’ trust me ‘you just know’ and so having seen our wedding venue online we chose to incorporate a trip to the venue on our next holiday.

It was a magical experience seeing the venue and one look at my fiancé and I just knew it was a question of ‘when’ not ‘if’. So the biggest surprise so far has to be the fact that I am getting married abroad in a country where I don’t speak much of the language. Hiring a wedding planner has been one of the best things we have done. Our wedding planner and her wonderful team are helping us to create the day of our dreams like I do for so many of my own clients, they are keeping us focused and on track and helping us source suppliers that are within our budget without compromising on quality.

What problems have you experienced during the planning process?

One of the problems we have experienced during the planning process is the language barrier, whilst google translate is a wonderful thing there are always somethings that slip between the cracks. We have found using images helps reduce any misunderstandings. It has also made me more aware of how frustrating it can be for both sides (the planner and the client) when different languages are spoken.

What have you learnt from planning your own event that you can take back to your day job?

Having been through my own planning process I have realised clients are very different in how they express what they want and what they expect but ultimately, clients put a lot of trust and faith into you as the planner to understand and get to know their exact requirements in order to help create and fulfil the client’s vision. Sometimes we as planners need to think outside the box to extract the information from the clients and get clients thinking about their events in a different way.