Top 6 Reasons to Hire an Irish Based Wedding Planner
Trying to plan a wedding in your hometown on your own can be a challenge. Planning one from thousands of miles away is down right stressful!
You likely won’t be familiar with the geographic area, which means finding those perfect wedding venue gems and vendors can be a challenge.
Tack on the thought of long distance phone bills, research, organizing, communicating back and forth with vendors, and time zone differences may want to make you call it off all together.
Usually at this stage newly engaged couples stop and ask themselves, “Should we look into hiring a destination wedding planner?”
Our answer: YES ABSOLUTELY!
The truth of the matter is that it takes a lot of time and patience to plan a wedding, especially from afar.
A wedding is the most extravagant celebration you are likely to ever host. And a destination wedding is (dare we say) a tad bit more special as it offers a unique memorable wedding experience along with a once in a life time reunion. You’ll want to make sure you enjoy the entire process.
This is where hiring a destination wedding planner pays dividends.
If you are considering a destination wedding in Ireland, read on for our top 6 reasons why you should use a planner to organize your destination wedding.
1. LEGALITIES
Perhaps the most intimidating step to plan a wedding abroad is researching and understanding the legal requirements to getting married in Ireland. It can be confusing to know where to start:
- what to book first
- who to contact
- where you are able to host a legal ceremony and what type
- filling in the paperwork and knowing a completion date
A destination wedding planner on the ground will be able to help you through these steps seamlessly. They will know what documents you require for your situation (e.g., if one of you has been divorced) along with dates for paperwork to be handed in by. A planner is also able to communicate with the Registrars Office should any troubles arise.
2. TIME
Planning a wedding is no easy feat and it can be very time consuming. Depending on your work situation and lifestyle, you may not have the time, nor want to take on an extra part time job during evenings and weekends to plan a wedding.
Choosing to employ a wedding planner will reduce the time and effort that you will personally have to put in. Whether shortlisting venues that meet your vision or choosing vendors that fit within your budget, the services of a top notch planner help you guard precious time.
Time Zone Challenges
Another huge factor to consider is the difference in time zones. For those who live on the west coast of the US it means you’ll have an 8 hour time difference.
The Irish work day is practically over before your day even begins! This can lead to frustration due to the need to schedule early morning or late night phone calls. Leave the calling to a local planner on the ground in Ireland.
Lastly, hiring a wedding planner means more time to actually enjoy the entire wedding planning process. Planners are the seamless link between you and your chosen wedding vendors. You can rest easy, thousands of miles away, knowing that everything is on track and under control.
Once the adventure begins and you land in Ireland, you’ll be able to spend quality time with each wedding guest. Sit back and relax, don’t worry about any behind the scenes logistics.
3. CONNECTIONS
You may already have a vision for your type of wedding venue, but going at it alone could mean spending countless hours searching on Google for that perfect venue here in Ireland. Unfortunately, if a venue or vendor has limited online presence, then finding out that they even exist will be a challenge.
This is still the case for some of the best family run vendors that we know here in Ireland. There’s nothing wrong with that, it just means they haven’t embraced a technology first marketing strategy. Word of mouth advertising still goes a long way in Ireland.
Wedding planners spend years building out a personal little black book of vendors and venues that a wedding planner knows and trusts. Building relationships is critical for a robust Rolodex of the best vendors in the industry.
Discussing your vision with your wedding planner. They will be able to pass along a list of vetted potential vendors that fit your budget, saving you time, effort, and worry about whether or not you are hiring a reputable vendor.
4. BUDGET
Many people believe that hiring a wedding planner is an additional cost to the wedding budget. Believe it or not, we can actually save you both money and time.
Wedding planners develop strong relationships with vendors over time, and are comfortable negotiating better rates — especially if vendors know there will be repeat business. A good wedding planner is able to help you stick to your budget, and find you alternative solutions when necessary.
5. SUPPORT & MAINTAIN RELATIONSHIPS
Most vendors keep normal business hours, which means you’ll have to make time for them during the day or take days off work to get the wedding planning job done.
Hiring a destination wedding planner on the ground helps alleviate this concern. Planners maintain relationships with each vendor and are your direct go-between link. So rather than you maintaining 5+ relationships from afar, just focus on picking that perfect planner and no need to worry about the rest.
6. CULTURAL DIFFERENCES & ACCENTS
Ever heard of Island time?
Island Time is one of those delightful double entendre. On the one hand it refers to time well spent, away in a place that refreshes the spirit and cleanses the soul. On the other hand, it also refers to a slow pace, a certain slack attitude towards the clock.
Ireland most certainly offers a place to refresh the spirit and cleanse the soul, but it is a place that most certainly go by Island time. If you are used to a face paced lifestyle and enjoy receiving responses right away, that is reason enough to hiring a wedding planner. You’ll likely pull out you hair trying to deal with Island time.
From our time spent living in Ireland, we’ve learned that patience is a virtue.
Finally, communicating with Irish folk and their thick Irish accents can be a challenge. We still find ourselves asking people to repeat themselves due to an accent. Leave it to the wedding planning pros, like Love & Lavender, to translate everything into a natural west cost Canadian accent … Eh?!
