Wedding Planning Tips, Tricks, and Trials
Guilt, and Wedding Planning
learning when to listen to feelings of guilt, and accept
that maybe you shouldn’t try to do everything
I’ve noticed a pattern lately between myself and my clients/prospective clients, and it’s centred around a feeling of guilt. For me, it’s in not doing things like writing this blog, posting on social media, or updating my website. In reaction to lovely people complimenting blog posts or my Instagram grid, I cringe and apologise (to who? The great void?) for not keeping up with regular updates. For my (mostly) prospective clients, it’s struggling to find the time, and sometimes enthusiasm for planning their wedding. A lot of the time it is work pressures forcing their attentions there and then being too tired or too in need of a “life” in their free time to get on with it. Sometimes it’s the total overwhelm of 100,000 photographers to go through and send enquiries to. Other times it’s a pestering family member or over-bearing friend who quite honestly is sucking the fun.
Now, before I go on, let me explain that this is not a blog post to sell my services. If you’re reading this and not through a social media link, chances are you’re consider a wedding planner anyway so consider this a slow understanding nod of approval - you’re doing the right thing.
What I’m getting to is this - OUTSOURCE. It’s hardly a new concept, but it’s one I’ve recently been embracing and it has helped me more than I can say. I have brought in some help to deal with some of the more repetitive aspects of wedding planning, things that are pretty easy but totally time consuming. It’s allowing me to serve my clients to a standard I am happy with (not an easy feat, I am pretty self-critical), and also frees me up to do things like write a blog (hi!) and foster relationships with the wedding professionals that benefit both Scarlett & Bell, me (it’s not a small thing having colleagues you can fully rely on), and my clients. I’ve also hired a superb copywriter, someone who understands me, hears my voice, and can speak to my clients in the perfect way. I cannot WAIT to overhaul the writing on my website with her delightful words. Words that, though sound like me, would take me months, agonising months, to get anywhere close to. And chances are you’d find me apologising for. I am outsourcing things that I could maybe do myself? Yes, but not to the standard these other professionals can do. Is it reducing my profit margins? Yes. But it’s giving me the headspace to focus on what matters and love my job and my business. Zero regrets.
And I think this is one of the key reasons to hire a planner. Not because you don’t have the skills, I am sure you can organise to a Monica Gellar standard. But because your time is better spent elsewhere. Because you spending a minimum of 10 hours sifting through 150 florists, another 5 sending out enquiries, who knows how many comparing availability, quotes, and contracts, is not a good use of your time. How are you supposed to know who is going to deliver the result you’re looking for? How could you know what quote is overcharging, which is undercharging, or whether it’s better to go for the deconstructed archway or individual floral aisle markers? You haven’t done this before, but wedding planners have. I don’t love selling myself, but I can say without a doubt that hiring a planner in some capacity will make everything easier and more enjoyable. You’re outsourcing to a professional, it might cost your wallet something in the short term, it may slightly reduce your overall budget, but it’ll remove so much of the stress and uncertainty. Plus give you a caring comrade in arms.
So thank you for visiting my sparse blog, a space I’m currently using to vent/brag about my recent very basic business decisions. But that maybe, just maybe, will help you make a decision to give yourself a break.