As I am sure that you have noticed, most wedding vendors encourage you to book an "initial meeting" before you book their services (I, myself am one of these vendors and say it many times on my own site). But, what does this mean? What can you expect to get out of this meeting? And how can you make the most out of this opportunity?
First of all, the initial meeting is free of charge and allows us to meet before signing on the dotted line. For me, I approach this meeting like a coffee date with a new friend rather than a formal job interview. It is a chance for us to sit down and get to know each other. I don't believe in hard sales lines or pitches, for me choosing a Wedding Planner is like choosing a really organized best-friend that will help you though an emotional, expensive, complicated and really important milestone in your life - you have to find the right FIT.
I have always had an amazing working relationship with all of my clients. I genuinely CARE about their weddings and I truly want the best planning experience for my clients. During the initial meeting I will ask about your lives together, your hobbies, jobs, families... anything that comes up, really... I am a great listener. I try and guide this meeting in a relaxed and informative manner so that we can walk away from it feeling like we truly know each other.
Of course, since we will also be sharing a business relationship, I will go over my company history, and talk with you about my process as a designer and a planner. Together we will discuss what areas of your wedding you feel that you will need most help with and how, as a professional, I can help you in the most beneficial and cost efficient way.
We will discuss the wedding packages that I offer: Full Planning, Partial Planning, Month of Coordination, and pretty much everything in between. Every wedding that I work on is unique and each couple deserves an individualized approach to planning. During this initial meeting we can discuss what is going to work for you, your vision, and your budget.
I will show you some photos of weddings that I have worked on in the past and talk to you about my goals for these weddings and the role that I took in planning them- this will give you a better understanding of the work that I do and how I take a unique approach to each wedding... no cookie cutter weddings here.
So... How can you prepare for this "Initial Meeting"?
I really appreciate it when clients take the time to review some of the information that I have posted online, my Blog (yay you are already here!!) , my Facebook page, and my Website are all really good places to start. You can also check out my reviews on wedding wire from some of my past clients. By reviewing these sites ahead of time, we will have have more time during our initial meeting to talk about how I can help you, and will need to spend less time talking about what I have done in the past.
Write down any questions that you have for me in advance so that we can go over your list together and make sure that when you leave this meeting you have all of the answers that you were hoping to get - of course if you forget something you can always email me and I will be happy to answer! ;)
I think that choosing your wedding vendors - especially your wedding planner - is a truly personal experience and the decision needs to be based on your comfort level with your planner and your confidence that they are going to be the right person to really listen to your needs and guide you though this process!
Want to know a little more about who I am and how I became a wedding planner? Check out this blog post for a glimpse into this or my FAQ section on my site.
Still have questions? Get in touch any time to set up your initial meeting - I look forward to hearing all about you!
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