G oros P
with the
Enlist experts in these four areas to ensure a worry-free wedding By Jennifer C. Frakes vendors also proves invaluable. “There are many good vendors in the St.
rehearsal dinner, a ceremony site and a reception venue.
Louis region,” said Kehm. Brides can find these vendors in this magazine
Within that, of course, are the many decisions to make
and online, of course. “But a wedding planner meets with you to learn
regarding the details. Most of them mean hiring a vendor. But maybe
your personality and style, your budget and discuss inspiration pictures
in the interest of saving money, you might be tempted to not include
you may have. We then can match you with the vendors that can best
that service, handle it yourself or ask for the help of family and friends.
realize your vision.”
Following are four areas of your wedding that are well-worth hiring
A planner is even more essential in these tricky times. The wedding
the professionals. These pros will end up saving you not just time and
industry is not immune to supply chain shortages, from flowers and paper
money, but give you peace of mind so you can truly enjoy your big day.
products to the scarcity of workers. A well-matched vendor can substitute
Wedding Planner “Investing in an experienced planner is an investment in your own sanity,” Allisa Reimer said, owner and lead planner at Altar’d Events. “Planning
something for you if they have to, in the short amount of time they may have to decide. “Sometimes the next best choice might not be there if we have to take time to check it out with you,” Kehm said. Melissa Collins loved her wedding planner, but she wishes she had hired
your wedding is like having another full-time job.” Though it can be a fun
her from the get-go. “We just hired her for the month leading up to the
and exciting job, planning may quickly become overwhelming for those
wedding and the wedding day. She was a lifesaver and made the day of the
who don’t do it every day, like a planner does.
wedding stress-free,” Collins said. “But given how much she helped us out,
Jenny Kehm, planner and owner of Before I Do, has been hired midway through the process, after people have booked a ceremony
I should have contacted her earlier, as soon as we started planning.” That sounds familiar to Kehm. She was hired as a day-of planner (more
and reception site, a photographer and maybe music. “Then they
on that term soon) for a bride, and then hired for the whole process when
think: ‘What do I do now?’” Kehm said. “There’s still the flowers,
the next daughters married. Once the family had hosted one wedding, they
hotels, stationary, transportation, rentals and so much more. You
realized hiring a planner from the jump was the way to go.
don’t know what you don’t know.” And sometimes you don’t really know until you are already in the thick of the planning. Reimer likens trying to do it all yourself to attempting a major home
“Day-of planner” is a term most in the industry would like to see go away. “A better description of the job would be ‘event coordinator,’” Reimer said. “At minimum, a planner needs to work with a bride a month
repair by watching a YouTube video. “You watch the video, go out and buy
prior to the wedding, but more often it’s two to three months ahead of
the stuff you think you need, and try to fix it. Then it doesn’t go well and
the date. It’s impossible to show up on the wedding day without any
you end up calling a professional anyway, after spending a lot of your own
relationship with the bride and execute the day successfully.”
time and money. We can help you avoid the hurdles and headaches.” The relationships and experience planners have with reputable 136
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That’s why Reimer and her team at Altar’d Events offer what they call Wedding Management, a hybrid of partial planning and day-of
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M
ost weddings have a basic framework: invitations, a
