What do wedding planners really do? - Colorado wedding planner

What do wedding planners do? Why do they cost so much? 

Wedding planners are some of the hardest working people in the world! A wedding planner's wedding day starts at the moment the clients open their eyes, and finishes long after they leave the wedding! Our pedometers often read 15 or more miles, walking around the venue, moving from ceremony site to ready rooms, to reception site, back around again, making sure all of the people working to make the event go smoothly have all the info they need to be successful. But it doesn't start or end there!  You should expect to spend $1500-2500 on a month-of coordinator, nation wide. For a full wedding planner, you can expect to spend TYPICALLY 10% of your budget... Usually $6000-10,000 plus, depending on your event and its needs! 

Is it Scale-able? 
An average wedding in Colorado is about $31,000, according to The Knot. Weddings that have a wedding planner are typically $40,000+. Sweetly Paired's average wedding for our full planning clients is about $60-70k. Our Day of clients range from about $30k, to 50k, typically. When the budget is higher than that, you need someone for more help than a day-of typically gives. 
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Get the word 'perfect' out of your vocabulary. 
Nothing's perfect. Your wedding won't be perfect. Your day will be lovely. Exciting. Memorable for you and your guests, no matter how many or few there are. As soon as you wrap your mind around that, you can relax. Now that we've said that... a big piece of what your wedding planner does is shield you, and your guests, from those imperfections. We may have had a fire, a flood, or a plague... our clients don't know about it! That's really the goal of the day. ​We try to make your guests have the 'perfect-est' day they can! 
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Elevate Photography

Photo - AD Benson

Be YOU!
From picking a venue that's right for the couple, to helping them navigate menus and caterers... choosing photographers to suit their budget and style... to helping to design the event from top to bottom... so it isn't like any other wedding, it's reflective of the clients! That's really important with all those inspirations out there on the web. We help you take that scattered Pinterest board, and use it for inspiration instead of plagiarism. ​Whether you're downtown Denver like the couple here, or having a Vail or Winter Park wedding, we can plan your wedding to be intrinsically reflective of you. 
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We work SO many hours!
​Our average wedding takes us MANY hours to plan. An average wedding for us for 100-200 guests is about 100-150 man hours to plan. We like to give full service assistance to our clients, and we're involved in the event design, the vendor selection, and the overall guest experience. We have a staff of 10 at our beck and call, and they all have concierge service, world-class design, and guest experience at the front of their mind. We can handle the most intimate gathering to the large, 500 person event with grace. THIS is a big part of what planners do. ​We offer complementary consultations that help you understand what level of service YOU need for your event. We offer just coordination, which is really a month-of service. We offer a la carte planning consultation hours, and we offer full service planning. YOU pick what you need, we execute. 
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Nicole Lenzen Photography

Some things we do... just for day of coordination! Wedding planning - That's another level!

• Initial Consultation 
• Email/Phone Support
• Timeline Generation
• Timeline Facilitation
• Vendor Coordination
• Contract Management
• Create Wedding Agenda for All Vendors
• Day of Coordination - 10-12 hours
• Processional Facilitation
• Usher Instruction
• Pre Wedding Day Planning Session
• Collection of Decor, Guest Registry, etc
• Transportation of your items

• Managing Event Schedule Day-Of
• Wedding Emergency Kits!
• Final Payment Distribution
• Tip Assistance and Distribution
• Budget Assistance
• Transportation Arrangement
• 30 Day Walk Through Assisitance
• Wedding Night Accommodations
• Seating Chart Assistance
• Pack up Personal Items and Gifts
• Break Down Coordination
• Day-of Coordination Assistance
• After Wedding - returning rental items. 

Sweetly Paired is a Colorado wedding planning firm, working in Denver, Boulder and (loving to plan in...) the mountains! We work very often as a Vail wedding planner, and even work in Aspen and Beaver Creek. We love working at the Donovan Pavilion in Vail! We offer full service wedding planning, as well as day of and month of wedding coordination. Don't hesitate to reach out to us at lilli@sweetlypaired.com or 303.995.2867 if you have questions! ​