Why I’m Not Your Average Wedding Planner

I was sitting today, at my desk, blurbing on Facebook about the hottest subject of the day – the Marie Kondo affair, when suddenly an ex-client popped-up in a chat window. She was just around, wanting to know some stuff about Kindle books (as I included some Kindle info in my KonMarie blurb). And there I was, just like an invisible button was pressed somewhere inside my messy brain, sharing all the info I’ve had on Kindle, on .mobi, on Amazon and everything there was to know about it, documented with links and opinions.

And then she said it – this is why everybody loves you, Andrada. You are so resourceful and go the extra mile. Someone else would have just told me to go and find all the info myself.

Hey, don’t get this the wrong way! This “thing” is not necessarily a quality. When you have no clue how to prioritise, when to say no, when to shut down your computer or your brain, this approach can be a right-on curse that would soon translate into being tired or bored – and this is where hasty replies, taking things personally or out-of-the-blue nerves appear, making any relationship with any client go to a corner and sob dramatically. And that is usually the point when some people who think have just found their amazing average wedding planner get disappointed. For I suddenly risk to appear unprofessional, not mature, not caring enough or caring too much. Fortunately, I’ve learned (the hard way) how to do and be all these things – and I keep on practicing it every day.

But this is exactly what makes me the not the average wedding planner. My brain works in such manner that I’m always, constantly making connections, even when I don’t want that to happen. I am eager to meet new people. I ALWAYS know somebody who knows somebody, and if I don’t, I will find that somebody and the other somebody in the next 2 hours.

And I do type fast. I would make a great secretary (soon to be copywriter) in the Mad Men. Most of the times people go batshit crazy when they witness me typing (phone, laptop, really does not matter). My ideas go very fast from thought to written text and I’m a light-speed text communicator. I can type without looking – on my laptop, phone, or whatever device. That also allows me to be so “multitasking” and efficient at the same time.

There are also “bad” things that make me not be the average wedding planner. For instance, I never hassle vendors. I never pressure people doing what I know should cost money for free, or threaten to take my business elsewhere if they don’t show up with a bonus or a discount. I love vendor discounts, but I just wait for them to be offered. And yes, that can be a pain in the ass and a frustration for a client who picks up a wedding planner on the ride just hoping there will be some juicy discounts for vendors along the way.

Next – I never yell at anyone during the wedding day.  I don’t fight. I don’t go to war. It’s somehow been stated that wedding planners are meant to be these horrible boss-of-the-world creatures, brought at the crime scene to clean it all up. To tell waiters how to serve food, to tell musicians how to play music, to show photographers THE LIST of pictures to be taken, to scream, to yell, to tell them all to go to hell and then return and make things perfectly this time. Well, no. I am not that wedding planner, and believe it or not, this is something people ALWAYS picture about wedding planners, so that means that it would take an average wedding planner to check all the list. And I’m just not it.

Also, I care A LOT about my evenings and weekends, that are to be shared with my family, my choir (yeap, I do sing, sing, sing) and friends only. That’s because I really need to shut down my brain from time to time, otherwise there will be no limit in between my personal life and The Wedding Styler.  I’m not a workaholic. I am a restless hedonist. And I’m not afraid of acknowledging it. You need to trust me, work with me in finding solutions to meet during the day even if you have a 9 to 6 job, and know that things will work out even if we can’t meet or talk RIGHT KNOW. Because they always do. There’s no apocalypse, I promise you.

And I HATE PHONE CALLS. I literally cringe while my phone lits with a call I’ve never planned, mostly from numbers I don’t know, because phone calls are not efficient, no matter what people say. Phone calls are energetic vampires and always need to come with an after e-mail to make sure you haven’t wasted the whole 15-30 minutes for nothing on the phone.

So – if you want this squirrel-crazy-speedy-gonzales wedding planner who won’t stop thinking how to find solutions, who can always shove an out-of-the-box idea in your face or move an entire wedding to a different date in just 30 minutes on a Friday evening (yes, I did that), using only SMS, mail and Facebook – then I’m your girl.

On the other hand, if what you’re looking for a wedding planner service who “pays itself” and is “flexible” (meaning that would jump right up whenever you call and have some spare time to spend for planning your wedding – being night or weekend) –  than it’s best that you keep on searching, I’m sure your type of wedding planner is right there, waiting for you.

That being said, I won’t be there a call away, but I will answer e-mails quickly and in a very understandable and complete manner. I will be always on your side and show you that there actually are no sides to be taken.

And yes, as you can see, another reason why I can tell for sure I’m not your average wedding planner is the fact that I’m not stiffed. I joke A LOT, all the time. A bit too much, actually. I can be annoying that way, but again this is another reason why some people love me. I try not to take myself so seriously. I don’t think a wedding is the equivalent of surgery in social life, I think it’s a great, beautiful party to be enjoyed while planning. I don’t believe in colour schemes (although I do use them to express a concept or to make order inside ideas). I don’t use words like “perfect day” or “flawless wedding” as I genuinely think perfection is not real.

So, is it good that I’m not the average wedding planner? Well, for the average mass of clients (that would mean almost everybody) the answer is NO. God knows half of the people who started reading this blog already left the page. People need someone to bring discounts, to turn their wedding into a war zone, to answer phone calls and to come to meetings at whatever hour, day or night, weekday or weekend. But for my clients I’m (almost) perfect just the way I am.

So if this text brought a smile on your face and you’ve started to plan your wedding in Romania, then please, send me an e-mail. Don’t waste any other day, as my client’s list for 2019 is closing soon, very soon. There are only two “spots” left and I want to make sure I fill them with people who would really enjoy my company for this travel that is planning their wedding.

Foto – Toader Photography