1. Be sure to schedule a tasting with your caterer prior to your wedding day. You want to make sure what they make meets your liking.

2. Will your caterer also be handling alcohol? If so, make sure your caterer has a liquor license in accordance with your states health code.

3. Ask what your prospective catering companies’ specialties are. Look for caterers that are experienced with weddings.

4. Will the caterer be working any other events the day/weekend of yours? Find out how devoted your caterer will be to your event, to make sure all of you needs are met.

5. What all does the caterer provide? For example, does the caterer strictly provide food and beverage or do they also offer table set ups, place settings, and other pertinent equipment.

6. Do your homework on your caterer options. Look at online reviews, or speak to previous clients to get an idea of the work quality you can expect.

7. Does your caterer also create wedding cakes?

These are some of the questions you will find useful when selecting a caterer for your wedding day. What wedding day menu are you considering? What sort of catering options are you looking to serve at your wedding?

It’s no secret that planning a wedding can indeed be stressful. Organizing what is possibly the biggest event of your life, can come with a hefty amount of stress, but don’t lose hope. There are defiantly some helpful tips that can relieve a significant amount of unnecessary wedding day related stress. After all, your wedding day is supposed to be a day of rejoicing and celebration!

Family and In-Law Woes

For some, family and in-laws can be an added amount of stress in the equation of planning your wedding day. No two families are alike and it is not uncommon for a certain amount of stress to occur when organizing the big day and including all the family of the newly fusing couple. Subduing stress when it comes to family members and planning your wedding day, can often be achieved in keeping lines of communication as open as possible with all involved family members. Keeping your family members and your in-laws ‘in the loop’ as much as you can helps them to feel aware about the wedding and the planning going into it. Leaving certain family members out and forgetting to let others know certain updates and details related to the wedding can often hurt feelings. While this is the happy couples’ special day, it is also not the intention to hurt family member’s feelings or make anyone feel left out of the big event. Communication is often key.

Planning/Wedding Organizing Stress

For many Brides (and Grooms) the actual task it’s self of ‘planning’ the wedding can be quite a stressful on taking. Don’t fret. Ways to alleviate the stress of coordinating your big day include: hiring a Professional Wedding Designer, asking for help from friends and family, and planning well in advance. Hiring a Professional Wedding Designer can take a ton of weight off a Bride To Bes back. Wedding Designers that are experienced and dedicated can become your best friend when planning your wedding! Know that your Wedding Designer is there to help your vision come to life, as well as guide you in the direction of what is feasible given your wedding budget. Asking for help from your friends, Maid of Honor, or family can also help with the coordination of your wedding day. Assigning specific tasks for your helpers can work to your advantage. There are a lot of small elements to planning your wedding day, that when delegated out, can assist with bringing together one final masterpiece of a day. There’s also a lot to be said for planning well in advance. The closer the wedding day comes, the more there is that you will have on your plate, naturally. Therefore, planning well in advance can prove to be a beneficial move on your part. Having as many of the details planned out with as much advance to your big day as you can muster, can be a great benefit to the execution of your special day. Last minute details can bring with them an added amount of stress that any Bride To Be would otherwise love to avoid.

Vendor Issues

Issues that may arise with vendors you have chosen can add stress to you with coordinating your wedding day. For those Brides To Be that have a Wedding Designer, seek their council and expertise on the best vendor options for your big day. Vendors can be selected based upon what you are looking for exactly and the price at which the vendor is offering the product or service. Take time to look into your vendors, read online reviews about their products or services from previous customers, and make sure you have seen samples of their work for yourself. You want to make sure that you don’t wind up with any unexpected surprises on your special day…especially those that are a step down in quality from what you deserve or have paid for. Be sure to do your homework on your vendors!

Planning any large event can be stressful, especially planning an event of this magnitude; your wedding day. That being said, your wedding day, by no means, has to be the most stressful event of your life. Communicating well with family members, recruiting appropriate assistance, and by planning well in advance, you can help yourself in dropping wedding day related stress levels. Along with all these tips for alleviating wedding related stress, remember to find time to bring yourself some relaxation. Some of you may be thinking “yeah, right”, but it is very important! Even if you have to plan relaxation right into your schedule, go for it. You deserve it! It is always okay to take much needed down time. Above all remember your wedding day is a celebration of the love you share with your significant other; remember that love.

Do you have any stressful wedding day stories you would like to share? How did you solve them? We’d love to hear!

Brides are usually the ones who seek out and eventually hire wedding planners (grooms are usually along for the ride), and since we launched our sister site My Wedding Workbook a few years ago we have surveyed brides on a number of areas, including their thoughts about hiring a wedding planner. Here are the seven things you should know as a wedding planner about your target audience.

1. They are most worried about their budget, their dress and their appearance.
According to our research, the top three things brides worry about is the cost of their wedding and staying on budget; their dress and attire for the wedding party; and their physical appearance (physical fitness, makeup, hair, etc.). As a wedding planner, you can reassure them that, by hiring you, you can keep their wedding under their specified budget and make sure they and their big day will be elegant and beautiful.

2. The top three places they first look for inspiration are wedding-related Web sites, blogs and search engines.
In the past, the first place a newly engaged bride-to-be looked for inspiration was wedding magazines and publications. But today’s bride is fully plugged in and online searching for wedding ideas within a week of her engagement. So, if you want to be found, you need to have an online presence and the ability to be found on the Web.

3. Most brides still attend bridal shows.
In fact, 70% of brides in our research attend at least one bridal show, with many attending 3 or more. So if you haven’t exhibited at a bridal show yet, you should visit a local show as an attendee to see the turnout and get a feel for if paying to be an exhibitor would be worth your while (and you should definitely ask if exhibitors get the attendee list or can market to the list after the event).

4. They say cost is the main factor in considering hiring a wedding planner.
Let’s break this down. Of the brides who didn’t consider a wedding planner, 75% said they didn’t hire one because it was too expensive. Of the brides who did consider a wedding planner, cost was the top factor in deciding who to hire. You probably already know this through your experience with prospects; however, it emphasizes the need to demonstrate to prospects how you can help them save money (through your connections with vendors and negotiation abilities) and help them get the most value from what they do spend (by avoiding pitfalls, bad vendors, etc.).

5. They’re looking for a planner who they connect with, who has strong vendor relationships and who has experience.
First and foremost, brides place a premium on personal chemistry. For them, they want more than a taskmaster and a planner; they also want someone they feel a bond with. In addition, they want to hear about your relationships with vendors (so you can negotiate good rates for them) and your past experience. So in your pitch, make sure you provide plenty examples and proof of these things. Also, case studies and stories of your event productions on your Web site also help.

6. They’re asking their friends for recommendations.
When brides look for wedding planners to interview, the first place they consult for suggestions is their friends and family, followed by Web sites and online wedding forums, bridal shows and search engines. This should certainly give you a road map of where you need to market your services, starting with actively and regularly asking for referrals from your past and present clients as well as industry partners (we go into more detail about this in our recent white paper, which you can download here).