I think a lot of brides see hiring a planner as a luxury…. an expense that could be spared when your budget gets tight. Let me be the first (or one of many!) to tell you that’s the one thing you SHOULD NOT CUT! 99% of the time that I’ve had a chaotic wedding, it’s been because the bride did not hire a coordinator. Please don’t assume your aunt Susie wants to put out all your centerpieces, cute signs and deliver you lunch…. she’d rather be sipping mimosa’s with you and getting her nails done. Promise.   1.They’ll save your sanity. A good planner will make sure your wedding day goes off without a hitch…. and if a hitch happens, you probably won’t know about it until you’re back from the honeymoon! They are the little elves behind the scene running interference for you… so that you don’t have to play coordinator between all your vendors! This may not sound daunting, but trust me… you have enough to deal with on your wedding day that dealing with the band or catering shouldn’t be one of them… mimosas and getting your hair done are all you should worry about! 2. They’ll give you quality recommendations Want to know who the best band is? The best baker? Florist? They’ll be able to guide you.     3. What should your layout be at the reception? Making sure you’ve got ample space for the dinner tables, cocktail rounds, dance floor and DJ can be a headache! Sure, the venue might have some suggestions… but a planner will understand what you want and offer different options.   4. Timeline planning I do a lot of timeline planning with my brides now, but ultimately, I’m not coordinating with all the vendors… your planner is! They’ll be the one to let the DJ know when plan on introducing you when portraits are finished. They’ll be the ones to let the catering company know what time to arrive and be ready with cocktails. 5. They’re there for YOU. Yes, venues have a coordinator on site, but they are there to run the house… not your party. They are there to make sure salads go out, clean up at the end of the night, turn on the lights and unlock the doors…. not make sure your linens are perfect, your mom knows where to be, herd groomsman and tell your DJ knows what time to arrive.   Trust me. The day before our wedding, we spent the entire day setting up (transforming a camp into a wedding venue)…. or that was the plan. When the rentals that were supposed to arrive at 2PM didn’t show until 7PM it threw a huge kink in our day. It caused me to not shower before my rehearsal and rehearsal dinner…. and be up at 8AM on the phone with the emergency line for the rental company wanting to know why I was short 25 chairs for my sit-down dinner! We spent hours after the rehearsal dinner setting up since all the tables and chairs showed up during dinner… instead of celebrating with my friends and family. I was not happy, and really wish I hadn’t had to be the person dealing with that snafu… not to mention, I didn’t get ready at the venue, so I had to trust that the 25 chairs chairs did in fact show up, and were set up appropriately. It was stressful…. stress that could have been alleviated if I’d hired someone to deal with those headaches for me.   Do yourself and all your vendors a favor…. and hire a planner!