The benefits of hiring a wedding planner for your big day

Lara Oakes and Rachel Farrington-Allen from Festival Events & Planning on providing the perfect wedding for their clients.

Great British Life: The Barn in the Olympia Suite set for the ceremony, courtesy of Festival Events & Planning and their suppliers, Photography: Matt Priestley The Barn in the Olympia Suite set for the ceremony, courtesy of Festival Events & Planning and their suppliers, Photography: Matt Priestley (Image: Archant)

When it comes to having a stress-free wedding day, there are obvious benefits to hiring a planner. We spoke to Lara Oakes and Rachel Farrington-Allen, from Festival Events & Planning, about how employing an experienced company helps you focus on the most important part of the day; the ‘I do’s’.

Rachel and Lara pride themselves on customer service and despite being a relatively young company, have produced some spectacular weddings for their elite Cheshire clientele.

The ladies recently shared another one of their ‘love stories’ with us.

“Clare and Mark came to us with three weeks to go to their wedding, feeling overwhelmed. It was our job to get them wedding-ready, source their suppliers and manage the day.

Great British Life: The beautiful Wedding Breakfast set-up, courtesy of Festival Events & Planning and their suppliers, Photography: Matt Priestley The beautiful Wedding Breakfast set-up, courtesy of Festival Events & Planning and their suppliers, Photography: Matt Priestley (Image: SAM DAWSON PHOTOGRAPHY)

The first benefit to hiring a planning company is financial. One of the areas where couples can feel overwhelmed is with the payments. Hiring a planner not only enables you to remain on track and budget, but also ensures you only have to make one payment. This means you can just relax with a few glasses of Champagne on the build-up to your dream day.

Secondly, hiring a planning company unlocks your creative potential for a Pinterest-worthy wedding. Lara added “As you will see from Clare and Mark’s wedding, they chose some of our beautiful, bespoke products to enhance the overall feel of the day, along with utilising our suppliers to add that extra special, classically elegant look”.

Rachel said “With only a matter of weeks to go, the options available to bring this gorgeous wedding together were vast. Bringing in a professional service enables the vision to be pinned down quickly, which was important with Clare and Mark. This keeps the focus on enjoying your time with family and friends, rather than logistics”.

Clare and Mark chose the Olympia Suite at Arley Hall & Gardens, the stunning ancestral home of Lord and Lady Ashbrook, hosted by Heritage Portfolio, a Nationally renowned company, producing exquisite food, with the Queen’s Royal Seal of Approval.

Great British Life: Macaroon Favours, made in house by Festival Events & Planning, Photography: Matt Priestley Macaroon Favours, made in house by Festival Events & Planning, Photography: Matt Priestley (Image: SAM DAWSON PHOTOGRAPHY)

We had recommended the supplier for Clare’s dress earlier in the year, so we had a good understanding of the romantic vision they had for their nuptials.

As well as providing venue dressing and a supplier-led service to ensure that the bride and groom had a relaxing day, we sourced all-day shuttle transport, to enable guests to move freely between the hotels and the Olympia Suite. Our music company serenaded Clare up the aisle to the couple’s favourite song and hosted the evening. The talented florist provided hydrangea and rose florals, adding a gentle touch to the barn setting, which complemented the brickwork beautifully. In total, twelve suppliers were involved in delivering a gorgeous wedding day. Lara said “Another benefit to hiring a professional service is the local knowledge of the area and the buying power we have with our suppliers. It ensures our clients get exactly what they want, with excellent value for money”.

Planners help get those finishing touches just perfect. In Clare and Mark’s case, this was through stationery, macaroon parcels, personalised shot bottle favours, elegantly dressed children’s activity packs and menus, all made in-house, plus place settings, table numbers and children’s personalised sweet jar favours, from two more of our talented suppliers.

In addition to providing the venue dressing, coordinating and paying suppliers, a professional planner is there on the day to ensure that everything runs according to vision and plan. We were on hand to ensure that the guest’s experience of the wedding exceeded the happy couple’s expectations during every step of the day.

Great British Life: The Order of Service Clock, designed, personalised with the Bride and Groom's words and produced as part of the 'Handmade at Festival HQ' range, by Festival Events & Planning, Photography: Matt Priestley The Order of Service Clock, designed, personalised with the Bride and Groom's words and produced as part of the 'Handmade at Festival HQ' range, by Festival Events & Planning, Photography: Matt Priestley (Image: SAM DAWSON PHOTOGRAPHY)

As you will see from the photography, provided by Matt Priestley, the overall effect of the day was stunning, with guests enjoying the finest of service throughout. But do not take our word for it, here is what our beautiful bride had to say.

“Everything was amazing, thank you so much. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend you, your professionalism and attention to detail was top notch and you helped create a fabulous day”

— CLARE, SEPTEMBER 2018

Looking through their wedding portfolio, it is easy to see why the girls have had such good reviews. Prices start from as little as £100 and range to in excess of £30,000. One thing for sure is that their unique and quirky style could definitely make your wedding stand out from the rest.

Rachel 07495 055048

Lara 07971 669798