Hire a Professional

Take friends and family members out of your wedding planning

Written by Erin Meyering

When you have a strict budget, are on a tight time crunch, or have a relative who’s brilliant behind a camera, it’s easy to convince yourself you can cut corners by allowing family members and friends to perform jobs at your wedding. But whether it’s having your uncle handle transportation, your friend play deejay for the day, or your mother plan the rehearsal dinner, it’s all too risky.

Hiring professionals for the many moving parts involved in a wedding is crucial for a number of reasons:  

• Commitment Professionals are committed to making sure your day unfolds flawlessly. By hiring someone specific to his or her trade, you are giving yourself the gift of devotion. There’s nothing else that person needs to be doing, or nowhere else he or she has to be. He or she has been hired to simply serve you, without distractions.

• Coverage In addition, hiring a professional who has the proper insurance and legal safeguard comes without the headache of liability. If something goes wrong, if something gets broken, you are insured through the business owner. It’s the professional’s responsibility to make sure the job is being done, as it should be. If a problem does arise, a professional has the best chance of knowing how to fix it.

• Expertise By hiring someone outside of your family or friend circle, someone who performs the task for a living, you gain expertise and have access to professional advice. Most people have an elaborate and detailed vision of their wedding day. Experienced professionals allow you to benefit from their previous trials and triumphs. Their equipment is usually superior and specific, plus their tricks and tips may even help you creatively save money and still craft your fantasy wedding. Family and friends, although able to perform certain wedding tasks, often will not have the experience necessary to carry out that specific vision.

• Freedom Lastly, the somewhat obvious reason to hire qualified professionals over family and friends is to allow those guests to enjoy your wedding, instead of work during it. It’s worth hiring someone outside of your guest list to let he or she experience your happiness without seeing it through a camera lens, to arrive (hopefully on time) without orchestrating guests on where to go, and without fretting over their stand-in job performance. This alone is invaluable.