Project 2 Draft 2

      One day when I was a little girl, I was eating dinner at a restaurant overlooking the beach in West Palm Beach, Florida. What was so special about this dinner particularly is that there was a wedding going on at the beach that we could see from our table. Everyone who was attending the wedding had a smile on their face. It made me happy to see these people I didn’t even know thrilled with joy. Seeing how beautiful the scenery was, everything just seemed so special and perfect. There were dozens and dozens of colorful flowers and a bride glowing in her long white dress. Ever since that day, I thought weddings were incredible. Attending weddings have made them seem even more fascinating to me. Seeing how precise every little detail can be so interesting to me. Whether it is the food selection, how the venue is set up, or the little decorations that make a big difference, it is all intriguing. Wedding planners are responsible for setting up a dream wedding for their clients.

 

      Being a wedding planner has always been a dream of mine. Currently, I am a Hospitality Management major who is working on making this dream come true. What draws me to having this as a future career is that it is a happy job. You are planning possibly the most important day in a couples lives. I am very passionate about organizing, planning, and helping people out, which is why I strongly am leaning towards making this a future career of mine. I would like to research more about wedding planning though. Although it does seem like such a fun and exciting career to me, I’m sure it can be quite stressful too, as things don’t always go as planned. A question I always wonder is how do wedding planners draw in their cliental? Hiring a planner cost a lot of money so they have to make sure that they are advertising themselves well. So, the customers want to make sure that they are hiring a company that’s worth paying all of that money for. To be able to attract in customers, they will have to go above and beyond the standard idea of wedding planning to ensure that they stand out and are worth their clients putting all their trust in them to make sure they can make their special day go perfectly. Planners need to make sure they are doing something that their competition is not doing. If a couple sees that they could get the same deal from a much cheaper planner, they would go to the less expensive one so that they could save some money. So, it is important to have a unique company.

 

       I interviewed Kate Pararo, owner of A Piece of Cake Event Planning. Her company is local, here in Tallahassee. She has had a successful Event Planning business since 2011. She has even planned a celebrity from MTV’s wedding. Kate said that her clients are mostly referred by friends or they find her online. What’s so special about A Piece of Cake Event Planning is that Kate goes above and Beyond to make sure her clients have a stress free event. Also, they have event packages to pick from depending how involved you want to be in planning your wedding. This selection gives customers the opportunity to have exactly what they want. The simplest package is just the planners decorating for you the day of your event. The most extraordinary package includes all personal services, including the venue, decorating, helping pick hotels for guests and plenty of recommendations.

 

       “Service Encounter and Marketing of Micro creative industries: A Study of Wedding Planning” describes how wedding planners play an important role in the wedding industry. They are able to build a beautiful wedding from the start. It also says how wedding planners benefit by “word-of-mouth,” that is the same way Kate, owner of A Piece of Cake Event Planning told me much of the clients were referred by a friend. Whether it was from attending a friend’s wedding or having a friend just suggest the business, it has helped Kate become very successful in the Wedding market.

 

 

      “Journal of Feminist Family Therapy” discusses how it is not necessary to hire a wedding planner because you can by a wedding planning book yourself. Although this is true, I believe it is less stressful and less informative than it would be to hire a wedding planner. Wedding planners are definitely more expensive. But, on possible the most important day of your life, you should be able to carefully plan it and have someone help/guide you. “Is it our day or the Brides day? The Division of Wedding Labor and its meaning for couples” discusses how wedding duties typically fall on the women. During my interview, the company I talked to told me they typically get more phone calls and emails from soon-to-be brides who are reaching out to them, rather than their fiancés.  A bride taking the full responsibility of planning a wedding can be more work than it seems. It is important that a bride remains stress free while anticipating her wedding day. Hiring a planner would make her more at ease. “Journal of Marriage and Family” talks about the new changing cultures of wedding and how they’re not the same as they were 30 years ago. I believe weddings do still have the same meaning behind them, to vow to be with and love someone. But, much has changed. Now, women are working more. But, they still do invest more time planning a wedding than men do.

 

      Wedding planners can get caught up in all of the things they have to do so it’s important for them to keep track of their activities and meetings. Pamela J. Mckenzie wrote “Documentary tools in everyday life: the wedding planner.” This article discusses the importance of planning tools, such as calendars, daybooks, planners, and worksheets and how they help coordinate your life from day to day. They are used for larger projects such as planning a social event. A calendar allows a wedding planner to schedule out all events for their records. Planning tools allow for organization and staying on task.

 

       It is important for wedding planners to make sure brides are okay even from the start of planning. Lauren Stafford author of “Exploring Postnuptial Depressive symptoms said “Blue brides described feeling uncertain in their marriages, focused on self during wedding planning, and characterized their wedding as an ending followed by unmet expectations. Happier brides expressed relational confidence, demonstrated a relational focus during wedding planning, and framed their wedding in terms of new beginnings and unexpected positive emotions.” (Stafford) Planners have much work than just setting up a wedding. They should make sure that the bride is making the right decision to prevent possibility for a pride to have post wedding depression.

 

       Clients could be attracted to pick a wedding planner based off of how much work they’re willing to put into the bride and grooms wedding. With all the stress of wanting to look and feel your best on your wedding day, getting a planner may seem important to relieve the stress off overall. “Weight and Weddings. Engaged Men’s Body Weight Ideals and Wedding Weight Management Behaviors” discusses how a percentage of both brides and grooms try to get into shape and feel the best possible on their big day. If a planner is hired, the bride and groom will have time to focus on other things such as losing the desired weight. The planner will be able to focus on major aspects of the wedding which will free up some time for the couple. Some planners do the most including finding hotel and transportation accomadations for you and your guest. Giovanna Betella, author of The Emergence of Tuscany as a Wedding Destination: The Role of Local Wedding Planners says “Although strictly related to the wedding event, these forms of tourism are not included in the definition of wedding tourism that is adopted by this study. The term “wedding tourism” here is used to indicate the flows of tourists who travel to participate in weddings that are celebrated in a destination where neither the bride nor the groom lives.” (Bertella) While interviewing Kate, she said “In our full-wedding package, we will negotiate room blocks for you and your guests, we also assist coordinating transportation for you and your guests.” Something that clients have to think about when selecting a wedding planner is how big they plan their wedding to be. Some planners may be better at planning smaller, simpler weddings while other may focus on planning over the top weddings. “Journal of Divorce and Remarriage” by Aine Humble discusses how if someone gets married the second time around, they are more likely to have a smaller wedding. “Although remarriages tended to involve smaller and less complicated weddings, the majority of the couples replicated gendered patterns from their first weddings in subsequent weddings.” (Humble)