Weddings > Katie's Wedding Planning Blog > Should I Hire a Wedding Planner?
Take 1
Should I Hire a Wedding Planner? Take 1
The History of Wedding Planners
Take a second to think about your grandmother's wedding. Or your mother's wedding. Most likely, neither one of them would have even considered a Wedding Planner. Maybe, they had never even heard of a Wedding Planner?! What has changed between then and now... to spur on this relatively new facet of the wedding industry? In my humble opinion, I would attribute it to two major areas.
First, women became more involved in the workforce. It used to be that the bride and her mom would plan the entire wedding together. Now, with both the bride AND her mom working, who has the time to plan a huge event? The 1980's showed first evidence of women evolving into the "do-it-all" beings of society (Think Baby Boom 1987). And today, there is no culture more over-committed, tired and just plain stressed than Americans. We look for assistance with everything from cleaning our house to tending to our yard. We look for time-savers such as fast food or pre-packed groceries. And we want experts to coach us through it all: our taxes, therapy sessions, you name it.
But why do we need an expert for weddings? When did weddings become so complicated? We all remember "Frank," the infamous wedding planner from The Father of the Bride (1991). You can't forget how he tended to the bride's needs, flowed with creative ideas, handled each crisis the day of the wedding, and noticed every detail down to George's navy blue tuxedo. Despite the humor and ridiculous accent, this may have been America's first introduction to a Wedding Planner in full effect. Simply stated, weddings have grown tremendously over the past 20 years to include larger budgets, more vendors, and endless details. Therefore, it only makes sense to find someone with TIME and EXPERTISE in this arena. And finally, after J. Lo's debut as The Wedding Planner (2001), this business has been blooming into something greater every year.
Still, you might be thinking, "Interesting history lesson and love those movies BUT it doesn't answer MY question. Should I hire a Wedding Planner?" Tune in next week for Take Two!
