Oh...if I were a wedding planner....(sing to the theme of Fiddler on the Roof...or not...) 

If you're just starting your wedding plans or already well into the planning process, you know there's a lot more to planning a wedding than meets the eye.  Whether it's a small, elegant event for 50 or an extravagant reception for 300, a lot goes into planning a wedding, including a lot of emotion, money and sometimes even stress.  From budget concerns to girls night out, a wedding planner can help with all aspects of your wedding or just a few.  More importantly, a wedding planner can help bring to life your vision with fun and creative ideas to make your day unique.

So, how does a wedding planner accomplish all that?  Where do they get their creative inspiration?  Do all their ideas come from the bride and groom or is it an evolving process?  In an effort to find out what goes into planning a wedding, from start to finish, we recently interviewed wedding planner Kristin Barse of Bel Momento Events. 

Q. When a bride and groom first contact you about planning their wedding, how do you get started?  Let's say I'm the bride.  Do I give you a budget or an idea?

I am often contacted by couples at all stages in their planning. To start, I always offer a complimentary consultation to the couple - by meeting with them in person or over the phone. On average 70% of the couples I work with live out of state and are planning Destination Weddings at the Jersey Shore. This consultation benefits both myself and the couple. By hearing what stage the couple is currently at in their planning I am better able to customize what services I offer that could be useful to them from their current planning stage up until the day of services. They also have one on one time with me to ask any questions they have about the services Bel Momento offers and how we can work together to make their wedding planning and day of the wedding enjoyable and memorable.

After we meet, I create a customized package for the couple. It always includes rehearsal coordination and Day of Coordination Services by myself and 1-3 additional assistant coordinators depending on the logistics and size of the wedding.

There are typically 3 different stages in the planning process when we receive calls from couples interested in our services. The first stage is  when a couple has just begun to plan and they aren't sure where to start.  The 2nd is when a couple has chosen a reception venue and needs assistance from that point forward and the third stage is when a couple has chosen the location of the wedding and most, if not all, suppliers but they are looking for our help to oversee the final few weeks before the wedding and the day of.

We feel our services as wedding consultants can be best utilized when couples come to us in the beginning stages of planning. This offers the bride and groom complete planning assistance from start to finish with a hand to walk them through the many decisions that need to be made for this very special day. From forming ideas and keeping a couple on track with their budget to assisting them with finding the venue and suppliers who meet their budget, style, personality, etc. From the very beginning we hear their visions for the day and help to personalize the wedding so that it reflects what makes them special and unique as a couple. We act as their voice on the day of the wedding, working closely through constant constant communications with everyone involved in their day, to ensure that exactly what the couple envisioned and planned is what they receive from all suppliers and venues.

Q. You recently planned a really unique wedding for a couple that was married at The House of Blues.  Can you take me through the planning process that went into that wedding from 6 months out to the day before the wedding?

Julie and Ed live locally in South Jersey. Julie works 2 jobs and goes to school while Ed is a full time teacher. They are very busy people, and just like many couples, although their wedding would be local, they didn't know exactly where to start when planning and how they would find the time to do it. They came to me in the fall of 07 and we worked together up until August 2, 2008 - The big day!

The first few meetings I spent time getting to know them as a couple - their likes, dislikes, how they met, what they envisioned, the number of guests they planned to invite and we also created a wedding budget to work within. From there, Bel Momento chose 2-3 venues for them to consider - all of which had the potential to work within their budget and fell into the guidelines of what they were looking for in a wedding reception location.

I threw in a "wild card" - The House of Blues at Showboat Casino. They were both skeptical about having a wedding in a casino. Julie was afraid guests might not stay at the reception and be found down on the casino floor instead! I assured them I didn't think they could go wrong with this location. Julie and Ed's personalities really matched what the House of Blues is all about - this location would reflect their sense of style and their free spirits both ready to party and give their guests a really unique experience - not the traditional chandelier marbled ballroom. Then we chose suppliers keeping in mind budget, style, location, etc. I like to match couples up with vendors who I know will really work well with their vision and personalities. Design also played a big part in the planning of this wedding. Julie has a great sense of style and we knew we had to make a wow factor in all the littlest details. The colors we had in mind were found in the amazing Foundation Room tapestried walls and The Club Harlem Ballroom midnight and gold star sky painted ceilings. From the impeccable save the dates and invitations down to the chiovari chairs and gold linens we rented for the special look Julie and Ed wanted...so many details were carefully planned out - most importantly while staying within the budget.

Julie comes from an Asian background and wanted to incorporate her heritage into the day in some way - we knew we wanted to use origami and thought that a placecard table full of beautiful origami would be the perfect place to start! Martha at Christina Creations designed all of the printed materials for this wedding and was able to bring Julie's vision to life with colorful, elegant origami ducks that had each guest's placecard printed inside. As the wedding got closer, a timeline is created to coordinate the little details of the day, transportation, hair and makeup appointments, deliveries and setups of decor, payments to suppliers....From the rehearsal until the tuxes were collected and returned to the shop, Bel Momento oversaw every detail of Julie and Ed's day.

We also spoke with Julie & Ed and here are some of the comments from the bride about their wedding day. 

It was a perfect day for the two of us.  Everything went so smoothly.  Originally we were against having the wedding in a casino because we're against gambling and were afraid people might go gamble but the room was really nice and the dance floor was huge.  Kristin also had the idea of going to the Steel Pier.  She was kind of in the background all day and every 15 mintues or so would tell us what was coming up next.  The guests said they loved it! 

Q. On the day of the wedding, do you walk around with a walkie talkie and mike or is that just something out of the movies?

Although it may seem unnecessary to some - having wireless mics would be a great thing to have at every wedding. For now, cell phone communication between myself and onsite coordinators is key! We want every couples wedding to be flawless and communication on the day of is absolutely a main factor in ensuring just that. I have attended weddings as a guest and seen some unfortunate situations occur which could have been eliminated if there had been a main contact person - a wedding coordinator - to oversee the day. Imagine the bride arriving to the church and through the nervousness and excitement to begin, her bridesmaids begin to walk down the aisle - no one thinking about the videographer who had been following the bride to the church and wasn't set up yet and missed the first 10 minutes of the ceremony...or the love bird release in front of the chapel (a special moment a couple would want on film) occurring - while the photographer is inside packing up and no one let her know there would be a release following the ceremony shots inside. This wasn't any vendors fault, but there was no one there to be the lead communicator and with all the money invested in the day, every vendor wants to deliver the best job possible. We value every vendor we work with and as the key contacts Bel Momento is able to ensure that our couples have the very best experience and no detail is forgotten.

Q. What are some of the more unusual things you've done for weddings, engagement parties, girls night out, etc.

Every wedding and special event is unique! We had a couple who loved Starbucks and spent a lot of time there during their relationship. They wanted Starbucks to be a part of their day - so they participated in a "Make your Mark" Starbucks event - a donation to the couples favorite charity was made and Starbucks not only matched the donation, they also provided samples of Starbucks drinks at the reception for all the guests! Frappuccinos and Iced Teas during cocktail hour and Hot Mochas during desert! That was a lot of fun! And couples will always remember Mike and Michelle's love for Starbucks and the charity they contributed to.

Q.  Have you ever had an Atlantic City themed wedding?

Many of the weddings we have done have a beach theme, not so much Atlantic City-themed. But, in the instance that we did, I would have many recommendations. One being the wording used on the invites and save the dates. You could have a lot of fun with key phrases and casino terminology! Instructional gaming tables with professional dealers are a lot of fun and could be offered during the cocktail hour or after dinner for guests to make for a very unique Atlantic City theme!

Q. A lot of people think it's really expensive to hire a wedding planner?
Is it or do wedding planners generally get special deals that you your
services more affordable than people think?

Because of many TV shows and movies with wedding planners, I think the idea most brides and their families have, what they automatically assume, is that a Wedding Planner is not necessary and more money then an average couple can afford! The truth is the majority of my couples are in their mid 20's - mid 30's, working hard, going to school, and the majority have a budget that ranges from $15,000 - $40,000+. Sometimes couples approach wedding planning and don't realize how fasts the costs add up because they haven't planned a wedding before. They come to us and say they have a $10,000 budget and they want to get married at a hotel in Cape May on a Saturday in July and invite 200 guests. Realistically and unfortunately, that would be close to impossible. The average price for many wedding venues menus begin at $70 -90 per person before taxes and gratuities are even added. We do our best to educate our couples during the initial consultation about the real costs they should expect to find when researching venues and vendors for their wedding. We are aware of the actual costs involved, our packages are customized and depending on when in the planning process we are hired, begin at $1,000 and up. They always include the rehearsal and day of coordination. Even if a couple knows they only want to use our services for the final month package, we recommend they book with us 8-10 months in advance to save the date. We require a deposit at that time and final payment is due 2 weeks before the wedding. For all the costs involved in a wedding, why wouldn't you want the added assurance that someone is acting as your voice and making sure all goes to plan. The best feeling is when our couples and their families tell us. "We don't know what we would have done without Bel Momento, everything was exactly how we envisioned our day to be and more!"

Another note on the misperception that wedding planners are too expensive, when a couple books a package with us, they also receive 30% off invitations, favors, bridal accessories, and bridal party gifts we offer through 6 wedding websites including Carlson Craft Invitations and WeddingStar.  We also do not accept commissions from vendors, rather we ask the vendor suppliers to pass the savings on to our clients.  Because we have such a great group of vendors we work with on a constant basis, there are several who are happy to provide our brides an additional savings from working with us."

Q. Is there anything else you want to add about the wedding planning process or do you have any other tips for couples you want to add?

A few additional notes to mention:
We will never book more then one wedding a day and we prefer to take on only one wedding a weekend to be sure all the details and our attention is focused on that couple.  We are completely committed to them on their day and the week leading up to it.

Many couples think that a wedding planner will come in and tell them what to do.  That is not the case with Bel Momento. The bride and groom plan their wedding, we strive to make it as stress free and fun as possible. We make suggestions, give advice, and assist in all areas requested but ultimately the couple are the only decision makers.

Quite often it is the mothers of the couples that contact Bel Momento for services. They don't want to have to worry abut the details the day of, they would rather be able to enjoy the day with their daughter or son. This is so true! It makes us feel great knowing we are not only helping the bride and groom but also allowing the other special members of their bridal party and families to do the same - Enjoy the moment!