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7 Wedding Day Must-Haves
There are many lists online that engaged couples will read with “MUST HAVE” wedding day items. These are usually little things to help with minor problems like a loose thread or a wine spill. While these things are essential, as the wedding planner, you will have most of those things already covered with your wedding day emergency kit.
What are the bigger items that can help protect your client’s significant investment and keep everyone’s stress level manageable?
When your clients become engaged, they are excited to start the planning process. Many couples start meeting with vendors right away!
While it does not sound like a ton of fun, it is important to strategically guide your clients through the planning process by starting with a realistic wedding budget. This means your clients need to determine how much everyone involved will contribute to the overall wedding budget. Once you have created a detailed budget projection based on your client’s style, priorities, and desires, you and your clients can work together to meet with wedding professionals who fit within the allocated price range from the budget projection.
Just as important as the wedding budget is the guest list. Before purchasing a single item or booking a venue, know how many people your clients will be inviting. Your client’s guest list will determine almost everything, from how big a venue to book to how many napkins are needed. They will often work with both sets of parents to compile a complete list of people to be invited. If the guest list does not seem reasonable for their budget, they may need to start making cuts. Trimming the guest list is the quickest way to trim a wedding budget.
Most venues have some type of weather backup plan. Be very clear on what that plan is and if you need to secure any additional rentals to make it happen. For example, a venue might have a tent covering the ceremony, but if that tent is also used for the reception you may want to secure a second tent.
A weather plan is not just for rain. What will you and your clients do if there is a heatwave? Unforeseen cold weather? Having a solid plan B for weather will ensure that even if mother nature does not cooperate, your clients can still have a beautiful wedding day and that their guests are comfortable.
Generally speaking, there are no professional requirements or training for many types of wedding professionals. Be diligent and thorough when working with your engaged couples to select their vendor team. You will want to know how long a potential vendor has been in business and how much wedding experience they have. You want to check their references if you have not worked with them before and research their online reviews from past clients.
All professional vendors should maintain appropriate business licenses and have insurance in place before you even consider recommending them. When it comes to the venue, make sure that they maintain the proper insurance and have the requisite permits to be serving alcohol.
Ensure that all the vendors hired have contracts that clearly state their deliverables, responsibilities, policies, and procedures. As 2020 showed us, a contract is extremely important when something happens. You may consider recommending that your clients hire a lawyer to review the major contracts such as the venue and catering agreements before signing them.
Using one credit card for all wedding purchases can provide some basic levels of protection to protect your client’s wedding investment. As a bonus, a credit card with a rewards program can yield many points or airline miles from all the wedding purchases your clients make during the planning process.
As we mentioned above, all your wedding vendors should have their own insurance policies, but recommending clients purchase an event liability and cancellation policy for their event is also worth considering. An event liability policy can offer insurance protection in the event of unforeseen circumstances such as venue closures and extreme weather to more minor issues like stolen gifts or damage to rental items.
With regard to event liability and cancellation coverage, Markel event insurance offers both event cancellation and event liability insurance for weddings. Although Markel’s event cancellation coverage does not provide coverage if the event has to be canceled or postponed due to an infectious disease, epidemic or pandemic, it does offer insurance protection for your clients if the wedding needs to be canceled or postponed due to such things as extreme weather, venue bankruptcy, or military deployment.
Event liability coverage can help protect your clients if they are held legally responsible for property damage to the venue or bodily injury to someone injured at the event.
Markel event insurance can be a great solution for your clients with policies starting as low as $75, and a free event insurance quote from Markel takes only a few minutes online or on the phone. Get more information now on the Markel Insurance website.
*this post is sponsored by Markel Service, Incorporated
This blog is intended for general information purposes only, and should not be construed as advice or opinions on any specific facts or circumstances. The content of this document is made available on an “as is” basis, without warranty of any kind. This publication is not intended to be legal, underwriting, or any other type of professional advice. Persons requiring advice should consult an independent adviser. Markel does not guarantee any particular outcome and makes no commitment to update any information herein, or remove any items that are no longer accurate or complete. Coverage is provided by one or more of the insurance companies within Markel and policyholder services are provided by the underwriting manager, Markel Service, Incorporated, national producer license # 27585, in California d/b/a Markel Insurance Services, license # 0645481. Certain products and services are provided through various non-admitted insurance company subsidiaries of Markel and are offered through licensed surplus lines brokers or through Markel West Insurance Services California license # 0D95581.
A complete set of templates, checklists, and tools for professional wedding planners.
Business
Wedding Planning
Marketing
Day in the Life
Self Development
Friday Favorites
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