Interviewer: And do you find that that’s the key reason why there are more wedding consultants now than say 20 years ago?

Catherine Porterfield: I definitely do. I definitely do. I think there’s  just a huge–and it’s–and with these big events, it’s–they’re even more detailed and personal than they used to be you know with all these you know monogrammed you know little gifts that each you know–gifts that each  guest receives at a wedding that are left on the–the tables for dinner, just–and the personalized little notes and then with you know no longer it’s the guestbook but now there’s you know plates that people sign and making sure the plate moves around and you know it’s the–the couple can have this plate on–to display at their home on their mantle. It’s  just all these little things of personalized touches that people don’t want to do  the tradition–the traditional guestbook or–or things like that–that the wedding planner has to be on top of all that and making sure that all those little details that make it a personal wedding are implemented and followed through with by all the other vendors.

Interviewer: That’s great. So detailed orientation is–is one thing, so what are some  of  the  other  characteristics  that  one  would  look  for  in  a  wedding consultant?

Catherine Porterfield: My first and foremost is  I think trust and that they need to be able to trust you implicitly and you earn that trust by following up when you say you’re going to do something, always being you know proactive and in helping them, you’re the expert, so you’re there to guide them if they have questions and to foresee problems that your client won’t be able to see.

And maybe they want the wedding ceremony to run a certain way; you have to say okay, well let me–and you have to take a step back and think. Okay; now they  want  the–the  groomsmen  to  walk  in  this  way  and  then  the–the bridesmaids to walk in this way and you have to figure out logistically okay I know the church or I know the venue where they’re  getting married, how is that possible, and you have to be responsible for thinking of all those little things that–and how it’s  going to be played out and orchestrated. So you really–that’s where the detail–being detailed oriented come in–comes in and that’s what helps with the trust because if you show that you’re thinking that far ahead and you’re looking at not only the big picture but the little picture and exact details on how things are going to happen then your clients will trust you.

Obviously you’re showing them that you know what you’re doing–that you’ve done it before–that you have experience and that you’re really thinking every little detail out and that you want this to run as smoothly as possible. And then if you gain the trust of your bride and groom and their families it will make the whole event so much smoother and  just make everything be a much better working relationship with your clients.

So I think trust and you know really just delivering and catering to your client is extremely important. I think it’s also important to–as a wedding coordinator to really work on your relationship with other vendors. It’s very–it’s great to be able to go into a consultation, especially one you know–the first or second with a new client and they’re going to ask you, you know do you have someone that you would recommend and you know whether it be a caterer or a florist and to be able to say yes; and here’s who I’ve worked with in the past, and if you can get this network of people working on the same weddings then you have trust with them which is huge.

It was so–sometimes it’s very difficult to work with someone whom you’ve never worked with before because it’s always risky. You don’t know; you don’t have an established relationship. The more relationships that you can do and go out there and network and meet new vendors is really important and that also helps you as I mentioned before to stay on top of your game.

Look at trends from all the different areas–from flowers to music to you know caterers–all those different things, it really, really helps. So as much networking as you can do is–is extremely important and really getting to know other vendors and their industries.

Interviewer: Great; now we understand that you know selecting the optimal wedding consultant, it’s–it’s a process. You know you have to conduct some interviews and figure out you know who might work best for you, so what would the first interview with a potential consultant entail exactly?

Catherine  Porterfield:  I  would  always  ask  from  the  client’s  perspective, always ask for some examples and you would want photos, you would want samples,  because  then  it  also  helps  you  determine–some  wedding–every wedding planner kind of has a different style and what you really want to do is find someone who best–is  a good match because you’re trying to find–and you’re going to have a relationship that’s  going to be very stressful for you know probably anywhere from over  a year to six months–sometimes even three months, so you really want to find someone where that you–or form a partnership with a wedding coordinator who matches your style that you think if you want someone who is direct and straight to the point then you find that out during your interview.

So definitely watch the style, and also another way I find with style is looking at the different styled weddings that they’ve planned. So look at samples; they should–every wedding coordinator or planner should have some kind of portfolio and with that should be you know–include pictures of  weddings  that  they’ve  had,  sample  invitations,  sample  menus,  sample flowers, song lists–everything that they’ve done and that they’ve had input on and how they were involved and what their role was in that wedding. And then they should also have references that I think should–every bridge and groom should always call and talk to someone else and see, because you’re definitely get one side from the wedding planner, but you’re going to hear something else from the bride and groom and then try to you know–take your image and your perception of that wedding planner to marry it with the references.

And every wedding planner should have references  to give out. And–and I think that’s definitely one of the biggest things to look at. Also look at the wedding planner and see before you go meet with one, figure out what your needs are. Some brides and grooms want to plan things on their own and they really just need someone who’s going to give a little bit of input and  a  little  guidance,  but  they  don’t  want  someone  who  is  really,  really involved. So make sure that you find someone that matches that and is going to be able to meet that and is it going to be threatened by the fact that–that you know the bride and groom really want to take charge of this themselves, which  every  now  and  then  they  want  to  have  the  opportunity  to  contact somebody and to get some extra advice, and you know–so you really need to make sure that you know when you go meet with the wedding coordinator that they are able to give you what you need.

Now if you want someone who says oh I do–you know like I mentioned before–this whole weekend experience and you  need to make it a three–four-day event–really caters to every need and is willing to do everything and go with every appointment–with you to every appointment and be it from flowers to cake tasting(s) to caterers to everything then you know make sure that you’re finding someone who’s able to offer that as well. So it’s really just making sure that you feel comfortable and that they are able to show their work to you and to show the range of their work, what they’re capable of and what they’re not; and then from there continue and just get to know the planner a little bit more.

Interviewer: Okay; now I have to go legal here with the–you know formalities and everything. Is there a specific contract involved that you have to sign and set up?

Catherine Porterfield: It’s always different. It depends on their–there should–yes; there is typically a  contract involved. It’s  going to vary and change obviously  from  whoever  you’re  using  and  especially  if  you’re  using  an independent wedding contractor or a consultant or planner.

They will have probably their own contract which has been looked at by you know a lawyer and is–is legal and–but they’re going to have their owns whereas if you go to a larger firm or a wedding planning firm then it’s going to be probably a little bit more comprehensive and the breakdown will probably be a little bit more specific is what I’ve found in the past. And when you  go to an independent planner, a lot of times what they’ll also do is they’ll kind of have clauses in their contracts what–which will say you know the week of the wedding you know you will be paying–the client  will pay for extra cell phone charges because they’ll be using their personal cell phone which is also their business cell phone but since they’ll be using it so much more closer to the wedding, they’ll add an additional cost for that. That might charge a little bit more an hourly cost for that. So those–those are the differences whereas if you go to a larger firm it’s pretty much one flat fee and everything is included in that.

Interviewer: That sounds great; when you–there’s a personal touch to it.

Catherine Porterfield: Yeah; it’s–it’s very, very nice.

Interviewer: So I know you touched on some of them earlier, but what would you say are the–the key–the essential elements that go into wedding consulting, like what are the must-haves?

Catherine Porterfield: The must-haves are you need to have, there’s two different things basically I feel like–you need to have a–a good sense of–of basically wedding planning of–of the industry and where it’s going and how it’s growing and just stay on top of the trends, stay on top of you know–that means from flowers to the kinds of bridesmaids dresses that are popular to you know new traditions and breaking old traditions and kind of the protocol and do you still do things, you know they did in the 􀂵50s–just watching how things shift. That’s really important.

And then it’s also important to know the tradition and kind of the styles of the area in which you do most of your work because it changes from area to area and you really need to know that in order to be able to best kind of guide your client and to tell them what you know–if they’re going to come with questions to you you’re the expert and they’re going to look to you for advice and you really just need to be on top of your game and–and know the industry. And obviously with any kind of you know planning profession, you also need to be extremely organized, extremely detail-oriented, you need to follow through and you need to really be–you know you are there for them, so basically when they–if your client calls you need to make sure that you’re taking care of them at all times.

Interviewer: Great; so you know times have changed–issues, events. Things have certainly evolved over time. How would you say that is so for wedding consulting?

Catherine Porterfield: For wedding consulting I think the industry is definitely growing and I think more and more people are hiring wedding planners than they used to and I also think that it’s–it used to go if they just wanted someone–the family would want someone there for the day of, but that’s still you know such a struggle because it’s also hard for people who are hired just the day of an event.

It’s very difficult because you don’t know; you haven’t worked with any of these vendors before–typically the planner will call and just introduce themselves, so you haven’t made any decisions; you don’t know–you know a cake is supposed to be delivered but you have no idea really what you know–what exactly it’s supposed to look like.

So it’s hard because you have a little bit of control but not really very much and so it’s been very difficult and plus you’re not there to advise your client the entire way. Whereas now weddings seem to be getting bigger and they’re much more an event and experience especially all these weekend weddings and I think that that’s why the industry is growing–people want bigger weddings; they really want to make it this huge experience for their families and friends and they really want their families and friends to feel like they’re taken care of.

So wedding planners need to be able to take care of all events that go with–aside from just the wedding and reception but to be able–all the logistics for the pre and postevent
as well as take care of the bridal party and everything that do-of–really just–it’s no longer just something that’s just for one day. It–it kind of runs for three or four days you know sometimes and it’s just things are getting bigger and bigger. And so wedding coordinators and planners need to be able to prepare for that and have the staffing for that and have the facilities and the time to really be able to evote their time to such large events.

This is an interview with a proffesional wedding planner and it is going to be broke down in to 8 or 9 posts. Enjoy!

Interviewer:Welcome. You’re about to learn the inside details and little known secrets of wedding planning. We’re here today with Catherine Porterfield, who is a wedding planner out of the Washington, DC area. Catherine, thank you so much for joining us.

Catherine Porterfield: Oh thank you so much for having me. I’m excited to be here.

Interviewer: Great; now you know a lot of people think that wedding planning is such a–a comprehensive process and it–and it can be. You know there’s a lot of details that you need to pay attention to; so let’s start with the basics. What is it exactly that you do?

Catherine Porterfield: As a wedding planner and it–it varies from planner to planner depending on if they’re full-service or not–you basically can do anything from you know there’s wedding planners who just work the day of an event and just make sure that everything runs smoothly–that the bride has already kind of coordinated and–and done herself, or then there’s wedding planners who are there from the very beginning, sometimes even before the engagement, when–you know couples know that they’re going to get married and that they basically–you know so you’re there from the very beginning to work with the families on the budget, determine those things, and you–you do everything. You help with the flowers, you help with the invitations, the wording on the invitations; you basically take every–take care of everything as well as helping pick a caterer, the dresses both for the bride and the bridesmaids, flowers, music and going to all these appointments with the bride to check and make sure that you know she gets everything–and the family gets everything that they–that they want.

Some wedding planners also help with the bridal showers, the bachelor(ette) parties, the bachelor parties; they also help with the rehearsal dinner as far as handling all the logistics of that, as well–sometimes now there are you know toast wedding brunches and stay afterwards; so anything that is associated with the wedding some wedding planners take on all of that work.

Interviewer: And how long have you been working in this business?

Catherine Porterfield: About seven and a half–eight years now.

Interviewer: Great, great; so are there any particular career highlights that you’re especially proud of?

Catherine Porterfield: There’s definitely some; there are–you know it’s– what’s really special about wedding planning and I–I used to do corporate planning and what’s nice about doing something is that it’s so personal and you really are giving–you know no matter how crazy it may get and you know months and months of planning, it really is a reward when you do see a couple and you’re giving them a day that they’re always going to remember. And it’s such a special important day for not only them–and for their family and that your role is there to help take the stress off the family and off the bride and groom so that they can really enjoy the day and focus on what’s really taking place. You know they’re starting their lives together. So with each wedding there’s definitely a special moment when you get to watch especially when they–you know exchange with their vows or–or whatever kind of ceremony that they have, it’s just really nice to watch the couple really be able to enjoy the day.

I will have to say that one you know–just because it’s personal–would be one of my friends who got married and just–I was–she actually hired me as–I was in her bridal party but she also did hire me as the wedding coordinator and that was actually my first wedding that I planned; so it was a bit of a challenge. It was up in Cape Cod and having to do everything from being here in DC and having to coordinate over the phone and not see everything was a great challenge but it was also you know just perfect and the day went off without a hitch. That’s one of my most special memories. And then there was another one that was at the Mayflower here that was just a spectacular, huge event that was just beautiful and again everything just kind of went off without a hitch, so that was just really special as well.