I’ve been an Asheville wedding photographer for quite a few years, and here’s one thing I know for sure: when a wedding goes off without a hitch, and all anyone can talk about is what a great day it was, 99.9% of the time it’s because there was a great wedding planner behind that day.
Planning weddings is a ton of work. There are so many moving parts, things to keep track of! Most people have never planned an event like a wedding, so they have no idea how valuable hiring a planner is and, even more important, how much time, money, and stress they can save you.
If you’re even considering hiring a planner, I urge you to contact a few of them and talk to them about their services. Many offer everything from helping you with details to the full-day experience.
And mostly, I think you’ll find they genuinely want to help you have the most amazing day you can. Well, at least the ones I’m suggesting here do!
If you think that you have to have a big wedding to hire a planner, I’m here to tell you that a GOOD planner can help with elopements, micro weddings, or your Big Fat Mountain Wedding with all the cousins! It does not matter how big or how small the wedding is, a planner is worth every penny.
As a wedding vendor, I’m there for my couples, and I want to do everything I can to help on the day. But without a planner, inevitably, at some point in the day, I have to put on my “fake planner hat” because something has gone wrong and because I do this week in and week out, people turn to me to ask what to do. When a planner is there, I never have to worry about putting down my camera, and I can do exactly what my clients hired me to do: take some epic photos for them.
Planners also advocate for your guest experience, making sure that hotel blocks are booked, suggesting fun things to do around Asheville for your guests like brewery tours before or after the wedding. A good planner knows that the guest experience is one of the biggest components of a great wedding day because people will talk about your wedding for years if they have an amazing time here in Asheville and at your wedding.
Here in Western North Carolina, here are some of my favorite planners to check out. Each one of these people is highly recommended, highly invested in the client experience, and WILL make your wedding be one that will be remembered.
Mary Bell has been running her own successful wedding planning business for over a decade here in Asheville, but before that, she was deeply involved with floral design, so she has so much wedding experience to share with her clients. Mary is vision-driven and loves to help her clients find and refine exactly how they want their wedding to look and feel. She’s a wonderful woman with a soft heart and loves the pure joy she sees on her client’s faces when their vision comes to life!
She’s an avid traveler, and her passport puts a lot of us to shame; she’s hiked to Machu Picchu, interacted with gorillas in Uganda, and swam with whales in Africa!
Mary Bell Events
Bridal Consultant & Wedding Planner
(828) 450-2209
www.marybellevents.com
Founded in 2009 by energetic and fun loving Marta Santamaria, The Planning believes that every couple should feel celebrated during their whole wedding planning journey. From the first introduction to the grand exit on wedding day, their team of planners makes it a goal to not just plan, but party! While Marta has since taken a back seat to planning, her team of 3 lead planners have learned from the best. No matter your vision, The Planning will work hard to make your dreams a reality.
Breanna, Kylie, and Autumn are a dynamic trio that exude happiness and love all things caffeine. Their enthusiasm for organization and celebration makes wedding planning all the more exciting. With each of them bringing a personal spark to the team, the ladies of The Planning are sure to create and coordinate wedding memories that last a lifetime!
Phone: 828.252.1101
Web: https://theplanningasheville.com/
21 N Market St, Asheville NC 28801
Nicole Luka is the owner of Wedding Connections, and she’s ready to hear about your vision for your wedding day. You can tell Nicole loves what she does because it oozes from her the minute you meet her. She’s upbeat, fun, and great at helping people see the big pictures and the little picture in planning their wedding. Wedding Connections offers many different levels of planning in Asheville, Charleston and beyond!
Nicole is a devoted dog mom, a music lover, and can’t get enough of traveling to National Parks. She also says “yes, please” to pumpkin everything in her favorite season, autumn in North Carolina.
Nicole Luka, Owner - Lead Planner
Wedding Connections
828.551.2610
northstarweddingplanner.com
Nikki Sciruba believes that helping people plan their wedding helps bring back the joy of being engaged. She offers full-service planning and can also help you with their extensive rental service! Nikki is a “tiny details make a great big picture” kind of gal, and she’s great at helping clients visualize what they want their wedding to look like and then delivering even better than they could have imagined. She’s got this crazy photographic memory that means she remembers everything!
Her whole family, including her two girls, are diehard Tarheel and Panthers fans, and when she’s not planning events or cheering them on, she loves to explore the Blue Ridge Mountains of home.
Nikki Sciurba
Carolina Love Events
(252) 903-1202
nikki@carolinaloveevents.com
Jordan Hunt is the rare bird that is born and bred here in the Smoky Mountains. Her focused and organized approach means that Jordan is your girl if you love someone who loves a good list. She’s a bold and transparent communicator, and an admitted perfectionist which is about the best quality you can have as a wedding planner! Another fantastic perk of hiring Jordan is that her husband Zach is also an officiant and a videographer if you’re in need of those services. Her services are start to finish; from booking vendors through delivering the gifts to the wedding suite at the end of the day.
Jordan believes in forming deep communication with her clients and loves peanut butter, chocolate with raspberry anything, and Doritos!
Jordan Hunt
Owner of The Hunt is Over
(828) 582-1608
thioweddingevents.com
A wedding planner is there for you to help with budgeting, venues, vendors, and they have your best interest in mind. They are experts in their field, voices of reason, and the clients I have that have hired wedding planners tell me over, and over that their wedding would not have been half the success it was without them.
On your wedding day, you should be able to relax and take it all in. And let me tell you when you don’t have someone helping you run the show like a planner is, people bring all their concerns and questions to who? Usually the bride or her parents. That’s no way to be enjoying the start of your life together.
You want to have an amazing day. Your parents want to see you get married to the love of your life and take it all in. I want to photograph this amazing day! Hire a planner, and they will make sure all of this happens.
And of course, if you’re looking for a photographer who can capture all of those unique elements these planners help you with and some epic documentary-style photos as well, let’s chat. I want to hear more about your wedding vision!
Email me: info@michaelfreas.com
