You’re getting married. Congrats! But now you’ve got to plan the wedding. Where do you start? Read on to learn some of the best secret wedding planning advice from a professional wedding entertainer.

1. Hire a Wedding Planner!

   
   

I’m not a wedding planner and  I get nothing out of telling you this.

I am a wedding entertainer - caricaturist to be exact - and I’m telling you unless you are a wedding planner, you should really invest in one.

I didn't and I wish I had.

Full disclosure: I planned my own wedding. I'm an artist and I enjoyed making everything myself. I made all the flowers by hand. The headpieces. The favors. I arranged the venue and all of the vendors and I'll be honest, I kind of enjoyed that part.

What I didn't like so much was the part where I had all kinds of people coming and asking me questions on my wedding day.

Back then there was no such thing as a "Day of Coordinator."

But there is now, and if you cant afford a full-fledged wedding planner, a Day of Coordinator could be exactly what you need.

Make sure you’ve vetted them. There are a whole lot of people on social media trying to break into the business who have no idea what they're doing.

You don’t want someone who’s just going to send you their friends as vendors. Worse, some are outright scam artists.

Read on to learn how to avoid the scenario where you give someone your money and they ghost you and you have no recourse. ( Hint: prevention is worth a pound of cure)

1. Don’t use friends or family As Vendors

   Please do not ask your family to be your photographer, your baker, your decorator, florist, entertainer or even officiant.

   
   

   Even If they're pros.

   Your family and friends don't want to feel obligated to give you a discount, and if they don't do a great job it can ruin your relationship.

   I have seen some really horrible things at weddings and almost always it’s because the bride and groom asked their family to do something - like make the cake. EEK!

Stick to professionals. This is particularly true of photographers.

1. Using an “All in One” company usually isn’t the best idea

How do you think companies like this got their start?

They usually specialized in SOMETHING - wedding planner, DJ, rentals - and then branched out from there.

That means they’re not good at everything they offer. Just one or maybe two things.

The rest they either do a less than fabulous job at, OR

they have to hire out (which costs you more because they add on more to take a cut).

There ARE exceptions to this rule which inlcude luxury wedding planners and collaboration between a few a list vendors. Vet them carefully!

1. My most controversial Wedding Planning Advice:

   
   

   Not the Knot!

   

SO MANY brides fall for the hype of The Knot. And sometimes it turns out ok. But often, it doesn’t. Do you really want to play Russian Roulette with your Wedding?

The Knot/Wedding Wire is a pay-to-play site. You don’t have to be good at what you do. You just have to be able to pay +$4k a year for their “service”.

If you look them up however you’ll see that the knot does NOT get five stars. Try looking them up on the Better Business Bureau. When I did even I was shocked - and I already knew they were bad.

The Knot Is the only businesses I've ever looked up on the BBB that gets an F.

And they have gobbled up many smaller companies so you might not even realize you are working with the same parent company!

Heres a list of companies owned by the same company as THe Knot:

• The Knot Worldwide

• WeddingWire

• B Bodas

• Hitched.co.UK

• matrimonio.com

• How they asked.com

• The Bump

• The Bash (I didnt even know this!)

• Zankyou Ventures

• Simply Eloped

• XO Group is the Parent Company

The main complaint? They're unethical.

The Knot hides their vendor's 1 star reviews from brides - because otherwise, they would lose money from those vendors who would pull out. Therefore you cannot trust any of the vendors on that site.

I personally refuse to work with them because of this.

Here’s a link for you to see for yourself

https://www.bbb.org/us/md/chevy-chase/profile/wedding-consultant/the-knot-worldwide-inc-0241-235980765

1. Hire your vendors as early as possible.

   
   

   Many vendors including myself are so in demand that they book months and often years ahead.

   
   

   So if there's someone special you really want at your wedding that maybe you have been following on social media for a long time, reach out to them as soon as you know the date.

   

   
   
   
   
   
   

   I hate having to tell brides I'm booked on their wedding day because they didn't get to me soon enough. A cool thing with my caricature entertainment though is that you can often still have them for the rehearsal dinner or even your bachelorette party or bridal shower.

   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

2. ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS get a contract.

   
   

   Read through it thoroughly. It should have information regarding what happens if the vendor cancels. A "contact sheet" with the performer's name email and phone number is not the same thing as a contract. And Unfortunately that's often all the big online agencies will give you. One more reason not to use them.

   
   

   But that's not all you have to worry about. Does your contract have a money-back guarantee? Are you protected from last-minute cancellations? What about no-shows?

   
   

   In my area, there's a wedding vendor going around canceling on people at the last minute and telling them they were in a car accident. I have heard the same story several times that's why I know it's malarkey.

   
   

   I can't believe anyone like that would try to serve people in any way. However, you can head this kind of thing off at the pass by checking out the vendor's contract. If it only benefits them, you may want to reconsider that vendor. (I have seen those too!)

   
   
   
   

3. Read ALL the reviews.

   
   

   Some sites, Like the Knot, remove reviews! That's because they would lose their advertisers (And their money ) if they didn't. There are plenty of stories from brides on the internet to back up this claim. AND take a look at the BBB rating for the Knot!

   
   

   Unfortunately, reviews are often all we have to go by.

   So check all the reviews in all the locations. Not just on their website, but on Facebook (a very difficult place to get reviews removed), Yelp, Google Maps, and Google (also all but impossible to get them removed) sites like the Bash and Gigisalad, and the holy grail of sites the Better Business Bureau.

   
   

   (Unfortunately Trustpilot is another Pay to Play site. SO is the BBB but they actually keep up bad reviews so they're legit. AND you can report a business even if they are not their customer)

   
   

4. Think Outside the Box

   
   

   White wedding dresses, obligatory DJ's and traditional music to walk down the aisle. A lot of these traditions are really tired. How about taking something from your own cultural background to infuse some life into your wedding? Or try googling fresh wedding ideas! 

   
   

   Just because everyone has a photo booth (for instance) at their wedding doesn't mean you have to.

   
   

   Try Caricatures Instead! They're about the same price as a 360 photo booth, just as fast, and much more fun!

   
   
   
   
   
   

   

   
   

5. Finally, I give you the best wedding advice I got that helped me have a good attitude at my own wedding:

   
   

   Things will go wrong. It's just the way things are. But it's your wedding day and it is what you make it. Don't allow little things to take away from your special day.

   
   

   Be determined to have a good attitude no matter what happens, and you will still have the best day of your lives!

   
   
   
   

6. PLEASE share this with any brides you know and on social media!

   
   

My name is Kathy Buskett. I am a wedding caricaturist with 25 years of experience. I go around to weddings and other events and help make them more memorable and FUN!

I also enjoy giving free wedding planning advice to young brides who need help.

If you want to check with me about your date to see if I am available, check with me at kathybuskett@gmail.com

YOU can also check out the rest of my website at www.caricaturesbykathy.com

make sure to click on my wedding page!

And finally if you want more wedding tips and tricks and want to hear stories from my events, Or just to follow me, follow my blog HERE