As you enter into your intimate wedding planning process, it’s normal for your emotions and excitement to flourish freely. & just as they should – you and your love are embarking on your most heartfelt adventure yet!
However, while investing in your vendor team, I encourage you to balance your butterflies with undeniable presence and intuition. Why? Because, hiring a destination wedding planner is one of the most important decisions you’ll make on your way to “I do!”. & you deserve a compassionate counterpart who is just as invested in your creative expression and experience as you are.
To help ground you in your Glo State, I’ve put together 12 green flags to look for in a destination wedding planner:
01. Carries a Calm, Consistent Presence On & Offline
Your destination event planner’s energy speaks volumes.
Before reaching out and inquiring, slow down with your partner over a candlelit dinner (or a hike along the horizon!) and make a list of the must-have characteristics and non-negotiable traits that you envision from an event planner and designer. Discuss everything from budget and the extent of services you long for to: the values you desire in a planner, what’s most important to you on your day, your strengths and shortcomings, and what type of professional is going to best calm your own cocktail of chaos. Do you and your partner need a month of coordinator to reign in a timeline and last minute details or are you soul searching for someone to serenade the details of your story along with the wildest places on Earth?
Now that you’ve manifested, do your homework. Take your list of recommendations to search. Spend uninterrupted time on their website, social platforms, and reviews! Here are a few questions to ask yourself in the process:
- Does their portfolio work represent my style?
- How does their online presence make me feel?
- What are past clients and vendors in the industry saying about their character and work?
- Is there anything about their essence that leaves me confused or makes me hesitant?
Once you’ve done your research and further refined your list, inquire! Most planners will either meet you in person or jump on a complimentary Zoom call to get to know you. Take notice of how they make you feel face to face and if that vibe is consistent with the experience you received online. Let your destination wedding planner show you who they are!
If you leave the conversation feeling seen, heard, and pushed to the edge of innovation and creativity; you may just have found your fit!
02. Clear Pricing & Contracts, Por Favor!
We both know that there’s no room for the guessing game while planning a heartfelt celebration with your closest loved ones. Especially when you’re: rising in your career, planning your next getaway, staying true to your self care rituals, and still trying to find time to gush over the ring on your finger. & the same goes for the pricing & contracts of your destination event and wedding planner!
Know that you are not asking too much if you and your partner are expecting fully disclosed pricing and contract details from your vendor team. This is an investment that you are making, and you surely deserve transparency in not only how much you’ll be spending and when, but the between-the-line details encompassing the scope of your relationship with your planner.
It goes without saying that if you are not receiving clear pricing and contracts from anyone surrounding your intimate wedding, it’s a red flag!
03. Workflow Transparency
Top tier wedding planners and designers refuse to gatekeep the golden information you need to walk through every step of this process confidently. From inquiry to final goodbyes, you and your partner should be in the know on every step ahead. An experienced, involved planner will clearly communicate the workflows that map out your adventure. That way you know what to expect moment by moment. This will also allow you to let go and revel in unhurried connection – stress free. Trusting that your planner and you are in this together.
04. Travels to the Root of Your Story
When you invest in a wedding planner and designer who cares just as much about your experience as you do, they will travel to the wild unknown to get to know you for who you are. The truth is an embodied event planner can only do their best work if they dare to sit with every chapter of your story. It’s their job to make every detail and experience tied to your wedding day an authentic extension of not only your love as a couple, but your journeys as individuals. & there is no faking that level of tender togetherness.
Green flag “hell yes” planners should long to know:
- Where you come from
- What (and who) feels like home and why
- Who you are as unique individuals, the experiences that define you, and what you bring to existence on your own
- How the world led you to one another (how did you meet, what made you fall in love, what was challenging, and how did you endure to be where you are now)
- What makes you feel alive
- All that you value and all that you don’t
- What marriage means to you both
- What dreams looks like after “I do!”
When they travel to the root of your story, they will be able to deliver an alternative event experience that is less surface level and more spellbound.
05. Listens & Deeply Cares About Your Experience
If a planner approaches your work together with compassion, empathy, and presence… never let them go. The truth is the wedding planning process is wildly nuanced. & when you’re dreaming up your fiesta, setting boundaries with family, and articulating your narrative into an enchanting experience; you need a professional in your corner who knows when to listen and reflect your truest self back to you.
If you find your connection feeling more like a wedding factory or “just another cookie cutter couple”, pack your bags. I promise you there is a divine wedding planner out there who is passionate about seeing you as one of one as your story comes to life with radical abundance.
06. Provides Honest, Yet Kind Feedback (Rather than Bullsh*t People Pleasing)
Here at Glo State, we believe that the dream event planner & designer is composed of: kindness, industry-defining vision, vulnerability AND a no bullsh*t approach. The truth is that when you’re planning the most sacred union of your life, you need a professional in your corner who softly tells it like it is (rather than tells you what you want to hear). From championing the candlelit cocktail hour that’s never been done before to carefully turning down Aunt Louise’s dusty tablecloths; your planner should act as your mirror. Validating you, challenging you, & speaking up when something or someone doesn’t feel aligned with your embodied event.
07. Requests Client Feedback Throughout the Planning & Design Process
When it comes to green flags, open and honest communication may just be at the top of my list. When you’re working with a planner who has frequent wellness checks and feedback requests built into his or her systems, rest assured you’re in the best of hands! Requesting client feedback throughout the planning and design process shows that a planner is devoted to not only providing their best work, but roaming in rhythm with you.
Check ins typically occur once every two months and become more frequent as the big day approaches. Healthy client feedback prompts may take shape as:
- On a scale of 1 to 10, how satisfied are you with your event and design services?
- How are you currently feeling? On top of the world, overwhelmed, disconnected, emotional, stressed, productive, excited, all of the above.
- What’s been the most helpful to you this month? Why?
- Is there anything I can do to meet you more halfway or support you better moving forward?
- Anything else I need to know?
Don’t hesitate to request this form of consistent connection or ask if client feedback will be included in your package!
08. Embodies Intention & Meaning Within Every Element & Decision
What separates an embodied event planner from a day-of coordinator is the stylistic significance, nostalgia, and emotion they tie to every detail and decision. Luxury destination wedding planners are determined to illuminate beauty and belonging from the blank spaces. They seek to incorporate personal touches that not only trace back to your story and remind you of who you are, but inspire your adventure that lies ahead.
A spritz of your mother’s perfume, earrings from your favorite black-owned small business, the corgi as your whole wedding party, exchanging vows below the sea of pines where you spent your first night under the stars together, lobster rolls that transport you to your summer spent along the coast, and a playlist on repeat from your romantic road trip out West.
However it comes to life – remember the little things are a love language. Your love language! & I promise you those small details and intentional decisions will make your wedding day something that you and yours will always want to close your eyes and come back to.
09. Encourages, Sets & Respects Boundaries
I’m not sure who needs to hear this… but if boundaries belong anywhere, they belong in wedding planning. In fact they were made for wedding planning!
A green flag if I’ve ever seen one is your wedding planner slowing down with you and setting boundaries – first thing! Setting boundaries for herself, you, and your partner. Not only should clear, realistic boundaries be made by all parties, but they should be followed religiously.
Here’s a few examples of boundaries I recommend setting & respecting:
- Availability (What days and times are you available)
- What are your non-negotiables?
- Family dynamics & relationships
- Budget
Putting in the boundary work in the beginning may seem like a lot… but it’s sure to keep worldly stresses and burnout away from your experience.
10. Allows for a Slow Timeline
Old systems and box checking will encourage you to wed how it’s always been done (conventional timelines, stuffy traditions, outdated rituals, etc.), but a mindful wedding planner will tell you to slow it all down and do it your way.
There’s nothing we love more than an event planner who takes a timeline into her own hands for love sake. Forgo the rushed schedules, half present conversations with guests, and no eating on your wedding day and opt for hiring a team who builds a day around you and what matters most to you.
Let this be your reminder that this is your party, and you can do whatever you want to: cross country ski to meet the sunrise, throw out the first look, tell stories in an open field during cocktail hour, shoot couple’s adventure portraits the next morning, serve french fries at dusk and refuse to rush through a second of it.
Communicate your vision and let your green flag wedding planner make it golden for you!
11. Creates Detailed Contingency Plans for Weather & Unknown Elements
No one knows how to weather a storm like Glo State Experiences. As an elevated wedding planner and designer who bounds lovers to the wildest places, I know just how important it is to expect the unexpected. From snowstorms in the mountains in late May and travel restrictions to: last minute ceremony location changes, delayed al fresco dinner service, no show transportation, and more; I’ve truly seen it all. However, no matter what my team and I have faced, we’ve always turned what could have been a nightmare situation into a seamless narrative that was always meant to be. All thanks to detailed contingency plans and anticipating the options behind every scenario.
As you’re choosing your destination wedding planner, know that you deserve just the same. Someone who can pivot innovatively, calmly execute, and find a solution for every problem that arises.
Remember that your wedding day will not be perfect, but with the right people in your corner it will always be perfect for you.
12. Leaves a Place Better Then They Came
Lastly a green flag wedding planner is conscious of the impact they leave behind. Whether they’re designing on private property, collaborating with a venue, or curating a celebration in the wilds; they seek to:
- Minimize their carbon footprint & leave no trace
- Incorporate biodegradable decor whenever possible
- Respect the wildlife & give them space to be
- Communicate environmental best practices and expectations with clients and guests
- And more!
There you have it, divine dreamers! I hope this guide to your green flag destination wedding planner helps you not only set realistic expectations as you begin your search, but reminds you of what you deserve throughout this process. All of us have different wants and needs when it comes to an event planner. However, if you take away one thing from this, I hope you know that you are worthy of a vendor team and event planner who sees you for who you are, celebrates your differences, and would travel far to help bring your vision to life as you always imagined.
If you’re getting married along the West Coast, Out West or somewhere where nature roams freely and think I could be the right fit for you; inquire through my contact page. I would love to slow down with you, learn more about your golden ideas and chat through more green flags!
