Planning a destination wedding could take you a lot of time. Whether it is a worry free planning process or a nightmare, depends very much on which hand you are in. Here is a list of 7 questions to ask your destination wedding planner in Vietnam or anywhere else.
1. How many years have they been in this wedding industry? Are they experienced destination wedding planner?
Experience is everything. You may want to know how long have they been in this industry, since planning a destination wedding requires the ability to create a master plan from start to finish. Every little thing needs to be planned. An experienced wedding planner is the one who tell you to prepare for things you may don’t event know or think of yet. They also help you with unexpected changes, say: venue, transportations for the guests or even the groom’s wrong color tie and so many other unnamed things.
Adding to that, a wedding planner may be able to make wonderful city weddings but it does not mean that they can be a great wedding planner for a beach wedding/mountain wedding/cliff wedding. It’s also about how they coordinate to make sure every wedding vendors can deliver their work on time and smoothly while working a far. The point of a destination wedding is that all parties have to work remotely (wedding planners & couples and wedding planners & other wedding vendors) and there is a very high chance that miscommunications or wrong timing could arise and lead to unwanted problems.
So always ask for their experience of planning destination wedding. How many destination weddings they have planned and how much they are involved in those projects? They may be just a wedding coordinator or a wedding decorator of those weddings but have they ever planned and executed a destination wedding from A to Z?
2. What is their destination wedding portfolio like?
Next question is about their wedding portfolio. In addition, how many cities, locations they have been to. It’s always essential to have a thorough look at the wedding planner’s body of work. You would want to know the scale of weddings that they have planned, in terms of wedding decoration and wedding program. If you are planning for a wedding with a significant budget, you would definitely want to put it in good hands. An experienced wedding planner is the one who have worked with different wedding sizes and budgets; created complex wedding programs and delivered various wedding concepts.
Moreover, it depends heavily on what are you expecting from your wedding that you need to find the one who can deliver what you are looking for. If you are planning a wedding full of activities from pre-wedding day to post-wedding day, you may want to find a wedding planner who has created similar weddings.
3. Have they ever planned a destination wedding at your venue/resort ?
Have they ever planned a wedding at the venue that you are considering? If not, have they done a site check at that venue and how they are gonna work with a new venue. Do they show confidence and experience in planning a wedding at a new destination?
With a diversified portfolio, The Planners is confident to deliver to you the best destination wedding planning service in Vietnam. From the north to the south, we have held weddings in Sapa, Halong, Danang, Nha Trang, Phu Quoc, Da Lat and so on. The types of weddings we have planned also vary greatly: from outdoor weddings (mountain wedding, beach wedding, cliff wedding, lake wedding) to indoor weddings (weddings in ballroom or in a cozy intimate high-class restaurants).
Find out more about our prominent works here.
4. Do they have a team or work solo?
This is an important question that some couples may miss. It takes more than one person to run a wedding so it would be great that the wedding planning firm you are booking has a professional team. Ask if they have fixed team members or they will book freelancers to take care of your wedding. Also, it would be ideal if all team members can communicate in English. Besides, you may want to know how many wedding planners/wedding coordinators will be there on your wedding day.
As for The Planners, we are a team of 13 members with 8 experienced wedding planners and 2 wedding planner assistants. We always have at least 4 members to run a wedding with each member being able to communicate in English and we rarely work with freelancers.
The Planners is also the only wedding consultancy firm in Vietnam with 4 offices in different cities. Our head office is located in Hanoi,The Planners Danang Office was opened in 2017, followed by The Planners Saigon in 2020 and our newest office is in Halong in 2022.
5. What services are included?
Make sure to know exactly what your wedding planner can help you with. During the initial talks, you should ask for their wedding service list. Does the service come with a designed package with fixed elements or their services are tailored to your need. Get clarity on the services they offer and what services will be additional. You may not want to be informed extra fees after the wedding or get lost at some points of the planning process.
Some specific questions may include “Will you help us manage the transportation and accommodation for the guests or maybe the rehearsal dinner? If not, do you have suggestions for these?”
6. How is their network of wedding vendors?
It would be a big plus if they have a wide network of vendors. An experienced destination wedding planner always expand their network and certainly, with years of experience, they should have a strong and wide network of wedding vendors. With a long list of vendors, they can give you better recommendations and know which wedding photographer or florist would match your style and budget.
7. What is their communication style and how can you follow up with the wedding plan?
Considering that you and your wedding planner will work from afar most of the time, it’s important to know how you will communicate with them. Whether it is via text messages, email or video call, how often they update with you about the planning process or how you can check out the whole plan and follow up each step of the plan – these are the keys to have a smooth planning process.
For example, at The Planners, we can work via text message, email and video call, it depends on different stage of the planning and which platform that is convenient for the couple and the wedding planner to communicate. Also, we update the planning process on online project management applications which is Freedcamp.
If you are looking for a professional and experienced destination wedding planner in Vietnam, contact us now! If you want to check out some clients’ testimonials, visit: The Planners’ testimonials
