Congratulations! You've just gotten engaged! Your dreams are coming true and you're on cloud nine! Dreaming of your perfect day, your perfect dress and seeing your groom as you walk down the aisle.

*Rewind*

Unfortunately, weddings take a lot of planning...and come with some stress and even tears sometimes. Are there ways to minimize the pain and stress? Absolutely!! 

Here are three options when it comes to planning your wedding day. If you're not sure whether you need one of these then read on and enjoy these images from the Very Peri Styled Wedding Shoot from my favorite Wedding Planner Karissa McIntire and what she brought to life!

Do you want to relax and enjoy your wedding day without doing all the work?

Wedding Planner - are you not so good at handling logistics and budgets? Do you have a demanding career or do a lot of travel with your career? Are you doing a destination wedding? Do you want to enjoy being engaged and also want to enjoy the day of your wedding with the least amount of work and stress possible? Do you want your family to also be able to relax and not have to work the entire day of your wedding? You should seriously look at hiring a wedding planner.

Wedding planners are the first step in planning. They will find out what your budget is and go over priorities and ensure that your needs and desires are fully handled. They have lists of vendors for each category that they have worked with and will match you up with those that best fit your needs and style. They will schedule and attend meetings with you for each of these vendors. They will go with you on site visits, menu tastings, and help choose wedding invitation suites. They also coordinate with vendors leading up to the wedding day and all day during the wedding. They can handle all of the set up for the wedding and can handle tear down and clean up after the wedding as well as making sure all of the vendors retrieve their items from the wedding venue. (Check with your wedding planner to see what they offer specifically, as some also offer some design assistance and may have packages that don't include cleanup after the wedding.) 

Imagine on your wedding day you can enjoy the morning getting ready with your wedding party, while in the background your wedding planner (or coordinator) is working with the venue, florists and rental companies to get your ceremony site set up and decorated, as well as working with the caterers and venue to set up the reception site with decor, where the food gets placed, where the DJ sets up the dance floor and making sure everyone is on target with the timeline. They make sure the photographer and videographers are updated if there are timeline changes to ensure things don't get behind and the wedding site is beautiful for pictures and video. They can even wrangle family members for family formal picture time! All you have to do is sit back and enjoy!! If this sounds like your perfect day then you definitely need to prioritize a wedding planner in your budget.

Are you good with logistics and maybe can't afford a wedding planner or designer but still want to enjoy the day of your wedding without working so much? Then you should consider a wedding day coordinator. You should still reach out and schedule or book this wedding vendor a ways out from your wedding day - don't wait until a month before your date! Once you have everything planned out a coordinator will take over the reins and work with each of the vendors that you have on your wedding team. They will coordinate rehearsal and wedding day logistics so you can relax and be in the moment!

Are you good at logistics but not so creative?

Wedding Designer - are you good with logistics but not very creative and you want a gorgeous looking wedding to remember? A wedding designer or stylist handles creative aspects of the wedding. Colors, wardrobe, theme, guest experience, works with florists, rental and decor such as arches, seating, linens, flatware, lighting, stationary, signage. They will do your event layout for tables and seating, floral installations or other design installation, lights and more. They also oversee the budget for these items and work directly with these vendors and coordinate with a planner and client. They will be present the day of the wedding to ensure everything comes off as planned. 

Now hopefully I've helped you know what planners, designers and coordinators do and who can best help you have the wedding day of your dreams!

I got to interview Karissa with Ethereal Event Planning and we talked about some of the things to keep in mind when planning your wedding! Karissa is a wedding planner in Southwest Missouri and does travel! Please contact her if you are interested in seeing what the possibilities are for your special day! She will relieve so much stress for you and free up your time for what matters most! Here’s a quick video of our interview!