How To Find Your Ideal Wedding Planner ~ An Introduction to the UK Alliance of Wedding Planners…

Morning all, I want to bring your attention this morning to the UK Alliance of Wedding Planners {UKAWP}, the leading industry body for UK Wedding Planners, established to promote professionalism in wedding planning.  Now, I'm not saying this because they are my sponsor {the UKAWP advertise with me}, but in the 2 years I've been blogging, I have learned so very much about weddings and event planning, and hand on my heart, I don't think I could ever possibly approach an event planning exercise again without the assistance of a planner and stylist. Wedding planners and event stylists are worth their absolute weight in gold I tell you! {whilst I didn't have one to assist me plan my own wedding, I had several very talented people support me with the Love My Dress Summer Soiree in August and I would not have been able to pull off the event without their support}.

In an industry that is mostly unregulated, an organisation like the UKAWP is not something to be scoffed at or ignored.  It basically means that a group of wedding planners are working together to set levels of excellence in customer service, to continually raise their standards and to support aspiring Wedding Planners as well as train those established Planners who want to excel.  And actually, that's pretty darn good isn't it?

 

UK Alliance of Wedding Planners

 

Butwhat does this mean to the majority of my readers who are Brides? Well, first of all, it means that if you are looking for a wedding planner,  the UKAWP is here to help you – or a start, via their very helpful online directory, and through providing invaluable advice on how to go about finding the wedding planner that will be best for you, and your wedding

"All of our members have proven their professionalism and experience before being accepted and the majority continue their learning by attending workshops and seminars. They are dedicated to improving their knowledge to become the best they can possibly be, for you the bride. They all offer a consultation where you can discuss your wedding in detail and how they may be able to help you."

If you are unsure of precisely what a wedding planner can offer you, there is a very useful PDF file here that outlines the different types of wedding planning services, from venue sourcing, to on-the-day co-ordination to full event co-ordination, styling and planning. 

Meet Kelly, Bernadette and Sandy below – the ladies who drive the UKAWP forward and work hard to manage the organisation on behalf of it's members.  Let's hear some more from them about this organisation and how it can help you…

Love My Dress Wedding Blog – Photography Coypright (c) 2011,  UKAWP

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"Now that summer is well and truly put to bed it’s time for reflection on the summer season that was, particularly for the wedding planners from the UK Alliance of Wedding Planners {UKAWP}, who get to see, organise and style it all.

UKAWP thought it would be fun to show a few of their members’ favourite images from the summer season 2011; some of the images are cute, some quirky, some silly and some just simply classic and beautiful. They are all very diverse which reflects both the weddings themselves and the diversity of the talented members that go into making up the 60-strong membership of the UKAWP. 

When we train new entrants to our wedding planning industry via our highly practical and business focused training courses, and watch our students launch and grow their companies, we are always amazed and inspired by how diverse the talents are, how different approaches produce wonderful results and how there is a professional planner out there for every kind of bride’ says Sandy Moretta, Membership Director of UKAWP.

There are some important basics though that go into making a reliable, trustworthy and sound company and we are proud that our members adhere to a code of business practice and a commitment to ongoing learning and improving themselves; most of them attend regular seminars, workshops, mentoring and more that we offer so brides can be sure that they are picking the best of the best. We realise that considering a wedding planner and knowing the right questions to ask, is unchartered territory for most brides, so we like to make it as easy as possible and here are links to two short brochures which should help.

  This PDF file describes the different services that planners offer and you will probably be quite amazed at how affordable access to some of these services is.

♥  This PDF file gives tips on questions to ask when meeting and selecting a planner.

And our members can be found via a simple map directory listing.  You simply need to look on the geographical area that your wedding is taking place in to find a range of professional and vetted wedding planners who can help."

♥    ♥    ♥

 

I've included just a few images in this feature from weddings that members of the UKAWP have organised.  Let's take a peek.

"The wedding cake from this wedding not only combined the use of some seriously unusual wedding colours but was designed with a magic carpet Aladdin style as a “tongue in cheek” reference to the groom’s Persian heritage!  The table plan/seating card table in colourful zingy lime green and orange – unmissable!

The cake was designed by Zoe Clark and the wedding was planned by Kelly Chandler  at The Bespoke Wedding Company…"

Love My Dress Wedding Blog – Phototgraphy Copyright (c) 2011, Pippa Mackenzie

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"The story behind this image is that the stand didn’t make the journey ,to the venue so the wedding planner, Marine Kerivel-Brown had to improvise and create a striking floral stand using a fish bowl and a few orchids the florist had left behind!

The beautiful cake is from Janet Mohapi Banks…"

Love My Dress Wedding Blog – Phototgraphy Copyright (c) 2011, Barney Jones

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"The photograph below was taken at a wedding where the wedding planner, Victoria Gordon, styled the event using wooden roses instead of real flowers for all the table displays and as 'escort' roses for people to find their tables and as place names…"

Love My Dress Wedding Blog – Photography Copyright (c) 2011, Canbury Studio

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"The image below is from a wedding planned by Caroline Hale of Pomp and Ceremony Planning. Her client  Helen had a dream dress in mind when we met and was armed with a museum pattern of exactly how she wanted it to be made. Not only did she want it to look the same way but also have the full pockets, corset  and bum roll underneath to keep authenticity. We enlisted the services of Adam Shaw who makes dresses for period television dramas who set to work from the historical dress pattern. The results were amazing, please see pics attached."

Love My Dress Wedding Blog – Photography Copyright (c) 2011, Gareth Humpage Photography

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"This Bride was just having a great time!  The Wedding Planner on this occaison was Erika Unbehaun from Flutterfly Events…"

Love My Dress Wedding Blog – Phototgraphy Copyright (c) 2011, Pippa Mackenzie

FlutterFly Events 2

"The images below are from a wedding that was planned and styled by Stacey-Marie Chalk from Cherry Topped.

The image below left shows the Bride’s bouquet, which was made from cuts of her mum’s wedding dress, her best friend’s wedding dress, some ceramic flowers which her mum made, vintage brooches and some pieces of material to match the colours running through their wedding…"

Love My Dress Wedding Blog – Phototgraphy Copyright (c) 2011, Kerry Morgan

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The UKAWP represent a diverse group of Wedding Planners who each have a diverse group of clients.  Brides, please don't hesitate to drop one of the friendly members of staff over at the UKAWP a line if you have any queries about wedding planning at all – they will be only too happy to assist you.

If you are an aspiring wedding planner, read this UKAWP guide on how to become a wedding planner, that was published in the Guardian.

For more information, visit the UKAWP website.  You can follow the UKAWP on Twitter.

Are you looking to hire a wedding planner for your big day? And if so, in what capacity – are you looking for someone to plan your wedding from scratch, or are you just keen to get some on-the-day assistance?  i'd love to receive your feedback.

Much love all,

Annabel xXx

Annabel

Annabel View all Annabel's articles

Founder of Love My Dress. Passionate Podcaster and Editor. Annabel lives in rural North Yorkshire with her husband and business partner Philip, their two daughters and menagerie of furry hounds. She loves photography, meditation, walking, being outdoors and star gazing. She is fierce when it comes to championing talent within the wedding industry and when she's not working on Love My Dress, she supports her husband Philip in the running of the family's sustainable flower farm and floral design business, Moonwind Flowers. In 2013, she became a published author.

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