wedding planner?

As I'm sure most of you have guessed by the lack of blog posts in the last three weeks, I've been insanely busy. Please don't laugh when I say this (because believe me I feel silly even thinking it) but starting a business is way more work/stress than I expected! I knew it was going to be hard, but I didn't expect to be working 16+ hour days for 6 weeks straight without a day off. And the crazy thing is that most of the time, zpao is right there with me. He's my right hand man. Did I mention he's pretty much the smartest/most patient/giving/wonderful person ever? Because he is. I wouldn't have pictures, a website, or half of my inventory without him. Oh and then there's my sanity. I'm pretty sure he's to thank for that as well.

So if we're both working 16+ hour days, who is planning this wedding of ours? Well, no one at the moment. We have literally accomplished nothing (unless you consider ruling out some vendors accomplishing something) in terms of wedding planning since before Christmas. Zpao keeps saying, "don't worry, everything will get figured out" but all I can think is "By whom? Who exactly is figuring this stuff out?! Because I sure as heck don't have the time...and neither do you!"

With only seven months to go before the big day we've got to start making some major decisions like choosing:

• an officiant
• a florist
• a DJ
• a string trio 
• honeymoon details
• weekend event locations (friday night welcome drinks/sunday brunch)
• invitations
• groom's attire
• wedding party attire
• desserts
• alcohol
• and a bunch other small but super important details like event insurance, a get-away car, a marriage license

 With all of this left to do and wedding season right around the corner (which hopefully means lots and lots of business for me but even less time for wedding planning!) I'm thinking a wedding coordinator/designer might be necessary. I wanted to do this all on my own, but I'm starting to see that that might be impossible. The good news is, I have made some great connections within the wedding industry so finding a phenomenal wedding planner shouldn't be difficult. There's just the budget side of things. I really don't want to spend our honeymoon money on a coordinator! So as of right now, we're going to continue trying to plan this on our own (I have a meeting with a florist today!) but if another month or two goes by and nothing gets accomplished we might have to call in a professional. The last thing I want is for it to be August and we have nothing finalized!

What do you guys think? Is considering a wedding coordinator and designer a good idea or is a waste of money?

xo,
zar