If you’ve ever seen any rom-com movies or paparazzi pics of fancy Hollywood weddings, you’d be familiar with the role of a ‘wedding planner’.
They’re usually the people you see holding it all together on screen, while the bride, bridesmaids, groomsmen or in-laws (sometimes hilariously!) fall apart.
But what you may not have seen is the other, often unsung hero of the behind-the-scenes wedding world: a ‘wedding stylist’ who is the creative force that weaves their magic and makes all your beautiful bridal dreams come true.
Here, we examine the differences between a wedding planner versus wedding stylist and break down how each role can help to keep your wedding day on track to tinsel town perfection.
Looking to assemble your wedding A-Team? Here’s the lowdown.
A wedding planner is the go-to for organisation as you plan your wedding, and will help you to run the show on the day, too.
They’ll be your contact to help source venues, manage your vendors – like your photographer, hair and makeup, and DJ – assist with invites and RSVPs, and put together the all-important run sheet (and make sure everyone sticks to it!)
The idea is that you can leave most of the tricky bits to your planner, and on the day, they’ll make sure everything is running to schedule. Ideally, they’ll also handle any nasty surprises before the bride finds out, too.
While it’s a significant role, they’re usually not the creative visionary who will bring all your pretty, sparkly girlhood dreams to life. This sits in the hands of a professional wedding stylist, who can help you make your wedding as visually stunning as you always hoped it would be.
A wedding stylist is your number one call for anything that’s going to give your wedding the ‘WOW’ factor: think floral arrangements, lighting, soft furnishings, colour palettes and more.
Who do you call first?
As soon as you’re ready to start confirming the logistics for the big day, you might choose to lock down a wedding planner. They can help you to develop the overall budget, create a planning timeline, and offer suggestions for major choices like venues and caterers. Then, they can help you lock in the contracts with each vendor.
So, now the nitty-gritty is underway. Aren’t you ready to play?
The fun bit starts when you get your wedding stylist on board. Essentially, they’ll look after everything that’s beautiful about your wedding and turn your vision for an extraordinary wedding event into a reality.
You should come to them armed with your big dreams, including the themes you love, colours you prefer, and the ‘mood’ you’re hoping to achieve. They’ll begin to give you stylish ideas right away and coordinate how it will all come together.
While the wedding planner solely lives in the world of logistics, a stylist tends to be more attuned to the ‘artistic’ elements at play.
Do some of these duties ever overlap?
Of course – nothing is every cut-and-dry when it comes to weddings!
Your wedding planner might manage the overall budget, but this will come with major input from the stylist, who will need to keep within their allocated budget for elements like the decorations, floral arrangements and furniture hire.
Ultimately, a good event stylist will often do a little bit of everything required to make sure the day goes off without a hitch.
Where to find an extraordinary wedding stylist…
Since her early days styling small business events and intimate family celebrations, Madden & Co’s owner, Jen, has expanded her repertoire into planning everything from big-budget parties and impactful corporate events, to perfect proposals and wedded wonderlands.
To have a resume this impressive, you have to be a jack-of-all-trades, so if you’re wondering whether you need a stylist, planner or both, get in touch with the Madden & Co team to find out more about the myriad of services they can offer.
Because when it comes to the perfect wedding, you only want the best.
Superior wedding style
To help make your wedding vision a reality, get in touch with Jen and the Madden & Co team via email@maddenandcoevents.com.au or 0432 802 430.
