At Moment to Moment Events we know that as you plan your event, more and more questions come up. Should I hire a planner? How will I fit that cost in my budget? What kind of help do I need? How will I find the best vendors at the best prices? Where can I find advice for all of the purchases I need to make? If these questions apply to you, you’ve come to the right place!

Can You Afford to Hire a Planner? In the past, people thought hiring a planner was a luxury, and just for those with big event budgets. But, especially in today’s trying economic times, it’s important to stretch an event budget as far as possible. How do you that and still realize the event you’ve always dreamed of?

Hiring an event planner insures that every dollar spent is spent wisely. From developing the budget, to helping you stay on budget, to getting the very best prices for every product and service purchased, a planner’s help means you get the most for the least. We know the questions to ask to be sure there are no budget surprises, and the advice to give to save you money at every step of the process.

Beyond the often dramatic cost savings, however, a planner also alleviates the stress that typically accompanies planning a wedding. She is your advocate and your partner in realizing the wedding you’ve always wanted.

Remember, the cost of the planner should be a part of your budget, not an addition to it. Especially today, hiring a planner just makes sense. Moment to Moment believes that every bride should have the privilege of saving money and relaxing while she’s planning the most important day of her life. Our price structure is designed with that in mind.

Save money, save time, de-stress … how can you afford not to hire a planner?

We get lots of questions from brides, and we’ve found they have many common themes, so we’ve created these frequently asked questions to give you the answers you need. We look forward to hearing from you regarding anything not covered here! Remember, at Moment to Moment Events, your day is our singular focus!

Isn’t hiring a planner a luxury? I’ve heard it’s very expensive, and I’m on a tight budget already! This is perhaps the biggest myth in the wedding industry. The fact is that the cost of an event planner should be considered a line item in your wedding budget, not a cost added on top of your budget. It’s important for you to know that hiring a planner insures that every dollar you spend is spent wisely. From developing the budget, to helping the couple stay on budget, to getting the very best prices for every product and service purchased, a planner’s help means you get the most for the least. We know the questions to ask to be sure there are no budget surprises, and the advice to save you money at every step of the process. We’ve spent hundreds of hours developing contacts in every area of wedding planning, hours you won’t have to spend yourself when you hire a planner. Industry studies show that hiring a planner can help a couple save big bucks and perhaps that’s reason enough to hire one. Beyond the potentially dramatic cost savings, however, a planner also alleviates the stress that accompanies planning a wedding. She is your advocate and your partner in realizing the wedding you’ve always wanted. Remember, the cost of the planner should be a part of your budget, not an addition to it. Especially today, hiring a planner just makes sense. Moment to Moment Events believes that every bride should have the privilege of saving money and relaxing while she’s planning the most important day of her life. Save money, save time, de-stress … how can you afford not to hire a planner?!

Why aren’t your prices listed on your website? Are your fees based on a percentage of the total wedding budget? MTME works very hard to make your package match your budget. Every package is customized for you, and that means a customized price. We can promise you no “hard sells” – hiring a planner is too important! Depending on the budget, our fees may be a flat fee, a percentage of the budget or a reduced hourly rate.

What is your deposit & payment policy? Moment to Moment Events requires a 25% deposit, at the time of the execution of our Services Agreement; the deposit is based on the package that best suits your needs. Final payment is due two weeks before the date of the event, and payments in between can be negotiated to fit your budget and income flow. In order to help keep our costs as low as possible, and continue to pass our savings on to our clients, we do not currently accept credit cards. We do, however, accept payment via Paypal, which allows you to use your credit card if you so choose (although we do advise our clients to use caution with credit cards for wedding-related payments!). We also accept personal checks for deposits, payments and final payment. Returned checks do incur a significantfee.

Do you offer vendor referrals? We have 3 categories of vendors: First Line, who are vendors we work with on a regular basis and who we trust implicitly; Preferred Vendors, who we may or may not have worked with, but have received excellent references for, and “Back Up Vendors” who are professional vendors we are confident will do a good job, but who we don’t know personally. We refer our vendors to our booked clients only.

Explain a situation that came up at a recent wedding that you were instrumental in solving. At a recent wedding of 200+ guests, it quickly became apparent that the caterer was grossly understaffed for the number of attendees. Moment to Moment Events’s staff immediately became involved, and worked to complete the set-up of the venue prior to the arrival of the bridal party, and over the course of the evening, Moment to Moment Events’s staff bussed tables, served meals, refilled beverages, and attended to the needs of the guests. The bride and groom, and their families, were unaware of the variety of issues that arose as a result of the caterer’s negligence. After the completion of the event, Moment to Moment Events advocated a partial refund from the caterer for the bride’s family, which the caterer agreed to do.

Do you provide etiquette advice? Moment to Moment Events is happy to provide wedding etiquette advice upon request.

How many planners do you work with? We have a professional staff that is capable of handling all types of events, including planning from A to Z.

What style of wedding do you specialize in planning? We are specialists in providing premium planning services for all styles, event sizes and budgets. In addition to traditional and contemporary wedding styles, we offer unique insights in planning and coordination for civil ceremonies for gay and lesbian partners, as well as Wiccan/Pagan ceremonies.

Do you support or cater to any specific religions or cultures? We support and cater to all cultures and religions; in addition to “traditional” religions, we are experienced in planning and coordinating Wiccan/Pagan ceremonies and Civil Unions.

What sizes of weddings have you coordinated in the past? We have experience with wedding budgets as low as $5,000 and as high as $65,000 plus, and events with budgets up to $500,000. We focus on helping couples realize their wedding dreams with budgets of all sizes, and we treat all of our events with the same professional level of service.

Do you plan only weddings? Moment to Moment Events specializes in all types of events. While the bulk of our work is weddings, we also plan and execute premier parties and corporate events, regardless of the size of the event or the budget!