The best place to start is: budget. Sit down with your partner, families (if applicable), and figure out how much everyone is willing to contribute to your special day. This number will affect every decision and purchase you make, so be sure to work out your budget before you start making any plans.
Yes, it can be a personal conversation, but it is better to get it out of the way at the very beginning! :) The next appropriate steps would be: setting a date, selecting a venue, and thinking about how many guests you can realistically invite to your big, or small, day. Having incorporated your budget, ideal date, and preferred venue or location into the equation.
While the "average" cost of a wedding in New Zealand and Australia is commonly cited as NZD$35,000, and the “average” cost of a wedding in the USA is NZD$57,000, and in the UK, NZD$66,000. These figures can be misleading. The real answer is up to you, what is a reasonable budget for your wedding? Remember that averages don’t tell the whole story. They can easily be skewed. For example, "x1 $1mill wedding can bring up the average of thousands of $10,000 weddings." So treat this data as a benchmark, not an expectation. How each couple will spend their budget is a very personal choice. :) It’s up to you.
When you’re a super-busy couple with demanding jobs and or everyday commitments, finding the time to organise your dream wedding can be borderline, Mission: Impossible. How’s about planning a wedding can take over 500 hours!?, hundreds of emails, late night research, a new email account, and expert industry insights.
That is why a lot of couples find immense relief through hiring a professional wedding planner who can help prepare the entire event, from the announcement to the honeymoon, so you get to enjoy your special day stress-free. Find out if we fit, with our Wedding Package Builder!
In fact, wedding planners are for every day people, super accessible, affordable, and will most likely turn out to be one of the best investments you make for your wedding day. There are so many benefits of hiring a wedding planner that go way above and beyond simply enlisting help to connect all of the dots to create your perfect wedding day–some you may not have thought about...
12 reasons why you should hire a wedding planner:
+ They will help you stick to your budget by helping you refine your wedding dreams!
+ You’ll get more bang for your buck because of their connections.
+ They know who's hot, and who’s not. Or what’s hot, and what’s not.
+ They will dot the i's and the cross t’s. So you don’t have to!
+ They are also design gurus. Envision your day the Wedding She Wrote way!
+ They’ll transform the space for you. So you don’t have to.
+ They’ll bring your dreams to life while you live your best life, becoming a wife!
+ They’ll find cool ways to blend cultures and religions.
+ They come up with creative alternatives if you’re unsure.
+ It’s like having a non-judgemental friend, they’ll always hear you out.
+ They will be there for you on the day as your point of call, managing all areas, with everything under control.
+ It will take a lot of stress out of planning.
Professional wedding planners (that’s us!) are here to help you transform your special day into something extraordinary that you, family and friends can cherish forever. <3
Good question! Choosing fantastic vendors is not the same as planning a fantastic wedding. It’s like cooking having spectacular ingredients doesn’t mean you’re guaranteed a delicious meal. It’s all about the execution of the ingredients by a talented chef that brings it all together. Similarly, awesome weddings have vision behind them and it takes an expert wedding planner to pull all of the elements together and know how to masterfully orchestrate the day… All, so you can step back and enjoy your day, the best way.
Helping nearly-wed couples with unique heritages achieve the exciting wedding experience of their dreams! We focus on celebrating the amazing timeless story of your unique cultures, customs, and traditions, matched with bespoke design & planning from the 21st century.
We are flexible, and deliver ‘different strokes for different folks.’ From small and intimate to large and extraordinary, traditional weddings, civil weddings, religious weddings, destination weddings (Aotearoa New Zealand & Pacific Islands), to elopements (just the two of you), pop-up weddings (a small ready-made wedding), same-sex weddings, LBGTQ weddings. It's all love. <3
We specialise in taking your wedding to places your guests never knew existed! With an emphasis on remote locations and destination wedding excellence across Aotearoa, New Zealand & the Pacific Islands—because Polynesia is our home.
We can help you as little or as much as you like when it comes to your wedding! Through wedding design, event planning, floral, and bridal styling.
Our high-value wedding planning services have been designed to include everything you want and need to ensure a seamless, stress-free, totally unforgettable wedding experience from engagement and marriage to honeymoon, anniversaries and a lucky vow-renewal!
Wedding She Wrote Limited was founded in 2011. We have over 10+ years experience in the wedding and events industry across New Zealand and the Pacific Islands.
While our main focus is designing, planning and delivering Weddings! You can say we specialise in unique ‘once-in-a-lifetime experiences’ too, events, such as: marriage proposal, engagement party, bridal shower, hens party, stag do (best mans’ job usually), wedding ceremonies, wedding receptions, honeymoons, wedding anniversary celebrations, and vow-renewals (when you renew your vows!)
We are also frequently involved, and experienced in the delivery of fashion shows, launch parties, corporate events, charity events, awards dinners, and expo shows, too, over our lower season.
Our level of involvement depends on the wedding package you create with us, and your personal preferences. Some clients will have every detail planned out and are just looking for a wedding planner or coordinator to execute their vision! And some clients want to sit back and let the wedding planner take care of everything for the wedding day. We work with clients’ at both ends of the spectrum (and anywhere in between), personalising our wedding planning services to your needs.
Planning a wedding is a crazy experience! We have successfully delivered custom wedding experiences for our clients in a variety of time frames, some in a few days, 1-2 weeks <— these are our craziest couples; within a months time, over the course of a number of months, and up to 1.5 years in advance. Everyone is different with a different set of circumstances. Organised brides & grooms tend to start planning their upcoming nuptials 1-2 years ahead of time. Book any popular suppliers a year in advance you don’t miss out.
No way! It is our pleasure to offer a FREE, no-obligation, wedding consultation over the phone, video-call (COVID), and in-person. Video call and in-person works best for us! This is a great opportunity for us to meet each other and see if we’re a good fit for each other! Contact us, we would love to meet with you! Ask for Teuila.
For the most part, to begin our work together, we require a retainer fee of NZD$2,500 + GST to confirm your wedding date & secure our wedding planning services! This is also our minimum spend. Based on your event requirements we will customise a quote for you! Once confirmed, a fee schedule will be tailored to your needs prior to signing a contract… Not scary :)
For our time, we will charge an hourly rate for work completed on your upcoming nuptials. We use a timer app that allows us to clock in/out and creates accurate invoicing for our clients; invoices can be paid monthly and or in a lump sum before your wedding date.
We are happy to make an hour estimate and discuss a set fee for the total amount of hours that will be needed to deliver your wedding dream after we have scoped the project accordingly.
We accept Credit Card, Bank Deposit and PayPal. We make it easy for you to pay off your dream wedding without adding to your stress and the pressures of the day. Talk to us. We're flexible. Our clients appreciate that aspect. Thank you in advance for your cooperation!
For this purpose, we provide our clients with payment solution options as follows:
- Payment in full
- Split payment
- Weekly/fortnightly/monthly instalments
- LayBuy
Absolutely! If you have contracted our On-the-day Coordination services as apart of your wedding package, our team will personally attend and manage your event.
On-the-day wedding coordination ensures the management and direction of your event from set-up until pack-down. The coordination of the wedding party, guests, selected suppliers/vendors and entertainment throughout the day/night; and providing suggestions to manage any emergencies or unforeseen circumstances throughout your experience. You can relax and enjoy your day knowing that we’ve got your best interests in mind. :)
We'll look the part, with the team wearing professional black or branded attire and appropriate footwear, unless discussed otherwise. If you have a theme you’d like us to complement; we’d love to do that too!
We start early, we finish late, and we love it. We work away behind the scenes to make sure everything runs smoothly... And that’s where you come in! If you hire us for on-the-day wedding coordination… As much as we try to appear superhuman; we really need to eat when you, the bride and groom do too. Meals during your reception are much appreciated so we can finish strong! We are there to do a professional job and will not "join in" with your guests at the bar, or on the dance floor, yet we will help and host where required. ;)
As our client, your wedding day, is our main priority. Laser focus is important to us, and we will only deliver one wedding, per day, per wedding planner. Your dedicated wedding coordinator will have no other weddings or events on the same date to distract them from delivering your dream wedding experience!
A venue coordinator works for the venue; their job is to answer your questions about the venue and assist you with your venue layout. They are someone you may contact if you need extra reassurance about the details of your weddings’ terms and conditions at the venue, however, their loyalty is to the venue. Their job does not include all the other details that go into planning your wedding.
A wedding planner, on the other hand, is typically involved from the very beginning of the planning process. Your wedding planner or wedding coordinator, will handle each detail of your event from start to finish–everything from finding a venue, and the appropriate suppliers, to actually being there on your wedding day and making sure everything runs smoothly, and as planned. Having a wedding planner reduces the natural stress factor of planning a wedding so that you can enjoy the entire process and have confidence that all the details are taken care of for you.
Absolutely! We’ve worked with all sorts of destination brides. Although travel and accomodation fees are extra, our fundamental service fees remain the same. It would be a pleasure to help you with your remote destination wedding!
If you are thinking of a summer wedding… New Zealand’s summer months are from December to March. Our high season for weddings are between November and April. February is our busiest month annually. The sun burns, wear sunblock SPF50+, have drink stations at your weddings’ (stay hydrated) and be sun smart.
April to June, outdoor flora and fauna begin to dry out, leaves start to fall, and wet weather starts to make an appearance. Daylight savings is coming to an end… It’s darker faster, sunset is earlier. Blankets at an outdoor wedding reception may be welcomed by chilly evening guests!
June to August, is the best time for a winter wedding experience in New Zealand. If you’re looking for snow, something like a ‘Queenstown Elopement Wedding’ or warm wedding receptions in front of a fireplace, check us out around this time!
September to November, it’s still quite chilly, a faux fur wrap would do the trick! Yet the refreshing season of Spring! has begun to rejuvenate flora and fauna, gardens, and outdoor locations start to look lush and beautiful again. Hooray!
When it begins to get cold in New Zealand, during our low season from May to October. Let’s getaway! It's always hot in the Pacific Islands with more tropical climates the closer you get to the equator. The wet season falls between November and April, when it’s humid and sticky. While the dry season from May through to October brings milder temperatures and clearer skies.
When choosing the best time to visit the Pacific Islands you’ll also need to bear in mind what you want to do there—whether that’s swimming with humpback whales in Tonga and Tahiti, snorkelling in the waters of Fiji and Niue, or avoiding the chock-a-block Antipodean school holiday season. #IslandGals
