In the past 25 years the role of the Dallas wedding planner has evolved from being one for only the wealthy to almost one of necessity. For those who could not afford help it was usually family and friends who contributed to the final stages of actually getting the wedding ?off the ground.? Whether these friends and family contributed monetarily or by moral support, they were the ones who were counted on to make the wedding a complete success for the bride and groom. Fewer brides and mothers were in the work force and most had plenty of time to plan their own weddings.

But what exactly is a Dallas Wedding Planner?

A Dallas wedding planner is a trained professional wedding planning expert able to tend to the needs of the bride through the planning process until the bride and groom's farewell. The planner will offer choices to the bride and groom based on their vision, personal taste, and budget and will do whatever it takes to make sure the event runs smoothly.

The full-service wedding planner will play many roles during the course of events leading up to the wedding. Therefore, it is imperative that the Trained Wedding Planner possesses certain skills to fulfill this role.

Required Skills of the Dallas Wedding Planner

Mediator

The bride, groom and their families will have many decisions to make during all phases of planning. At some point the planner may be asked to step in as an intermediary to solve differences between bride and groom, bride and her family, or bride and her attendants.

Facilitator

Follow-through is extremely important and with all of the details couples must manage leading up to their special day, a minimum amount of stress will be felt if they feel they can depend upon their wedding planner to tend to many of these tasks.

Etiquette Expert

The etiquette expertise of the wedding planner will help couples with the sensitive decisions of planning a socially correct wedding.

Organizer

It is the position of the Dallas Wedding Planner to make sure that every aspect is covered in the planning process of the wedding in an orderly fashion.

Negotiator

Reviewing contracts and proposals from wedding industry professionals is one of the most important positions of the Dallas Wedding Planner.

Director

The Dallas Wedding Planner is responsible for implementing wedding activities according to the bride's wishes and may include weekend activities leading up to the actual event.

Budget Manager

All brides have a budget, whether it is generous or scant. One of the responsibilities of the Wedding Planner is to keep the bride informed regarding expenditures.

Shari Johns is the owner and founder of As you wish... Dallas wedding and event planner. She is certified by and a current, active member of the Association of Certified Wedding Consultants (ACWC) as well as June Weddings, Inc. (JWI). Her membership in these organizations assists her in keeping up to date with current events in the Dallas/Fort Worth wedding market. Shari has also served on the Board of ACWC for four years.