Q: What can Gala Productions do for me?

A: At Gala Productions, we can take a stressed, confused, nervous bride and provide assistance, answers and reassurance.  There are so many details to planning a flawless wedding and if you've never done this before, it's very possible some of those will be missed.  We've done this many times.  We know all about the details and can guide you in making informed decisions that will leave you speechless on your wedding day.

Q: What is a wedding planner?

A: Wedding planners are like general contractors.  You can build a house without one but a good contractor will open doors to all that the industry has to offer, sometimes receiving special access and discounts because of their relationship with other vendors.  Throughout the entire process, you know that everything is being covered because they are trained and experienced in their field.  All of the details and loose ends are taken care of because it is their goal to provide a flawless finished product.  All of those things apply to our approach to wedding planning.

Q: How is a wedding planner different from a wedding consultant, coordinator, or decorator?

A: A wedding planner plans the entire wedding.  We start with the budget and move to venue and vendor recommendations.  We then collaborate to develop your theme and decor design.  Finally, we coordinate all of these elements leading up to the wedding and finish by directing the events on the actual wedding day.  We are there every step of the way.

A wedding consultant is usually one who consults only.  They often provide vendor recommendations, instructs you on your timeline and what needs to be done next but for the most part takes a hands-off approach.  They may attend the ceremony and direct your wedding party down the aisle but are not usually prepared to be the command center, if you will.

A wedding coordinator is usually one who coordinates only.  Coordinators are sometimes provided by venues and churches.  While they can help tremendously on your wedding day, they don't often get involved in any other area of your planning.  They usually only attend the ceremony or reception, not both.  They may have some vendor recommendations to offer but these are often based on their professional relationship with a particular vendor as opposed to what services you need, style you want, or budget you can afford.

The term "wedding decorator" is a very misunderstood term.  There are some professionals who advertise as decorators but they are usually simply florists with a strong interior design approach.

The decor for a wedding is a team effort.  The florist provides the flowers, the caterer provides the floorplan, buffet setup and usually linens, the lighting specialist provides the ambiance and the wedding planner oversees all of this to ensure the fluidity of the design.  The wedding planner may also contribute by designing and placing personal decor items provided by the bride (candles, place cards, favors, etc.)  It has been our experience that a separate decorator is an unnecessary expense.  One of these four vendors can usually accommodate any decor elements you may want or need.

Q: Do you have a consultation fee?

A: Yes and no.  We offer two types of consultations.
-Complimentary 30-minute consultation.  Because we try to answer any questions you have about our services via email before meeting, this consultation has only two purposes: to put a face with a name and to answer any questions you may still have.  Questions during this free consultation are limited to our general services only.  For example, "Do you have a florist that can work within my budget?" is an appropriate question (and the answer is yes).  "What florist would you recommend for my budget," is not an appropriate question because this question is not about our general services but a specific service we provide, vendor recommendations.

-$75 one-hour consultation.  With this consultation, you are free to ask anything and everything.  We will cover as many of your specific questions as possible in the timeframe.  If you choose to partner with us, that fee will be applied toward the package you choose.  If you choose not to partner with us, you will have basically hired a wedding planner for an hour and hopefully received answers to the specific questions you had.

 If a contract is signed and deposit has been made, your first consultation will last as long as necessary to download all of the information you've been gathering so we can get started on your planning process.

Q: Why is there a fee for a consultation?

A: We approach the first consultation differently than most coordinators and consultants. 

1. We know how many questions you have and don’t want to make you wait for answers any longer than necessary.  We answer as many questions via email and over the phone as possible so if you decide to meet with us, it’s usually to take the next step in our partnership.

2. Requiring you to meet with us before we’ll discuss more than just the basics could feel like a sales tactic and that goes against our stress-free philosophy.  We want you to make the decision to partner with Gala Productions with no confrontation or pressure.

Q: But what if I want to see if our personalities are compatible?

A: That’s very important since we’ll be working so closely together!  That's where the complimentary 30-minute consultation comes in.  We’d be happy to set up a meeting to serve as an interview of our consultants and company.  This is intended to answer any lingering questions as to our experience and abilities.  As discussed earlier, no details of your event will be discussed during this free meeting.

Q: Is a deposit required?  If so, what is it?

A: Yes.  We offer two payment plans.

1. Half is put down as a deposit and the other half is due one month before the event.

2. One-third is put down as a deposit, one-third is paid halfway through the planning process and the last third is paid one month before the event.

Q: What forms of payment do you accept.

A: Cash, check, and Paypal.  Paypal charges a 3% to use their services.  If you choose to pay with a credit card via Paypal, we ask that you split the fee with us which results in an additional 1.5% added to each Paypal payment.

If a check is returned, a $25 NSF fee will be charged in addition to a late fee of $5 for every week a payment is late.

Q: So once I've signed a contract and paid my deposit, what happens next?

A: At your first true consultation (often combined with your initial consultation), we’ll start by filling in any missing information for your profile questionnaire. 

We’ll find out specific information on vendors you may have already chosen and discuss any vendors you've been considering.  We'll take notes as you tell us everything you’ve been planning, dreaming of, and hoping for.  We love to see everything you’ve been collecting, magazines you’ve been clipping and swatches you’ve been gathering.  This is when we’ll get the information we need to use later during the design/collaboration part of your planning.

 While we’re listening, your design starts to take shape in the creative minds of our planners.  We may begin to share ideas and/or pull up pictures to help you begin to visualize what’s possible.

We'll formulate your wedding plan based on your budget, style, requests, and needs.  Depending on how clear of an idea you have regarding your design, we'll start making appointments and getting vendor meetings and selections out of the way.  Once your vendors have been chosen and your design is in place, there's nothing more to do than relax and enjoy being a bride-to-be until we begin coordinating the activities for the week of your wedding.

Q: Will the person planning my wedding be the owner?  If not, will he/she be certified? 

A: Yes.  Even though Gala Productions has a staff of certified and highly-trained wedding planners, Stacy Parker still plans and oversees the implementation of every wedding that has Gala Productions' name on it.  Stacy is the founder of Gala Productions and is a certified wedding planning instructor for the Wedding Planning Institute.  If a class is in session, she will often invite promising class members to accompany her on consultations and possibly even serve as an assistant at upcoming weddings but she always maintains creative control over each event.

Q: Do you take kickbacks from vendors or upcharge vendor quotes?

A: No!  We charge a flat fee based on the amount of work we estimate a wedding will take and that is all you are charged for.

If we received incentives from vendors, we may feel obligated to recommend a vendor who is not up to Gala Production's standards.  This is why we make recommendations based on a proven record and if we ever have to recommend a vendor we have not worked with, we disclose that to you before making the recommendation.

We do not feel it is ethical to charge a contracted fee for our services and then have you pay us more by inflating a vendor quote.  You pay what the vendor charges and no more.  As a matter of fact, several vendors offer us discounts as industry experts and we pass those discounts on to you.  Our goal is to create the best event with the budget given to us so if we save budget dollars with a discount on one item, it means we can apply that to make another item even more fantastic.  Everyone wins!

Please email us with any questions that may not be covered above.  We look forward to hearing from you!