There are some things that only the bride or her family can deal with.

 Wedding planners can help you pull your vision of your wedding together. They can help you screen and hire local vendors. They can see that everything goes as planned from your processional to your get-away. They can help you save money and stretch a wedding budget from here to tomorrow, but some things the bride and her family must control. · Manage who sits where. Wedding planners will assist, but only you know the complex family arrangements and relationships that govern who sits where and why. You need to decide on those seating arrangements and just let him/her know your decision. She can be a compassionate ear if you wish to talk through your decisions, but you need to make that final choice. 

· Your budget is your budget. You know how much you can afford to spend. Be honest with your planner and let him/her help you have a fabulous wedding within those budget guidelines. · Select the wedding party. Nobody but you can decide who matters in your life enough to be selected a member of the wedding party. No one else can make that call for you. 

· Choose your music. Wedding planners can offer a wide range of music choices for ceremony and reception. But only you can make the final choice of what matters to you, what touches you, what are favourites. · Write your own vows. Wedding planners can offer many options and ideas to get you started, but this highly personal statement of what you and your future husband mean to you is way beyond his/her arena. Think how hurt you’d be if you found out that someone else wrote your groom’s vow for him. If in doubt, use the accepted/standard vows from your church. 

· Write your own thank you notes. No exceptions.

Happy Planning…Kay