Before we get to know this term, we first need to understand two more familiar terms — Wedding Organiser and
Wedding Planner — as well as another, less commonly known side of this term.
The term “wedding planner” has a broad meaning. In today’s popular usage, it’s often built on top of designing a wedding to match the bride’s wishes — what color the flowers should be, how wide the backdrop should be — which makes today’s definition of a planner lean heavily toward decorating and floor plan design. But I define “wedding planner” in the style of our studio differently. Personally, I see the main role of a wedding planner as providing essential information and having an on-site team who can help make sure the wedding runs smoothly and is the joyful occasion it’s meant to be — with plenty of other technical details that follow from that.
Starting from this definition, decorating becomes a much more secondary matter in the overall picture — even the couple’s own wishes become quite secondary (we may not be used to the idea that a wedding planner doesn’t work solely according to the couple’s wishes alone).
In my view, the important work of a wedding planner
is to provide knowledge and speak the truth,
and should always be the last person to tell the couple the truth
about whether the event will go smoothly, and in what ways it might not.
And if it won’t go smoothly, how can we solve these problems? Once this point is settled, we move on to secondary matters like floor plan design, the wedding theme, what colors guests can wear, or running the schedule for an Islamic wedding, which are smaller parts of the bigger plan, coming next in order.
Speaking the truth and providing knowledge so the event runs smoothly, then bringing that truth and knowledge back into alignment with the couple’s wishes at an appropriate level — that is what being a planner means in my definition. I’ve redefined my own work alongside this as being a wedding consultant, steering the ship of the wedding to make sure it runs smoothly, which I call a Wedding Specialist, particularly for Cross religion wedding marriage and Islamic wedding
Something the couple should always keep in mind when working with me is:
A wedding doesn’t become beautiful from the amount of money you spend on it alone.
It’s something not many people tell you, but it’s true.
If you’ve ever been at a multi-million-baht wedding where the atmosphere felt like a civil war, or at a wedding costing just tens of thousands of baht where every moment felt deeply memorable, you’ll understand. There are problems in every wedding that money simply can’t fix, and no matter how much you pay me, it won’t help — but it can be solved if you have the knowledge and the truth, and use that knowledge and truth to fix things. Often, the fix has to start with the couple themselves — for example, spending more time with both sets of elders and showing them consistent respect — along with other conflicts that need to be resolved in whatever way is appropriate.
If you want your wedding to be full of genuine feeling and simplicity,
followed by beauty that fits your budget, but you don’t know where to start, come find me. I’m happy to help and ready to give you advice.
A small budget can still have a nikah; a huge budget can be handled too.
Whether it’s a little or a lot, if I’m taking care of it, I’ll take care of it as best I can, with the same knowledge and truth for everyone. See you at the next event.
C. Bung Joke
Thai Muslim cross culture marriage wedding specialist
Ara-ya
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