What Wedding Planners Really Do On Days We Aren’t Working A Wedding
- Christine M.
- Nov 20
- 4 min read
(And Why “You Only Work on Wedding Days” Is the Biggest Misconception in Our Industry)
Ask anyone outside the wedding world what a planner does, and nine times out of ten you’ll get some version of: “Oh, so you only work on weekends when you have weddings!”
If only.
The truth is that wedding day is just the finale (an incredible, emotional, high-energy finale) but still only one step in a process that spans months (and sometimes years). Behind every seamless ceremony, every beautifully timed first dance, every candlelit reception, there are hours, days, weeks, and months of work that couples never see.
Here’s what wedding planners really do on all those days we aren’t at a wedding, because without this behind-the-scenes work, the wedding day itself wouldn’t run half as smoothly.
What Wedding Planners Really Do - We’re Running an Actual Business - Not Just Events
Wedding planning isn’t a hobby. It’s a full business with real operations behind it.
On a non-wedding day, you’ll often find us:
Answering inquiries and getting to know new clients
Reviewing contracts, insurance policies, permits, and vendor agreements
Managing finances, invoices, bookkeeping, subscriptions, and payroll
Handling marketing, PR, social media (which can be a full-time job in itself), blogging, newsletters, and ads
Updating workflows, automations, and backend systems
Meeting with our teams or training assistants
A wedding planner wears more hats than most people ever realize - CEO, admin, accountant, marketer, problem-solver, strategist, and stylist. And that’s before even touching a wedding timeline.
Client Communication Is a Full-Time Job
Most couples see the polished emails, the organized checklists, the fast replies, the reassurance in moments of stress.
What they don’t see:
Vendor calls that last longer than an episode of a Netflix show
Zoom planning meetings that require intense focus and decision-making
Email threads (sometimes hundreds) tracking every moving part
Logistics conversations about rentals, lighting, sound, catering, transportation, florals, photography, hair and makeup, stationery
Even something as small as adjusting a seating chart or updating a ceremony processional often means contacting multiple vendors, updating documents, and revising the master timeline.
Non-wedding days are where all of that coordination happens.
The Design Work Alone Is Another Job Entirely
Design meetings, concept boards, floorplans, rental lists, visual mockups, and décor sourcing—this is hours and hours of creative work.
Behind the scenes we:
Build custom design proposals
Source candles, linens, chairs, chargers, signage, lighting, florals
Visit venues to measure, sketch layouts, and confirm load-ins
Meet with florists and rental companies
Compare pricing, create alternatives, and balance aesthetics with budget
When clients say “This is exactly what I dreamed of,” that moment is months in the making.
Vendor Relationships Don’t Maintain Themselves
A wedding planner is only as good as their vendor team.
On days without events, we:
Attend walkthroughs and tastings
Visit new venues
Evaluate potential new vendor partners
Network and meet with caterers, photographers, DJs, bartenders, florists
Stay up to date on what’s changing in the industry
Most of this work is invisible to clients, but it’s the foundation that allows us to build flawless wedding days.
Logistics, Timelines, and Problem-Solving Happen Every Day
Your timeline doesn’t magically appear on the week of the wedding.
We write them, revise them, send them to vendors, update them again, and make sure every detail flows:
When does hair and makeup start?
How much time does the florist need for installations?
What’s the lighting plan?
When do buses need to arrive?
Where does each vendor load in?
What’s Plan B…and Plan C…and Plan D?
A wedding planner is constantly troubleshooting days, weeks, and months in advance.
We’re Prepping for Future Weddings Long Before We Step Into Yours
If we have 20 weddings on the calendar, we’re working on all 20 simultaneously—not one at a time.
A typical weekday might include:
Creating design proposals for one wedding
Reviewing vendor contracts for another
Answering planning emails for three others
Ordering rentals for a destination wedding
Finalizing timelines for two weddings coming up
Doing a walkthrough for a different couple’s venue
Checking travel itineraries for guests
Prepping emergency kits and packing bin
Wedding day may be Saturday, but the work spans every weekday, evening, and often Sundays, too.
And Yes—We’re Resting, Resetting, and Recharging (Because We Have To)
Wedding days are 10–14 hours on our feet, in the heat, in the rain, on concrete, on gravel, or in heels. We carry boxes, climb ladders, solve crises, and stay until the last sparkler fizzles out.
On non-wedding days, planners:
Reset their kits
Repair inventory
Clean candle holders and rentals
Do laundry, wash linens, steam fabric, reorganize bins
Rest - because burnout in this industry is real
Recovery time isn’t laziness; it’s preparation for the next event.
The Misconception: “Wedding planners only work on wedding days.”
If anything, wedding day is the one day where everything finally comes together.
It’s not the bulk of our work - it’s the result of our work.
Every detail you see on a wedding day represents dozens of invisible decisions, hundreds of messages, countless logistics calls, and a planner who’s been behind the scenes for months making it all cohesive. A wedding planner’s job is so much more than event day execution. It's strategy. It's design. It's leadership. It's logistics. It's crisis management. It's running a full business.
And it’s doing all of that, not just on wedding days, but every single day in between.