by Andrew Spencer
Above image: Zofia & Co.

Every bride dreams of the perfect wedding, and there are many who decide that their vision of perfection includes a wedding on Nantucket. Who can blame them? It’s not an easy task finding a more beautiful location for your big day, as Nantucket features some of the most amazing scenery anywhere on the planet. Pair that scenery with a wide range of venues for rehearsal dinners, ceremonies, receptions, and the island seems like a perfect choice for a wedding.

If you’re one of those people dreaming of a Nantucket wedding – or maybe you’re already planning one – take a piece of advice from someone who has seen more than his fair share of Nantucket weddings (including his own): Hire a wedding planner.

View our listings of Nantucket wedding and event planners.

I know what you’re thinking. It’s just an added expense that we don’t need. We both know Nantucket SO well and we know EXACTLY what we want, so what’s the point of spending the money on a wedding planner who’s just going to tell us what we already know?

Before you turn the page because you think you don’t need a planner, take a minute to think about some of the logistics of planning a Nantucket wedding that you might not have already considered.

For starters, let’s talk timing. Many brides want a Nantucket wedding because it’s where they spent summers, and there’s no summer like a Nantucket summer. So what would be better than a Nantucket summer wedding? A wedding planner would point out to you that, while August might be a fantastic time to be on the island, about 50,000 other people have the same thought. Trying to find places to have your different events – not to mention finding housing for your guests – is going to be next to impossible, which is why May, June, September and October are the busiest wedding months on the island.

Speaking of timing, planning a Nantucket wedding requires some advance planning, so it’s best to begin the work of coordinating things at least a year in advance. Moreover, if you’re spending your winter somewhere off-island, it’s a huge help to you if you have someone on-island to handle the logistics of planning your wedding for you. Case in point, your wedding planner can go to a specific island business where you might be thinking about having your rehearsal dinner and discuss the event face-to-face with the management to arrange the details. When you hire a Nantucket wedding planner, that’s one less headache for you to handle.

Now that we’ve established the value that a wedding planner brings to the whole process, let’s look at specifics. Venues are a major component of any celebration, and a wedding is perhaps the biggest when it comes to locations. A wedding planner can help you find locations for things like rehearsal dinners and receptions that you might not have considered before. With a limited number of locations available, sometimes creativity wins the day in terms of finding a place to host a reception. However, a good planner knows a few secret spots that they keep hidden up their sleeves, spots that might just be the ideal place that matches your vision perfectly. You never would have known about it without your wedding planner’s input.

What about where to have the ceremony? Does the church you have in mind have a membership requirement or other associated fees? Can your home pastor perform the ceremony for you? How much time will the florist have to decorate? What about music? Is your head spinning yet? Those are just a few of the questions that come up with arranging the location for the ceremony. Just think how many questions there are that you don’t know to ask because you’ve never done this before, let alone done it on Nantucket. Having an experienced local planner makes your life easier in ways you can’t even imagine, because they can help in ways that you haven’t even thought of yet.

Next on our tour of potential headaches that a good wedding planner can help you avoid, is the groups of people who make everything look good. The florist, the hairdresser, the makeup person, the list goes on. For many people who come to Nantucket on vacation, the idea of getting their hair done or buying flowers never crosses their mind. Has there been a bride anywhere who didn’t have those concerns at the front of her mind? Whom do you get to do those things locally? If you haven’t used those services here before, you will need the advice of someone who knows the industries. What flowers are available when you’re planning your wedding? A French manicure, who does the best? Where can the bridesmaids get pedicures the day before the wedding? There are so many questions to be answered, but if you hire a Nantucket wedding planner, you can get all the answers in one convenient place.

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What about housing and feeding all of your guests? Typically, wedding guests love coming to Nantucket, because it’s a gorgeous place that they want to visit. Therefore, your wedding can double as a mini-vacation for many of your guests. However, where do they stay? They will be looking to you to be the expert, and that means being able to offer multiple suggestions about where to stay, with multiple price points to fit different budgets. Do you have time to research hotels and B&Bs to find out who offers what for how much? Why not hand that duty off to your wedding planner. While you’re at it, do the same thing with things like catering. Let your planner bring the menus to you so you can see what different offerings there are. Just like with the venue, it’s entirely possible that your planner will bring you ideas you didn’t even know existed. It’s all part of having extensive local knowledge and experience with planning weddings.

This list is in no way comprehensive. There are a thousand and one details that will come up, and oftentimes they come up at the exact moment that you don’t have time to think about them. For example, the wedding starts in ten minutes, but the grandparents are not at the church. Didn’t you arrange
transportation for them? No, I thought you did. Don’t you wish you had thought to hire a Nantucket wedding planner who would have considered that issue before now? It’s a good thing for you that you still have time to hire one!

There are few things in the world more beautiful than a Nantucket wedding. Therefore, I’ve seen weddings on Nantucket from both sides. As a guest, you sit back and relax, just enjoying the whole experience as everything goes smoothly. As the person getting married, you’re sweating
bullets because you’re sure that something isn’t going to go right, and it seems like you’re scrambling around trying to make sure nothing goes too wrong. Then, you remember that you’re not the one running the show. You have got a wedding planner who is handling all the details, and your only job is to make sure that you say your vows right. Trust me when I tell you that’s a hard enough job in and of itself.

Your wedding day should be about you and your fiancé. It should be a time for the two of you to focus on each other and to enjoy the company of family and friends who are sharing in your love. Sometimes that’s easier said than done, because those countless details end up getting in the way and messing up your best plans. A wedding planner can take those worries away from you so that you really can focus on your fiancé, your family and friends. Make sure your wedding day is the one you’ve been dreaming about. Hire a wedding planner so you can start making your dreams come true.

Article edited. Full version published in ONLY Nantucket, Fall 2017.