Wedding planning vs travel planning

Lately I have been trying to hone in on the things I am good at doing. I know that there are a few things I am excellent at doing. I can put together a family vacation like no ones business. I can create a smooth business travel itinerary that is completely clear of potential issues. I just have a way with it. Plus, I have had a lot of practice. To some it sounds easy, to some it seems impossible (which is why I have a job I guess). :)

How about planning a wedding? Am I good at that? In planning my own upcoming wedding, I started off thinking it was just like planning a vacation. Event planning to the extreme but all the same work, detail and forethought goes into it that I put into creating a vacation experience, right?. Wrong. Well, mostly wrong. I should have known. I have even planned destination weddings for travel... still way different. Maybe because it is my own? Who knows. But, in a way, it reminds me of how necessary my position is in the vacation planning world as well because although what I do may be similar to planning a wedding, it will never be one in the same. Wedding planners and coordinators are employed for a reason, and a good reason at that.

Just like a wedding, a vacation should plan for set backs. You have to plan for free time and make up time. For example, when I book travel to Italy, I keep every potential time ruining aspect in mind. The trains can be a huge time roller coaster. For the most part, the trains run on time and all is well. When they don't, the REALLY don't. One late train can completely set you back a day or more. If you don't plan and prepare for this possibility, it will reek havoc on the most expensive, luxurious vacation. That's right folks. It doesn't matter how much money you throw at it. Poor planning is poor planning. I see where the same thing can happen with a wedding. It really is about the details but at the same time, you have to prepare yourself for something to not go your way and know that in the end, all is well and you will still end the night being married to the love of your life. I guess that is where balance comes in... but let me not get too off subject.

My friend and wedding designer Bobbi Pohl and I were going over some wedding details the other day. Sure, a lot of the things we were talking about I already thought of and had plans for but guess what? There were some things that I didn't that are pretty darn important. A detail that comes to her like second nature, wasn't even in the back of my mind. For example, did you know that your wedding candles will not light themselves? ;)

Anyway, I guess in all this rambling, I was reminded that I should not take it personally when family and friends go off and book their own travel without consulting me (something that has been eating at me for a few months now). I have a purpose and I do an excellent job in the career that has chosen me and that I have happily accepted. Online booking sites make it all look so easy, but they fail to mention all the potential issues that can happen along the way and of course do not give you detailed instructions of how to deal with it when they do. You are just left to figure it out. I can't even imagine being 'left to figure it out' on my wedding day or in the middle of my honeymoon. Especially after all the money shelled out for that one day or experience. Not that it is all about the money either. I mean, sure, I may be able to save you some money or add more value to your vacation as your travel specialist. That is important too! But, when you are at a point in your vacation where something just needs to be fixed, the money savings gets blown out the window. You just want everything to flow right and you want to enjoy your time. Time being the operative word since we all feel like we don't have enough of it. In essence, I sell time. I sell peace and comfort. Because when that problem happens, I take the time to fix it because I know how and most the time I can do it without costing my clients more of their hard earned money.

Thanks to my fiance for proposing to me so we in turn get to plan our wedding together and in that realize the importance of having professional wedding help. I love that it has shed more light on my place in life as a travel specialist.

My friend Tracey Warren mentions someone she met in the travel industry that taught her early on, "Without a travel agent, you are on your own". It's true people. You hire an insurance agent for insurance, a doctor for health help and for your sanity I hope you would hire wedding help for your wedding. Why wouldn't you hire a travel professional for travel?