Come summer and winter vacations, and Pakistan becomes home to numerable weddings daily. The responsibility of arranging a wedding is a tedious exercise and it falls on the shoulders of the family: from booking the venue to making an appointment with the make-up artist, the stage and dress designer, to accommodating guests from abroad; the entire ordeal is quite a hassle. Venues have to be booked months in advance and shopping picks up speed as ‘the’ day closes in. Then there are other numerous arduous tasks of planning and arranging the wedding which families have to go through, which can be quite exhaustive. This is where wedding planners step in.

A decade or so ago, wedding events were women-oriented. The main focus was on jewellery and clothes, what the bride and groom wore and how the relatives were dressed. However, the trend has changed rapidly and the guests as well as the host are conscious about the arrangement starting from the venue, to the colour scheme and the matching outfits of the family.

Becoming an exponentially growing trend, wedding planners are hired to plan and organise weddings. “When I entered the industry in 1999 no one knew about wedding planners, and I had to explain it to them. But, now the enterprise has burgeoned and, through marketing, people have become aware of how cost-efficient and helpful planners can be,” says Zoreed Raza, the owner of La Celebrators Event Management Service.

But how pragmatic and propitious is it to hire these planners? “I just told the planner what I wanted and he did the rest — from printing the cards to the floral arrangement,” says Sakina, a bride-to-be. “The bride and groom, as well as the family, are swamped with work before the wedding and the planners ensure that everything goes smoothly and that immense attention is given to minute details. They tell you about the finest caterers and the latest trends and colour combinations to embellish the venue.”

When it comes to tailoring the perfect wedding, it is hard to figure out when and where to begin. Experts help individuals to execute their ideas and make the event a memorable affair. Raza says that planners are responsible for about 90 per cent of the total work that is put into arranging the wedding. It takes passion, zeal and sincerity to get the final product.

There is also a misconception that wedding planners are costly. This is not true as wedding planners offer market rates and sometimes, as in the case with Raza, provide a team of helpers for about Rs25,000 to ensure that everything goes as desired. Planners strive to utilise the customer’s money and make sure that they spend it wisely and prudently.

“To satisfy a client is always a challenge. It does not always depend on the budget; you also have to fulfil their many requirements, which vary from client to client. It also depends on the planners and how they convince their client to, for example, go for a certain theme,” says Hasan Ali, an event manager at Catwalk Production’s Rukhsati. The reputation of the wedding planners is of paramount importance and the brand name matters a lot. And if the planners know the venue owners, designers, florists and jewellery designers, wedding functions can be arranged in as few as 20 days.

A few years ago, antique and Mughal-themed decors were all the rage. This year, however, neutral colours are being sought-after. Themes are based around the colour of the outfits of the bride and groom. Set designing is catching on fast and inspiration is being taken from movies. “Gold and beige are very popular this year, since the photographs come out very regal and majestic,” says Ali.

Flowers add to the grandiose of the setting and light instead of dark and bold coloured flowers are being used for floral arrangements. In addition, lights play a vital role in the ambience of the wedding, and crystal lights are being widely used.

A wedding is the most important event of an individual’s life, and wedding planners ensure that you celebrate this jovial occasion perfectly and with minimum stress. Wedding planners are a one-stop shop where you get everything under one roof without going through the hassle of inspecting every aspect separately. So it is fitting to say they are a blessing from above.