FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Why hire a Wedding Planner?
Hiring a wedding planner is crucial to the success of your wedding and your peace of mind. A wedding planner can save you time and keep you organized throughout the wedding planning process as they have streamlined their process over time. A wedding planner can connect you to professional vendors who can deliver on time and, on budget. They can also manage your budget and let you know when you need to cut back or what areas you should splurge on to give the biggest impact.
A wedding planner can also help you decipher tricky contract wording like “indemnification” and make sure you understand your wedding contracts. They can also negotiate some of your contracts to a reasonable extent because of the great relationships they have built in their industry. Wedding planners have the experience and knowledge to handle unforeseen problems at your wedding and will troubleshoot any issues in the quickest most inconspicuous manner.
Why hire a Wedding Planner if my venue provides a Coordinator for free?
An independent wedding planner and a venue coordinator have different roles and priorities. While a venue coordinator will take care of everything for you at the venue such as the lighting and basic room set up, they work for the venue and have the best interest of the venue in mind. Their main priority is making sure the venue looks great throughout your wedding. Your wedding planner will recommend and attend vendor meetings with you, coordinate all your needs with your venue, and keep you organized throughout the planning process.
Venue coordinators are amazing at what they do and make a wedding planners job so much easier, but they are not with you from beginning to end, they do not always get the chance to learn about you and may not be able to provide you with the best suggestions specific to your needs. Your wedding planner is there every step of the way and their priority is making sure all your needs are met.
Why the name Bonafide Events Studio?
Bona fide is originally a Latin word and translates into meaning "in good faith". In the English language, Bonafide literally means "real or genuine". It was important to choose an operating name that embodied our approach to business. We want our clients to know exactly who and what they are getting when they hire us. We want them to know that when they work with us, we are sincerely interested in getting to know them and creating an event that authentically represents them.
We tailor all of our services to our clients' specific needs and do not use a one size fits all approach. We are very involved in every aspect of the company and wear several hats to ensure a personalized service is always received. We believe that we have grown over the last few years due to our custom approach and the fact that we focus on building genuine relationships.
What can I expect if I set up a free initial consultation with you?
When you set up a free consultation with us, we will set up an initial discovery call to see if we are a good fit for one another. We will take the time to learn a little about you and share a little about us and what it would be like to work together. If we both feel like we would be a good fit for each other then we will send you a custom proposal for your review. If you are happy to move forward we will send you a contract and once an initial payment is made we will send you your custom wedding workbook and get started on planning your wedding.
My event is outside of Southwestern, Ontario. Can I still hire you?
Absolutely! We work all over Southwestern, Ontario including Huron County, Oxford County, Kitchener - Waterloo, London, and beyond. We love traveling and would be happy to plan your destination wedding. Spain? It's one of our favourite places!
Do you get commissions from the vendors you work with?
No. We do not accept any kickbacks or commissions from any of the vendors we work with. We recommend vendors to you solely on their professional nature and their ability to deliver on your vision and within your budget. If a vendor offers a discount, it is because we have built a great relationship with them and we extend that discount onto our clients.
How do you determine your pricing? Do you offer payment plans?
We pride ourselves on offering a custom service to all of our clients, therefore, we get to know you and come up with a wedding plan that fits within your budget but delivers on your needs. We are certified event planners and we are also certified by the Weddings Planners Institute of Canada and we follow a strict code of ethics which means we hold ourselves to the highest standards for wedding and event planning. We provide fair pricing with a quality service.
We offer flexible payment options that suit your needs. We typically have you make a deposit that is fair to both parties (25%) and from there offer monthly payments. The final payment is usually due on the day of your wedding rehearsal.
When should I book?
For full planning and design for your wedding, the more time the better so we would suggest you set up a free consultation as soon as possible if we are a good fit we can start planning right away. Typically, for full-service planning & design, we get booked 24 Months to 18 Months in advance. If you are looking for help with custom planning or wedding management you can usually book us four to nine months in advance of your wedding. Sooner is always better especially in the summer as weekends do tend to book fast. We are now booking for 2023 weddings!