So… What Does a Wedding Planner Actually Do?
Think of a wedding planner as your personal wedding fairy godmother - part organiser, part therapist, part logistics queen.
The Three Types of Wedding Planning Services
Full planning – From day one, your planner helps with everything: timelines, suppliers, styling, and keeping you sane.
Partial planning – Perfect if you’ve booked a few key vendors already but need help tying up the loose ends.
On-the-day coordination – You’ve done the planning, now hand it over so you can actually enjoy the day without worrying about who’s setting up the arbour or cueing the music.
“You don’t know what you don’t know. Getting a professional to do the legwork for you is worth its weight in gold.”
- Sheryl Van Heerden, Dream Weddings Sunshine Coast.
I couldn’t agree more! Having a planner means your family and friends can relax and celebrate with you, instead of running around making sure the ringbearer’s got the rings.
Where to Start if You’re Newly Engaged
If you’re at the start of your wedding planning journey, Sheryl shared some golden advice:
1. Start with your budget.
2. Work out your guest list.
3. Book your venue.
Once you’ve got those three locked in, that’s when a wedding planner really shines. They can guide you through everything else, from styling ideas to coordinating your vendors.
The Best Advice from This Episode
I loved kicking off Pop the Question with Sheryl - she’s calm, kind, and full of wisdom.
My biggest takeaway? Don’t wait until you’re overwhelmed to call in help. A planner doesn’t take away the fun of wedding planning - they help you actually enjoy it!
And fun fact… when I asked Sheryl our mystery Pop the Question, she told me her favourite wedding food is anything Italian. Same, Sheryl, same!
Listen to the Full Episode
You can listen to the full episode featuring Sheryl Van Heerden from Dream Weddings Sunshine Coast right here:
👉 Pop the Question – What is a Wedding Planner?
Planning Your Sunshine Coast Wedding?
Hey, I’m Lou O’Brien - long-time local and wedding photographer behind Pop the Question! I’ve photographed hundreds of beautiful Sunshine Coast weddings and love helping couples plan their dream day with ease.
If you’re still searching for the perfect photographer to capture all the love, laughter, and in-between moments, I’d love to chat!
📷You can view my packages here - Wedding Photography Packages
🎧 Want more wedding wisdom? See all Pop the Question episodes here
📘 Download my FREE Sunshine Coast Wedding Planning Guide - it’s full of local tips and insider advice to help you plan with confidence.
And a big thanks to my guest, Sheryl Van Heerden from Dream Weddings Sunshine Coast, for sharing her expert advice on wedding planning. You can find her here:
💻 Dream Weddings Sunshine Coast
📸 Instagram: @dreamweddingssc
💬 Facebook: dreamweddingssunshinecoast
Episode Transcript
Sheryl (00:00.396)
Okay.
Lou (00:04.952)
Hi, welcome to pop the question podcast brought to you by sunshine coast wedding collective and me, Lou O'Brien, sunshine coast wedding photographer and your guide to all things I do. This is Kiki. This podcast is all about helping newly engaged couples plan their wedding with ease. This is my very first podcast. I'm very excited to be doing this.
And today I have the beautiful Sheryl Van Heeden from Dream Wedding Ceremonies with me to join me nervously on our first podcast. So I met Sheryl about eight years ago in Noosa. We did this beautiful little elopement together. And just that day we instantly clicked. It was fantastic. So we formed a great friendship and we've also been great work buddies as well, working on countless weddings together.
Sheryl (00:33.647)
So exciting.
Lou (00:59.29)
I absolutely love working with Sheryl. We're very like-minded, it's very easy. Yes, I'm so excited to have her here today to chat with me for our first podcast. Hi Sheryl, thanks for joining me. Hi. I'm so glad that you said yes. This is going to be fun. We'll see how we go. Sheryl, for those who don't know you,
Sheryl (01:01.646)
you
Sheryl (01:11.904)
Yay! Hi Lou, thanks for having me. It's so exciting. I'm so proud, I'm so honored to be your first one. So, podcast.
Lou (01:28.408)
Tell us a little bit about yourself and your business.
Sheryl (01:31.862)
Okay, hi, I'm Sheryl Van Headen. I own Dream Wedding Sunshine Coast and I'm a wedding planner and stylist. I've been doing weddings for about 10 years now and just love it. It's the most positive environment, so much fun, very rewarding job. So I used to work for a leading resort here on the coast for a few years and then I went out on my own. All boots and all went for it and it's been the best decision I've made. So, great.
Lou (01:33.305)
haha
Lou (01:56.483)
Yeah
Yeah, awesome. Cool. Okay. Well, Sheryl, what we're going to do with each podcast, I want to be able to make it short and sweet so our couples can listen to this in the car on the way to work or on their way home and just to give them a helpful tip to plan their wedding. So the question I want to ask you today that I hear a lot of people ask is what is a wedding planner?
Sheryl (02:01.73)
Yeah.
Sheryl (02:26.733)
Yeah, it's a great question. A lot of people don't quite understand all the bits and pieces that we do as planners. So yeah, I've got sort of three arms to my business. So there's a full planning service, and then there's a partial plan service as well as on the day coordination. So it's quite a lot.
Lou (02:45.025)
Okay, cool. Yeah, so three arms, so they're obviously different. What's the difference between the three of them? Could you explain that for us?
Sheryl (02:56.639)
Yeah, sure. So full planning is when you need support from day one. So pretty much I'll come in, lead you through the whole journey, manage all the logistics, timelines, budgets, source all your suppliers for you. So yeah, and pretty much from start to finish, there next to you supporting you. Yeah, easy.
Lou (03:18.034)
cool, that's probably full planning would be great for people at a time poor. They want to have a great wedding but they really don't have the time nor the energy to be able to plan it. Would that be right?
Sheryl (03:28.767)
Absolutely. Yeah, as you know, like with any professional, want, if you don't know, you don't know what you don't know sort of thing. getting somebody that's a professional to do the legwork for you is really worth its weight in gold. Yeah.
Lou (03:43.0)
Okay, awesome. And then what was the next one? Did you say partial planning? Is that right?
Sheryl (03:47.755)
Yeah, so partial planning is where I might pick up part way through. You might have some key suppliers already locked in. You might have your venue, your photographer, for instance, and then you're not sure where to go from there. So I'd get in again, pull in some additional key vendors for you, help with again with your logistics and timings and timeline and that kind of thing. And then, yeah, see it through pretty much like a show. it on, or, you know, help pull it all together for you.
and then, yeah, be there to light the glue. Yeah. That probably didn't come out so good.
Lou (04:22.259)
Okay, so that's for someone who's already... No, well, so from what I understand, they've probably booked their venue, they've probably booked maybe a celebrant, their photographer, but all the little nitty gritty stuff, they're kind of like, there's so much, I don't know what to do, I need help. So would that be...
Sheryl (04:34.507)
Mm.
Sheryl (04:40.778)
Yeah, yeah, like pretty much, you don't want to overlook anything. So that's where having that key professional eye and grabbing all the details and making sure you've not overlooked and missed anything. So yeah.
Lou (04:46.815)
Yeah.
Lou (04:56.96)
Okay, cool. And now you did say that there was three. So the third one, what's that one again?
Sheryl (05:00.915)
Yeah
So that one's on the day coordination. So that's where you've done all the planning yourself and you hand it to me. So, and then that's where I'll run the show for the day. yeah, and there's loads and loads of moving parts. So, you know, we'll be running around in the background. You won't really know what's going on. All you're worried about is being relaxed and happy on your day and enjoying every moment being present. So yeah, I'll make sure that I'm across every detail on the day.
Lou (05:06.677)
Okay.
Lou (05:14.215)
Sheryl (05:32.396)
You know, lots of little might be setting up, helping vendors and making sure everybody's in their place and then make sure everybody runs to the timeline. So it's a seamless day for them. Yeah.
Lou (05:41.268)
Yeah.
Yeah, I love that. Yeah. And then that way too, you know, the mums and dads can relax and, you know, the bridal party can be more fussing about the bride and groom rather than, and you're kind of overseeing the whole thing as well as the guests and vendors. Yeah.
Sheryl (05:51.337)
Yeah.
Sheryl (05:59.018)
Yeah, that's right. You're not stressing out any family or friends or Auntie Betty or whatever to set up something cool, run over here and do that. So that's what I'm there for. Yeah. Yeah.
Lou (06:10.029)
cool, I love that. Okay, well thank you for explaining what a wedding planner is. Now, onto the next part of the podcast and what it's named after is Pop the Question. So I have my trusty little camera here and in here I have a whole lot of mystery wedding theme questions. Now, Sheryl doesn't know what this question is. I don't know what this question is. We're gonna pull one out from here. Okay.
Sheryl (06:15.335)
No worries.
Sheryl (06:24.488)
Hey, hey.
Sheryl (06:33.515)
It's a lottery!
Lou (06:39.349)
This will be fun. I'm excited to see what this question is. Okay. The question is, the best food you've had at a wedding.
Sheryl (06:44.671)
He.
Sheryl (06:53.781)
Ooh, I had some food at a wedding on Saturday. Actually, it was delicious. Thanks, Bettino brothers. That awesome. So good.
Lou (06:57.909)
yeah. so Bettino brothers, they're local Italian brothers that are here on the Sunshine Coast. They've got the cute little blue van and Vespa and yeah, they do beautiful wood fired pizzas and everything, don't they?
Sheryl (07:07.614)
Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah, so much food all day. It was amazing. Yeah. So Italian's great, isn't it? It was an easy one. Anything Italian. mom, Hey, Kiki.
Lou (07:18.453)
Yeah. Oh, that was a good one. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. So to finish off our episode, what I'd like to do is to be able to give our listeners a helpful tip to move forward to make their planning easy. So what's a great tip to give our couples today?
Sheryl (07:42.955)
Okay, so obviously when you're out planning, you you've just got engaged in like, whoa, what do I do next? The first thing would be to work out your budget, obviously is a big one, and then your guest numbers and then book your venue. And from there, that's when you hit up a wedding planner, because again, whoa, overwhelm sets in, off you go. So honestly, whether it be full service,
Lou (07:53.192)
Yep.
Lou (07:56.883)
Okay.
Lou (08:02.82)
Yeah.
Sheryl (08:09.099)
partial planning on the day with all the logistical things on the day. It's really worthwhile chatting with a wedding planner to see what support you might need.
Lou (08:20.083)
Yeah, okay. That's a great tip. I love that. Okay, so thank you so much for joining me on our first podcast. So can you just tell us on socials, where can people find you?
Sheryl (08:21.096)
Yeah, yeah, you're Pleasure.
Sheryl (08:32.35)
Yep, sure. So I'm on Instagram and Facebook @dreamweddingssc SC being Sunshine Coast. Yeah, that's me.
Lou (08:41.341)
Awesome. Well, thank you. And thank you everyone for joining us for our first episode of Pop the Question. I will have all the show notes as well as Sheryl's details on my website. So just head on over to imagesbylouobrien.com/pop_the_question and I will have all the info there for you and future episodes. So thanks again. Thanks Sheryl. That's been fun. I enjoyed that.
Sheryl (09:05.608)
Awesome. Thanks for having me. Thank you, Lou Bye.
Lou (09:08.734)
Bye!
Podcast link - What is a wedding planner?
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