If You’ve Been Researching Wedding Planners, You’ve Noticed Something

If you’ve spent any time looking for a wedding planner, you’ve probably noticed that we all say the same things.

Detail-oriented. Full-service. Here for you every step of the way.

It all sounds great and it’s all basically meaningless without context. So instead of giving you another list of adjectives, I want to show you exactly how we work and why our process specifically makes a difference for the couples we plan with. Because the right planner isn’t just someone who’s nice and organized. It’s someone whose process is built to produce the wedding you actually want, without the chaos and decision fatigue that comes from doing it without one.

I’m Jenny, founder of Storybook Love Events — a full-service wedding planning company based in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. We’ve been planning weddings in the Midwest for 15+ years, and our work tends to attract couples who are beyond excited to marry the love of their life, who want an authentic planning experience and a day that truly feels made for their love story.

Here’s what working with us actually looks like.

We Start Before You Think We Do

Most couples assume the planner’s job begins at the first planning meeting, after the contract is signed and the deposit is in. In reality, we’ve already been working before you ever sit down with us.

When an inquiry comes in, we don’t reach out cold. Before our first conversation, we’ve already looked at your date, your venue, your estimated guest count, and started thinking about which vendors will be a fit. We arrive at the consultation having already done homework you didn’t know anyone was doing.

That first conversation isn’t a sales call. It’s a discovery process — for both of us.

We’re listening for things couples don’t always think to tell us: how you make decisions together, what’s most important to you, where you’re feeling most uncertain. We’re also evaluating fit — because we only take on couples whose weddings we know we can execute well.

Our Process Is Built Around Your Decision-Making, Not Our Checklist

One of the most overwhelming things about planning a wedding is that it can feel like every decision is equally urgent, and there are thousands of them.

Our process is deliberately sequenced — meaning we guide you through decisions in a specific order, based on what locks in what. You won’t hear us say “you need to finalize your florals” before we’ve confirmed your venue can accommodate the design direction you want. You won’t be choosing a caterer before you know your venue’s catering situation.

Here’s how it starts: one of the first things we do is to get to know you! This isn’t a checklist run-through — it’s a deeper conversation about your vision, your priorities, and what you actually want your wedding to feel like. We ask the questions most couples haven’t been asked yet: What matters most to you when you walk back down that aisle? What would make this feel like a failure? What are you most anxious about? The answers shape everything that comes after.

We combine what we learn from that conversation with our knowledge of the Sioux Falls wedding market — the vendors, venues, seasonal considerations, and booking timelines that are specific to this area — and your wedding date to build a custom planning roadmap for your wedding. Not a template. Not a generic timeline we hand everyone. A plan built specifically for you.

For our Sioux Falls couples, we typically start with your venue and photographer, because those decisions set the foundation for everything else. Once those are locked in, we move into your next priority (usually a killer party and delicious food) , and so on — each decision made at the right moment, with the right information.

When couples come to us having already made some decisions out of order, we can usually course-correct. But the couples who trust the sequence from the beginning consistently tell us the planning process felt far less stressful than they expected.

What ‘Full-Service’ Actually Means When We Say It

“Full-service” is one of those terms that means everything and nothing, depending on who you ask. So let’s be specific about what it means here.

When you work with us as a full-service wedding planning client, here’s what’s included:

• Planning meetings: In person or meeting via phone throughout your engagement, plus unlimited email and access via our planning portal.
• Vendor management: We handle all communication, contracts, and coordination with your vendor team — you’re looped in on decisions, but we do the legwork
• Design: For some couples, this can be creating your vision & vibe from a single image and for others, it means curating a Pinterest board that you have been building since you were a young! The basic building blocks are how you want the wedding to look and feel, from there we guide you through all the specifics-colors, florals, rentals, and stationery.
• Client portal: Aisle Planner — your central hub for all planning documents, timelines, budgets, and communication
• Wedding week and day: By your side every moment in those final days and literally on site with you from start to finish on the wedding day. We tell couples, we are the first to arrive and the last to leave.

Six months out from your wedding, a typical week for one of our clients might involve finalizing our vendor team-do we want custom rentals or would you like to add a content creator? At this point in the process, all your big decision/details are being finalized. We are usually offering support for stationery, personalization details, and guiding your vendors. Six weeks out, it shifts to the really good stuff! This is when we can start to put the finishing touches on everything. Attending your final venue meeting and then lifting everything from your shoulders here on it. This is the magical moment when our planning goes from dreams to reality. You stay informed throughout — but you’re not the one managing it.

What You Will (and Won’t) Experience Working With Us

We believe in setting clear expectations from the beginning  because the couples who work best with us come in knowing what to expect, and what we’ll ask of them in return.

Here’s what you can count on:

• You’ll always know what’s happening and what’s coming next — no radio silence, no chasing us for updates
• We’ll be honest with you, even when the honest answer isn’t the one you were hoping for
• We’ll ask a lot of questions — that’s not indecision, it’s how we build a plan that actually fits your wedding
• We’ll advocate for you with vendors, handle the hard conversations, and protect your budget and your vision

And here’s what we ask of you:

• Trust the process, even when it feels like things are moving slower or faster than you expected
• Communicate openly — the more we know about what matters most to you, the better we can deliver it
• Give us the room to do our job — we work best with couples who want a guide, not couples who want to micromanage every vendor email

We’re not the right fit for every couple, and that’s okay. But for the couples who are a fit, this process works and their wedding days reflect it.

Why Process Is the Most Underrated Thing to Ask a Planner

When couples compare planners, they usually look at two things: portfolio and price.

Both matter. But neither one tells you what it’s actually going to be like to plan your wedding with this person.

The question that will tell you the most? Ask them how they work.

Ask how they sequence decisions. Ask what happens when something goes wrong. Ask how they communicate, how often, and who you’ll actually be talking to. Ask how many weddings they take per year — and why.

A planner with a thoughtful, specific answer to those questions is a planner who has built a real process. And a real process is what produces a wedding that feels planned, not improvised.

If you’re planning a wedding in the Midwest and you’re in the middle of comparing planners, I’d encourage you to ask those questions of everyone you talk to — us included.

We’re confident in our answers. And if we’re not the right fit, we’d rather you know that now than six months into planning.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does a full-service wedding planner actually do?

A full-service wedding planner manages every aspect of your wedding from engagement to wedding day — vendor sourcing and management, design direction, budget tracking, timeline creation, and on-site coordination. The short version: we handle everything so you don’t have to.

How is a wedding planner different from a venue coordinator?

A venue coordinator works for the venue and manages the venue’s staff and policies on your wedding day. A wedding planner works for you — across every vendor, every decision, and every detail from the moment you book to the moment you leave the reception.

When should I hire a wedding planner?

The earlier the better — especially if you’re planning a wedding in the fall, when popular venues and vendors book out at least a year to 18 months in advance. We typically book between a year-18 months in advance, so if your date is within the next year, it’s worth reaching out soon.

How many weddings do you take per year?

We limit our calendar to 30 weddings per year. This isn’t a marketing tactic — it’s how we protect the quality of our work and make sure every couple gets our full attention. It also allows each of our lead planners to enjoy their own family time and stay passionate & excited about weddings, instead of burned out.

What area do you serve?

We’re based in Sioux Falls and primarily serve couples planning weddings in eastern South Dakota, but we recently expanded to the Black Hills. Of course, we are always willing to travel!

Ready to See If We’re the Right Fit?

If you’re planning a wedding in the Midwest and this sounds like the kind of partnership you’ve been looking for — we’d love to hear from you.

Start with our inquiry form and tell us a little about your wedding. We’ll take it from there.