There is a myth that only the elite can hire a wedding planner.  This could not be further from the truth.  The fact is that by hiring a wedding planner you can actually save money and have the confidence that your event will go forward as planned.  While there is no such thing as a “perfect” day, if you have a wedding planner on your team you better believe it will be as perfect as you have always dreamed about.

Planning for a wedding generally proves to be an endless, time-consuming, diligent process and even the most organized and prepared bride is most likely going to forget some detail or get so irritated by the process that the whole day will leave a bad taste in their mouth.  I am sure you have heard all of your friends say what a horrible and exhausting experience planning their weddings were.  The food was late, the soup was ice-cold, the flowers were not what they had expected, etc.  Now ask all of those friends if they had a wedding planner, and if they could do it all over again would they hire one?  I am pretty sure there answer would be without a doubt YES they would hire a planner.

Another myth you may have heard is that if you hire a planner you lose control over your vision.  This is something that as an event planner I can tell you first hand is not the case.  I strive to see every client’s vision and my sole purpose is to have their event meet and exceed their visions expectations.  I want my client to be blown away with how every single detail was everything they had dreamed.  A wedding is the biggest day of your life and wedding planners make this their business.  The majority of our business is word of mouth referrals and the only way to get those is if you are truly happy and we are able to deliver your expectations.  It is YOUR day and our only goal is that you look back at your wedding and just think of how beautiful the entire event was from beginning to end.

If you are wondering if you can afford a wedding planner the answer is yes!  Most planners offer a variety of packages that can fit any budget.  These packages all vary depending on how much planning has already been done, how much time they will need to dedicate themselves to making your day a success, where the venue is located, and the number of guests.  If you have contacted planners and are frustrated because they won’t just name you a price and want to meet with you or discuss you vision, just remember a planner can do as much or as little as you need them to do and you should take the time to communicate your vision with them so they can customize a package that will work best for you.

If you have already booked all of your vendors, the venue, and have all of your major decisions made you may only require a day of coordinator.  This is an inexpensive option that will allow you to sit back and let the planner tie all of the loose ends.  They will coordinate everything with your vendors down from the cake being delivered on time, to the video shown at your reception.  This option may also include assistance during the rehearsal or add this feature on for a nominal fee.  Most likely a planner will go over your contracts with your vendors and may be able to negotiate options to either save you money or provide you with more bang for your buck.  This is a great option for anyone and I would highly recommend this even if your venue says they have a coordinator on site for your use, but I won’t get in to that today.  That’s a whole other blog.

Another option is have a full wedding planning package.  This price will be significantly more because of all of the time that a wedding planner will be putting in to your day.  An event planner will be spending many hours on the phone with your vendors, emailing vendors, and also meeting in person with them to finalize everything so the wedding is a flawless event.  They may even go with you on initial vendor consultations to ensure you are choosing the right vendor that will suit your needs.  They will attend dress fittings, cake tastings, pretty much they will be there with you every step of the way to guide you and address any issues that you have.

The fee for a full wedding planning package usually varies depending on the number of guests you are expecting.  Planning a wedding for 50-75 people opposed to 250-300 people requires a vast difference in hours spent on planning, as well as the number of center pieces they will provide for you, or invitations they will make if these are services your planner will offer.  Some planners will charge by the hour or they may have a flat fee that is customized accordingly to venue logistics as well.

If you haven’t dived in to the large wedding planning pool yet I would strongly advise contacting a wedding planner to get information on the packages offered.  You may feel that you don’t need a planner and you can handle this all on your own, and if that is how you feel great!  But, you may want to do yourself a favor and have a consultation with a planner, this will be a nominal fee or even free to sit down and explain your vision.  At least get information on the packages they offer, I bet you would be pleasantly surprised how affordable a planners miraculous services are.  I mean would you go and buy a car with out comparison shopping and gathering information?

If you strongly feel you can go it alone at the least, find a planner that will customize a planning timeline for you, and a checklist at the very minimum, most will even supply you with a budget to go by and offer many resources and tips to help you along.  This is an inexpensive way to get professional guidance and get you on the right track.  Later down the road when you get overwhelmed, (it will happen,) you can always call the planner back and hire them for whichever package they offer that will rescue you from drowning in the wedding planning pool.  Just be sure that when you call you are ready to just relax, sit back and let us do all of the work for you so you can show up and enjoy your day!

The take away here is you should hire a planner because:

-They save you time, and a lot of it.

-They do this for a living and will have answers to all of your questions and if they don’t, they will know where to get them answered.

-They have relationships in the wedding business.  They know what vendors to use and which vendors don’t deliver your expectations, pun intended.  They know how to get the best discount on items as well.

-They have a plethora of tricks up their sleeves to creatively be cost-effective with out your event looking cheap.

-They make you feel special, I have become friends with many of my clients because they know I genuinely care and since end up spending a good amount of time together you truly build a relationship with them.

-They attend your rehearsal, ceremony, receptions; basically they are there every step of the way so you can be in the moment and not worried about a thing.

-They are probably a lot more affordable than you think and will have the ability to save you money in other areas which will offset their fee.

-They assist you with all of the tedious tasks that arise like sealing your invitations, making favors, guest lists, coordinating the transportation, etc.

Just keep this in mind when you are planning your wedding.  Can you do it yourself, of course you can.  But why would you want to when you can hire a professional to do it all for you and offset their cost in most instances.  It’s a no brainer!  If you are in the planning stages of your wedding and are realizing that there is so much you didn’t think to budget for and you are already well over budget which happens more than not, run, don’t walk over to your phone and call a planner now!  You will be so thankful you did and so will your wallet.