Hiring a wedding planner may come straight in your thoughts as soon as you get engaged, or it may be after you start those long-winded Google searches for a venue or supplier, whilst trying to work and all the other things life keeps us busy with! I know, as a wedding planner, there will be many questions on your mind from ‘what does a wedding planner do’ to ‘how much does a wedding planner cost’ and even those worries about having the control taken away from you. Well, I am here to help with those frequently asked questions!
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How much does a wedding planner cost?
This can be like asking how long is a piece of string….many planners work on a % basis and you can expect to spend around 10-15% of your budget, with many planners having a minimum budget they work with.
Many planners also offer different services at different costs, for example, for the planning side, I offer a full planning service, which covers everything from finding your venue and suppliers, to guest management, wedding management and all the other things in-between!
I also offer a partial planning service for couples who have already booked their venue and a couple of key suppliers such as caterer and photographer, have then realised it’s actually ridiculously time consuming to find suppliers, and then decide to hire a planner! I then jump in and take over.
For couples who want to plan themselves but need a co-ordinator as they have a dry hire venue or hosting their celebrations from their own land, I also offer an on the day management service. All of my services work on a set fee basis, so the price on the website is what you can expect to pay, depending on your requirements, ie. If your celebrations are multiple days, the cost will be higher. You can see my pricing here.
What does a wedding planner do?
It’s a planners job, basically, for you as a couple to enjoy the planning journey more than you would without a planner….of course you are going to still face potential stresses of any family related problems that we cannot control, and of course the stresses of guest list and table plan, so I am not going to say we make the process completely stress free. But what we do do is take a lot of stress away that isn’t necessary, such as endless Google searches for suppliers, stressing over not having the time for searching for suppliers, the endless communication between suppliers and many other time-consuming tasks!
As you can see from my answer to the question above, there are various services that many planners offer, so depending on the level of service you opt for depends on how much the planner will be involved with planning tasks.
What I will say is that what a wedding planner doesn’t do is take away your control. I hear this a lot from couples who say that they can be control freaks and don’t want to loose the control. Ultimately, you don’t loose the control. You make the final decision on your suppliers, you just save the masses of time searching for them, finding our if they are available on your date, are within your budget and fit your style and vibe. You also make decision on details such as colour schemes, what flowers you want and your menu. We just do the background work to make this information far more accessible to you with the right suppliers who are the best for you!
Do I need a wedding planner?
In short, yes. Everyone needs a planner is some way. I have hired a planner to manage my own wedding day, and that is what I do for a living. Whether it’s just a few one off 1-1’s along the way to put your mind at ease and help unload some stress, or a full planning service to completely take the time-consuming task of planning a wedding off tour shoulders, every couple will benefit from a planner.
Venue Co-ordinator VS Wedding Planner?
A venue co-ordinator is there to manage the venue. Yes, they can give recommendation for suppliers, but those suppliers may not work for you. Let’s put it this way, a co-ordinator manages anything from 30 – 150 weddings a year, depending on the venue, compared to a planner who generally take on 5-8 full plans a year. This shows how involved a planner is.
I was a venue co-ordinator myself for 10 years and can wholeheartedly tell you that the roles are completely different. A planner works directly for you. You may also find that your co-ordinator may leave the venue during your planning process, so although you could have a great relationship with them, they don’t work directly work for you so have free will to get a new job elsewhere! You may also find that your venue co-ordinator isn’t there for your full wedding day and passes over to an operational team, as a venue co-ordinator role is full on and doesn’t always leave time for wedding day management!
Do wedding planners help find venues?
Yes! If you hire a planner for full planning or even just for a venue search which many planners offer, we can of course find you the perfect venue to fit your requirements such as date, location, accommodation etc and of course your budget. As planners, we have a directory full of perfect wedding venues, including some hidden ones you would probably struggle to find yourself – those private, family-owned venues who don’t have the budgets to get themselves to the top of Google or maybe aren’t the best on social media!
When to hire a wedding planner?
You can hire a planner at any point, depending on when you decide you need one! Only thing I would say is that with busy diaries, and with many planners only taking on a certain amount of couples each year to make sure they can give each and every one the time they deserve, if you have a particular planner in mind, you may want to get in quick!
Do wedding planners get commission from vendors and suppliers?
Ok so this is a controversial conversation across the wedding industry and is one that you may want to ask your planner during the consultation stage when you are deciding on which wedding plan you are hiring, although they may not want to answer the question! For me, my answer is simply – NO! I would never choose a supplier based on who will give me commission. If they want to pass on a payment or a gift to say thank you for booking, then that is up to them and I will always happily take a gift, but I would never choose a supplier based on this factor. I base my choice on the suppliers who will work for my couple.
Is hiring a planner a luxury?
It could be, it all depends on your wedding budget, but what I will say is that many of my couple’s feedback after their wedding that they would never have kept to the budget they had in their heads if they hadn’t hired a wedding planner.
When we first start working together, we discuss what you want to spend, and saying ‘we don’t have a budget’ doesn’t wash with me (unless you literally have unlimited money to spend, then fine!) as everyone has a certain budget to spend. My answer to that is, if I put a 1 million pound wedding in front of you, would you be happy to spend that? No? You have a budget in mind then….
We then split your budget down to each area of the wedding, so when I am supplier searching, I can make sure they don’t go over what you want to spend.
Many couples make the mistake of not thinking about budget, as we all, as humans, hate talking about money! They then go off, find a lovely venue and book it without thinking of all the other costs that come with it, then stress because the wedding ends up costing far more than they actually want to spend. Hire a wedding planner and avoid this – in fact, I can guarantee the cost of a planner will actually what you overspend by (and more!) without having a planner.
Yes, you may get the odd comment from a friend – “you have a planner?! What are you, Beyonce?!” but this thought process needs to change. In America, when you get engaged, you get a planner, it’s pretty standard. No one thinks you are being a diva by getting a planner, they just think you are clever. They have the right mentality. So many of my couple’s friends and family say afterwards, wow, I will definitely hire a wedding planner now I’ve seen what you’ve done for them and how incredible their wedding was. In fact, many of my bookings are referrals from previous couples. So, ignore the stigma of having a planner and get in touch here!