Hiring a wedding planner, along with the cost to hire, may be something you’ve thought about as soon as you’ve got engaged and started planning your UK wedding. It may also be something you didn’t think you would need on your to do list but have just started searching for venues and suppliers and realised, wow, this really is time consuming! Around a full time job, looking after the house, and actually having a life (!) planning a wedding can be A LOT! I mean, it’s what we do as a full time job! So how can you actually go about finding a wedding planning, and how much of your budget will you need to set aside for one?
The cost to hire a UK wedding planner
Now first up, it’s a bit like much of the wedding industry – how long is a piece of string! What we would say is that planners tend to charge 10-15% of your estimated wedding budget. It is so important to have a wedding budget and you can download our PDF guide on how to set a budget here. Once you have an idea of what you want to spend overall, you can then start approaching wedding planners with a budget and your ideas and they will then create a quote from there, taking into consideration the time they will need to plan, location, the size of the team they will need on the day and the length of the wedding.
But not every planner works in this way. For us, we work on a set fee basis as opposed to a percentage of your budget. Our fee is based on your style of wedding, the size of the guest list and what kind of wedding you would like. For example, if you wanted a hotel wedding which has inhouse caterers and accommodation on site, this would be a lower cost than if you wanted a marquee in a field as the logistics are far more time consuming. We generally need a bigger team for a marquee wedding and can be onsite for up to 5 days for the set up etc, so planning fees would be higher to accommodate for this. You can see a rough guide of what we charge here which can give you an indication of the cost to hire a wedding planner.
What services do UK weddings planners offer?
The services planners generally offer are full planning, where we plan your UK wedding from the very beginning, right up until the day, covering every part of the planning process to give you the day you want. Many, including myself, offer a partial planning service where you have already started booking the key things such as venue, catering, photography, and now need somebody to step in and take over. It could even be that all of your suppliers are booked but you need someone for the communication with the suppliers and the logistical planning, as that can be a lot!
There are other services some planners also offer, such as styling and décor planning, and we also offer an on the day management/co-ordination service which is perfect for you if you want to go ahead and plan your own day, but want to relax on the day and know that it’s handed over to someone else to handle the logistics in the background and to put any fires which inevitably crop up!
How much does it cost to hire a day of wedding coordinator?
Our 12 hour wedding co-ordination services are a set fee of £1500. There other extras you an add, such as final month planning, day prior set up, post wedding set down and an extension to have an event manager until the very end of the night, to manage the set down if it needs to be done on the same day, and also to manage any taxis/buses etc. But this is entirely up to you!
Every planner charges differently for this service but I would say £1000 – £2000 is the general rule of thumb. Some planners charge more and take over the planning 4-6 weeks prior to the day. I decided not to factor this into the base cost as some couples don’t feel like they need this service and would rather just have someone there on the day. With a background in event management, I have confidence to do this whereas I understand some planners would rather been more involved with supplier communication etc.
You can find out more about what our base co-ordination service includes here. This service is essential if you have a dry hire venue where you don’t have a venue co-ordinator onsite, or if you are getting married on your own land, or land you have hired.
How will I know if I need a wedding planner?
There are many reasons people hire a wedding planner, and as already discussed, in different capacities. Many of our couples (and parent!) afterwards are thrilled that they decided to hire a wedding planner, regardless of the cost to do so. For full planning and partial planning, most couples come to us because they have busy lives, careers etc so the cost of a wedding planner is the best many they spend in their budget! A wedding planner can’t take away all of the stress, such as family situations, but we can take away the stress of the supplier searching, the consistent emails, and the worries of whether the suppliers they are booking are legit and an appropriate cost.
If you’re not able to take the time out to focus on your wedding plans, if you are already feeling busy in your lives, or if you just don’t feel like you have the experience to know what to book, hiring a wedding planner will be essential for you and a great investment.
I truly believe everyone needs a wedding planner in the corner in some aspect, even if you just hire someone to manage your day, but you then have that relief in the back of your mind that you have a professional involved in some aspect that you can go to when you need to, even just to book a one off session to unload your stresses.
Many couples also book a planner if they aren’t in the same country, for example if you live in America, but would like a wedding in the UK or England, you will find a wedding planner is essential for you.
What is the disadvantage of a wedding planner?
I mean, after reading this, are there any? I think finding the right planner for you is essential. I don’t believe a wedding planner takes any control for you, you are ultimately in control, you make the final decisions, but this could depend on the planner you hire. You also need to ensure the planner you hire has experience. There have been many wedding planners popping up who may just think it is a nice job to do, but experience is essential.
There is a cost attached to a hire a wedding planner. Always check if your planner works on commission from their suppliers. This is something we do not do, as we want to hire the suppliers who are right for you, and now ones that we will earn an incentive from. A planner who works on commission may charge you less, but in the long run, will cost you more as your suppliers will then add that commission on top of your price. A wedding planner can most certainly save you money as we work with a budget planner, to make sure we are sticking to the overall budget you wanted to commit to, whereas when planning on your own, you are more likely to go over on the cost you wanted to spend.
Are you convinced that a wedding planner is the right route for you? Get in touch here and let’s get a consultation booked so we can chat further about your plans and how we can help you!
