How to Hire a Wedding Planner

When Jennifer, a partner at a big accounting firm got engaged, she knew that she didn’t have time to plan the 300 person wedding that was expected by her friends, family, and business associates.  “One of the first decisions I made was to hire a wedding planner,” she says.  “And it was probably the best decision I made in the whole wedding process.”

Weddings are becoming more elaborate at the same time that many brides have less time to dedicate to them.  Enter the wedding planner.

Wedding planners handle all of the administrative details that go into putting a wedding on while leaving the creative decisions to the bride. 

There are 3 payment arrangements for wedding planners.

Lisa McMahonno-fee planner.  She doesn’t charge you, but you know up front that she gets kickbacks from the various vendors she recommends.  She may not send you to the best choice for you if someone else gives her a bigger cut.  But, if you don’t have a budget for a wedding planner, this may be the choice for you.

Jasmine Jefferson charges a percentage of the total wedding budget.  A good wedding planner can eat up 20 percent of the budget.  If you are having a large, elaborate wedding where the total budget is over $30,000, this is the way to go.

Dulce Sanchez charges a fixed fee for specific services.  If you are prepared to handle some of the administrative burden, this may be the way to go as you can only pay for the services you need.

One of the advantages of working with a wedding planner is that she has a professionally developed time line and checklists for everything.  You know you won’t end up not purchasing the flowers if you work with a wedding planner.

You want to look for a planner who is knowledgeable about weddings and the pre-wedding process.  They should also know the benefits and drawbacks of working with various bakeries or printers in your city.  You may want to ask whether the planner has any kind of certification.

Your wedding planner should listen to you.  She should help you produce your vision of the perfect day – not impose hers on you.  Your wedding planner should pose a lot of questions up front.  She also needs to be hands-off when you want her to be.

You should find your wedding planner from personal recommendations, not from the yellow pages.  If you don’t know anyone who has had a wedding planner in the last couple of years, get on the internet wedding chat rooms and find out who has the best reputation.

A wedding planner should take your image of a dream wedding and turn it into a reality.  She should take the worry off of you.  She should allow you to have the time to really enjoy your engagement and to look forward to the big day.

For more wedding advice, and to find all the wedding suppliers you need for your wedding in surrey, visit Surrey Weddings.