When considering a wedding planner (otherwise known as wedding coordinator), the first thing you need to do is to determine the level of service that you need for your wedding.

• Are you considering a "day-of" coordinator strictly to manage the days' events?
• Do you want to do most of your own wedding planning, but need someone there to help answer questions, point you in the right direction and pull together all of ideas prior to the wedding, and then be there to execute your vision?
• Or, do you really want a full service planner that will take care of most of your details, vendor appointments and keep you on track all the way through the planning process?

Once you've defined the level of service you need, the second thing you want to do is determine what you are able to invest for your coordination needs. During consults, we often have a client that says they just need someone on the "day-of", but when filling out our preliminary questionnaire checks off all the boxes that says they want a lot of help, weekly phone calls, monthly meetings and reminders which actually falls under our six-month or full service packages.

What are some of the questions to ask your prospective planner?

1. Briefly describe your strong points and experience
2. What are ways that you have helped brides stay within budget?  
3. Will you help us find the best vendors such as a florist, caterer, photographer or DJ within our price range?
4. What are the pros and cons of the different venues?
5. Will you help review contracts with vendors? Anything we should be aware of?
6. Will you help us create a timeline for the wedding day which not only includes what our family and bridal party are supposed to do, but when vendors should arrive, set-up and/or deliver?
7. For the day of the wedding, will you be overseeing the entire event by supervising vendors, troubleshooting emergencies, and soothing nerves? Can you share a story that required performing above and beyond the call of duty?
8. How do you resolve problems on the day of the wedding?
9. Preferred method of communication?
10. Can you provide referrals from previous clients?
11. Do you have any current specials?
12. Contract and deposit requirements (if you're interested in hiring them)

In addition to answering your questions, your prospective planner should ask you questions to determine your wishes, needs and levels of maintenance, budget and scope of imagination.
During your consultation, you should be considering manner, personality, confidence, warmth and how you felt afterwards. Did you feel comfortable and reassured, confused or just didn't really connect?

Other recommendations:

When meeting with your prospective vendors, ask them for their feedback on your prospective planner. Photographers, videographers, ministers and DJs are a great source as they know from past events how well the coordinator manages the day and keeps everything on track. You'll find that a good planner has a solid reputation with everyone.

Wedding Planner Myths:

1. Quite honestly, there really is no such thing as a "day-of" coordinator. As a professional planner, one does not just show up on site on the wedding day and hope for the best, as we all know that if something goes wrong, everyone will be looking at the coordinator. We obtain copies of all of your contracts and your timeline so that we may thoroughly go through all aspects of your wedding day to ensure nothing has been overlooked, that the timeline is feasible and reconfirm all vendor arrangements. To date, there has not been one single wedding that we have not found some type of discrepancy, whether they forgot to order the leis for the bride and groom's lei exchange, there isn't enough time to do complete the DIY centerpieces, didn't allow enough time for the receiving line or there were seating assignment challenges.
2. Expect to pay a wedding planner 10-15 percent of your overall wedding budget. While there may be planners that are in this price range (most of which are on TV). We actually believe that no vendor should be more than a certain percentage of your budget, us included.
3. Don't tell the wedding planner your real budget. This area was mentioned in our previous spending plan article, but the main point is that by knowing your budget we can best guide you to the appropriate venues and vendors. If you hold back on this information, you may be narrowing down your options unnecessarily.

Please be short and to the point, and respect the other voices in the discussion. You may edit and delete comments for up to three days after date of post. We reserve the right to edit or delete inappropriate comments. For more information read our site policies »

In order to comment, you must be logged in. Login | Register | Help

Comment

Denotes required fields.