Know what to look for in a wedding planner
You’ve set a date, so now what? Start planning for a gorgeous wedding with all the trimmings. Sounds like fun, but wait until you see how much planning is involved. If it’s a small private affair, then you may get away without the help of a wedding planner. But if you’re planning to have a traditional wedding with 50 or more guests, you may want to seek the help of a professional wedding planner.
Planning a wedding involves so many questions that need to be asked, contracts to be signed, and research to be done. It’s enough to leave your head swimming, and no one wants the unneeded stress that comes with planning one of the happiest days of your life. Before you hire a wedding planner, please keep these things in mind, so you’ll pick the right person for you.
Below is a list of the main tasks involved in hiring a wedding planner.
Research Wedding Planners
First, do your research. Ask around for recommendations from family and friends. You can even find good recommendations from strangers on apps like Nextdoor. These are people in neighborhoods near you. They may have used an excellent wedding planner or they may have one they’d like to warn you about. We’ve all had those experiences and when we do, we put them on blast. Asking your Facebook friends for recommendations is also a good way to gather a list of prospective wedding planners. The best thing to do is to google local wedding planners and check out their customer reviews on Google, Yelp, the Knot, and other review sites.
Check their references, reviews, and client wedding photos (questions to ask)
- Websites and photos of recent client weddings (Do you like the colors, lighting, and décor?)
- Do you notice an overarching style in these wedding pictures?
- What type of planning services do they offer?
- Ask for a list of references to contact. A well established wedding planner should have no problem giving your references.
Mli>Do they belong to any professional associations?
Interview the top three wedding planners
After you’ve collected the top three favorites and determined that their vision and budget matches yours, set up an appointment with each for an interview.
Ask them:
- Types of planning services they offer
- Wedding date availability
- Price range
- How closely did they stick to the budgets of previous clients?
- Ask for photos from previous weddings they planned.
Talk with them about your vision and colors to see if they meet your style and enthusiasm.
It’s a good idea to bring bridal magazine photos that you admire and want to emulate in your own wedding. This helps the wedding planner plan the perfect wedding for you.
Call references
As mentioned above, any professional wedding planner should be more than happy to provide you with a list of references. It’s a good idea to call each one and ask about their experience using this planner. Ask the reference how closely the planner stuck to their budget. This is important because you don’t want to end up paying thousands more than what you planned. Also, ask the reference how well the wedding planner interpreted their vision for the wedding.
Other questions to ask the reference include:
- Did the wedding planner match the style you wanted?
- How well were your ideas interpreted by this planner?
- Did the planner offer good vendor recommendations?
- Did the planner coordinate everything with the pros?
- What planning services did this planner take care of? (For example, vendor meetings, reserving wedding venue, setup, invitations, guest list, etc.)
- How responsive was the planner? Did you have to wait for your emails and calls to be responded to? Were they pleasant to work with?
- What did your guests think of the wedding?
- Were there any mistakes? If so, how were they handled by the planner?
Sign the contract
Once you’ve found the right wedding planner, it’s time to sign the contract. Give them a call and tell them you’d like to move forward. After the deposit has been paid and the contract is signed, you’ve got a wedding planner. The stressful tasks of planning a wedding will be handled by your professional wedding planner. Now, sit back and enjoy the joys of the fun part of planning your wedding like picking out a dress and wedding cake tasting.
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Want to read more about wedding preparation?
Take a look at some of our other helpful blogs about wedding planning.
