Wedding how much does a wedding planner cost?

[mel047]

Well, after reading pages and pages of past BWW posts, I think I''ve decided a traditional wedding is the way to go. We have talked about eloping or having a very small immediate family only destination wedding to save money, but this isn''t really what either one of us wants.

So, on to my questions...

Approximately how much does a wedding planner cost? We''d like to get married summer of 2009, but I''ll also be in my first year of med school starting in a couple weeks. No time for very detailed planning sadly...

Also, how hard is it to find a wedding planner in WV? How does one begin to look for a wedding planner? Do you do interviews?

Please help, I''m so very clueless...

 

[Maisie]

I have watched a lot of wedding shows and they seem to pay around 10-15% of the overall wedding costs to the planner. I think they probably have a minimum that you have to pay though.

You can also just hire one for the actual wedding day to make sure everything runs smoothly. That costs a lot less.

 

[violet02]

It depends on if you go with 'big flashy wedding planner' or 'modest and nice' wedding planner etc.

My planner charged me $3500, and she's not doing all of the work, a nice chunk though incl day of stuff, handling vendors, negotiating deals, going with me to appts., advising me on details, decor etc. I get her discounts passed on to me. So she has more like a 5% charge. Carmel is a couple of hours from SF too so I need someone down there to help plan things. It was totally worth it to me. It really depends on how much time you have on your hands. You can still do a lot of it yourself and get help on the big things or you can just have the whole thing done for you.

Another planner quoted me about 15-20k for full planning. Ouch. Her min for the same service I get now was about 7k. Note: This is in Carmel, CA though, not a low cost area.

Look for wedding planner websites in your area... I also used The Knot, Here Comes the Guide and asked local venues who their prefered vendors to work wtih were. Had I had the wedding at a hotel they'd have given me only 3 choices.. that's how I found my planner, off that list and through word of mouth. She was well known with multiple venues I toured.

And yes you sort of interview them... they ask you lots of questions about what you want or don't want and then you see if you like them and could work with them. You should review their portoflios to see if you like the looks of the weddings they've done and be sure to ask for any special requests you may have to make sure they can handle them. And call their references or get references from them on who they've worked with locally. The wedding industry folks generally tend to know everyone and you can probably get vendors to reccomend people as well.

 

[lloydsbride]

I''m in Shreveport, LA. The wedding planners out here avg between $500-1000....i guess it depends on your area.

 

[aliciagirl]

I don't know what area you are getting married in, but I was browsing online for WV and I was having a hard time finding a single one. I'm still a LIW but we will be planning from another state, so I was looking. I bookmarked this page but I don't know how helpful it will be. I think roughly people pay about 5-10% of what their budget is for their planner, but again, WV tends to be underpriced a lot of the time.

I think it will be hard to find a legitimately good planner and not just someone who thinks they like planning and started a "business." I have several friends who advertise wedding planning services that I wouldn't trust in a million years to actually do a good job.

 

[redfaerythinker]

Try the knot. You can research vendors by area. Hope that helps!

 

[FoxyBride]

My planner (in LV) initially quoted me $3500 for complete planning, top to bottom, but since I have a small budget, she said I could work with her assistant for $750. Since I really don''t need that much help, it''s more of a saftey net thing for me, I said bring on the assistant! You may check and see if you can find a deal like that.

 

[Neveah]

I used a DOC (day of coordinator) These are much cheaper than full out wedding planners
Her services were $500

Met with mulltiple times during the planning. Made sure I had everything done when needed to be done.
I gave her all my vendors and contact info for them.... she did timelines for them and organized everything.
She ran the rehearsal and "day of"
I didn''t need to worry about where the cake was, if the bridal party was wondering around...etc. Everything ran so smoothly

There is too much to write about what she did but it was the best money I ever spent! My Mom and I could just relax and have fun and not worry about when the cake was going to be cut, where the DJ was, etc. Totally worth it!!

 

[Sparkalicious]

Date: 7/30/2008 1:06:03 AM
Author:mel047

Approximately how much does a wedding planner cost? We''d like to get married summer of 2009, but I''ll also be in my first year of med school starting in a couple weeks. No time for very detailed planning sadly...

Also, how hard is it to find a wedding planner in WV? How does one begin to look for a wedding planner? Do you do interviews?

Please help, I''m so very clueless...

Hi Mel!

My FI and I just went through the process of interviewing wedding planners & selecting one so this information is still fresh in my mind.

Se are in Seattle so I''m sure the prices do vary by region, however, this should be somewhat helpful for you.

Since you have no time for detailed planning, you may wish to consider a wedding planner who will offer you full service, as opposed to a day of coordinator or someone who helps out with just a little bit more.

Full service wedding planning (with the 5 planners we interviewed) ranged from $5,000 - upwards of $10,000

Mid-range planning (more than Day of Coordinator but less than full planning) range from $3,000 - $6,000

Day of Coordinator services started somewhere around $1,800, I believe, if I recall correctly.

I would suggest starting your search by checking out wedding resources online in your area, possibly even The Knot. Also, asking reputable vendors, i.e., florists, photographers etc, should lead you to a few prospective wedding planner candidates.

As for the interviewing process, I have several wedding planning books from which I drew questions. Some you may consider is the planning list one from The Knot and Bridal Bargains. I found that the questions helped us to get the information we needed to make the right choice for us. Another impt part of the interviewing process was that we were able to determine if we had a good rapport with the planner, which is essential since we will be working with her so closely.

I hope this helps! Good luck with your planning and med school, for that matter!

 

[miraclesrule]

The prices vary so much depending on the services you wish to have them provide for you.

We had the following options:

1- Day of coordinator $600 which included a pre-planning meeting to discuss the details 2 weeks prior to the wedding date, vendor contact the week of the wedding, guidance with timeline and wedding day support.

2- Month of coordinator $900 which included a pre-planning meeting to discuss the details 4-6 weeks prior to the wedding date, contacting of vendors, creation of your wedding day timeline, coordination of your rehearsal and much more.

3- Month of PLUS coordintor $1500 which includes the above but also includes some crative ideas and help form a wedding planner

4- Full Service Coordinator and Planning Services Those start out at $2000 and depending on the degree of services you need, it can get really pricy.

We choose to go with option 2. After the ceremony was over we realized that in addition to a coordinator, who I believe is essential for your wedding, we should have an a personal assistant or "runner". It''s just too stressful otherwise. Even though you have the coordinator there working and coordinating all the details, too many things get forgotten by the bride and the BM''s and we really needed someone to keep running to the car to go get this or that, or go track down so and so, or go get things we needed in the Brides room.

Good Luck!!

 

[mel047]

Thanks for all the help ladies, this gives me a great idea of things.

Unfortunately, I''d like to do a full service but don''t know if I''ll be able to afford it. We''re estimating somewhere around 100 - 150 guests, want to spend around 10 - 15k, and live in a small town and would probably have to get a planner from a city a couple hours away. Sounds nearly impossible!

Guess I''ll keep brainstorming, let me know if ya have suggestions!

Can I just that... I love this site and you gals are great!