Hiring a wedding planner: how to prep and what questions to ask.
Hiring a wedding planner can be daunting. A wedding is such a personal event and experience. Leaving so many important details to essentially a complete stranger can make a couple nervous, that’s natural. So I’ve laid out a few things you should determine before you hire a planner, then a few questions to ask your wedding planner once you’re almost ready to hire them.
What to determine:
Your budget. I know, I know. This is tricky. One thing I hear all the time is “I have no idea what things cost, so I can’t say what my budget is”. I get that, but you do know what kind of money you can spend, what you’re comfortable spending and where other financial help is coming from. So even if you can’t determine an exact number, you can have a rough idea. Having a flexible budget is great, but it should firm up within the first few weeks of having hired a planner.
Your priorities. What do you want to invest the most energy/money into for your wedding? Determining what’s most important to you for your big day (and having it in list form) will help set you and your planner up for success. They’ll know where to allocate your budget, and help stay on track to the most realistic options.
Why you want to hire a planner. Some of my clients know from the get go that they don’t have the time and energy to put into full planning. Their jobs are extremely demanding, they tend to work more than the average 40 hours per week and they just know upfront it’s a good idea to have someone else handling the details. Some clients have already laid out what they can do, what they can’t do, and listed out the things they need help with, which ends up being partial planning. Some couples come to me without a clue what they need from me, they just know they need me. Doing some preliminary research on what a planner offers can give you an idea of what to expect upon your first consultation.
Once you’ve developed an idea of your budget, your priorities and your wedding planner needs, it’s time to hire a planner! Or at least fill out that contact form and prep your first conversation with them.
What to ask your potential planner:
Are you available for my date? This one’s a given and it’s probably an answer to the question in a contact form, But I like to be thorough.
What services do you offer? Most of the time, planners will have 3 options: full planning, partial planning and month of coordination. But sometimes planners will only offer full and partial. It’s important to get that out of the way before you move forward in the conversation, especially if you’ve already got an idea of what services you’re interested in.
Do you have experience working with the size of our guest list? This is more applicable to weddings of more than 150 guests, but still valid overall. Weddings with 150+ guests can be a completely different process than micro’s with 30 or less. It’s important that you feel comfortable knowing they have experience.
What are your COVID cancellation/reschedule policies? Protect yo’self.
Can you work within our budget? This one is RIDICULOUSLY IMPORTANT. I can’t stress enough that having an idea of a budget from the start is a good idea for both you and your planner. You need to know your money is in safe hands, and hear that a planner is confident in making your day dream happen with that number.
Do you direct the wedding rehearsal, as well as the ceremony on the day of? Further, what does the day of look like for you from start to finish? Day of expectations are necessary to know from the get go. Some planners have a team to set up and tear down. Some planners just set up and do small tear downs. Some stay from 10am-1am (although this is rare), some do a standard 10 hours. Every planner has their own end of day point. Knowing this from the get go will set a professional boundary that’s crucial.
What are your rates? What methods of payment do you offer and what are payments like? This one is here because for some reason couples are afraid to ask and then wait to do so with an email later, just rip that baby off like a bandaid.
Can my dog be part of the ceremony? If the answer is ever “no”, just move on to the next.
Hiring a planner holds so much value, and I’m not just saying that because I am one. If you work full time, or you’re just completely lost in the process, it’s worth it to get a consultation at the very least. Whether you want to hire a planner for full wedding planning, partial, month of coordination, or just design, these determinations should help you get set up for success. Happy planning!