You want your wedding day to be nothing short of spectacular and to make that happen, you might enlist the services of a wedding planner. Of course, before you can trust someone with the most special day of your life, you have to know that they will deliver absolute perfection. To ensure you pick the right wedding planner, you need to know what questions to ask. Use this wedding planner checklist to determine exactly what a wedding planner does and should do for you in regards to your most special event.
Choosing a wedding planner
It is likely that there are several top wedding planners in your area, but before you can dive right into choosing one, you must consider the cost of a wedding planner and find one that fits your needs and your budget.
- Full-service wedding planner. This is the type of wedding planner that often comes with the highest price tag, but they leave no stone unturned, helping you put together even the minutest detail of your wedding day.
- Wedding locator. This type of wedding planner will help you choose the perfect venue for your wedding. You can think of them as like a real estate agent for wedding venues. They will take the ideas you have, including guest count and seasonal weather, to determine the ideal venue for your big day.
- “Day-of” coordinator. This type of wedding planner is there for you approximately 30 days prior to your wedding date. They will be the person that coordinates the little details of all the big decisions you have made up to this point. Be sure to check with your wedding venue, in many cases, a “day-of” coordinator is offered by the venue.
- Budget. You need to know how much you can spend. Be honest and realistic – this number is very important.
- Head count. You may not know who can come, but you can give an estimate of how many people you hope will be there to celebrate your big day.
- Dates. Tell the wedding planner the day you prefer to get married. Keep in mind this date may change based on availability of venues and other details.
- Vision. If you can, give your wedding planner an idea of what you envision when you picture your wedding day. You may not have all the details put together, but this will help him or her construct a plan to fit your desires and your budget.
- Are you a certified wedding planner? If so, where is your certification from? What is your educational background?
- Is wedding planning your full-time job? If it is part-time, what is your other job?
- Exactly what services do you provide? Are those outlined in your contract?
- How long have you been planning weddings?
- How many clients will you take on at once?
- Tell me about the biggest challenge you ever faced planning a wedding and how you overcame it.
- Are you open to hiring our choice of vendors, or do you only work with specific vendors? If we use your vendors, do you take commission or receive a discount?
- Will you be present at all vendor meetings to discuss details?
- How will you handle “emergencies”? Such as, I spill red wine on my dress or you become ill on the day of my wedding or the caterer quits before the wedding (With this question, you want to determine their ability to think quickly and react in unforeseen situations).
- Do you see any issues with the wedding date we have chosen, such as weather, travel for our guests, or do you foresee any difficulty booking a venue or vendor?
