Last Updated on December 15, 2020
How To Hire A Wedding Planner the Right Way
You’re planning a wedding. You’ve never done it before. You’re on a tight budget. You want to get the best value for your money. What do you do?
My answer. Hire a wedding planner.
Does that make sense?
When you’re trying to cut costs, does hiring someone to do things you could do yourself make sense? The simple answer is yes. Hiring a wedding planner can actually save you more than just time. They can save you some serious money.
For instance, experienced wedding planners know vendors in all price ranges. Their guidance can also help prevent you from making costly mistakes when negotiating a contract.
And those are just a couple of ways they can help you.
Hiring the right way
But before you hire a wedding planner, be sure they are fee-based only. That means they work for an hourly fee, not a percentage of the overall cost.
Fee-based wedding planners never accept commissions or compensation of any kind related to the vendors they recommend. So they have no vested interest in how much you spend or the vendors you choose.
Since fee-based only wedding planners are client-centered, they can advise you about almost any aspect of your wedding, including those you have not considered.
Before you meet with a planner, you will want to prioritize what matters most to you, such as food, music, flowers, photography, and so on.
Then you’ll know which vendors you are willing to spend more on and where you can cut back. That will make your initial meeting more productive.
Don’t feel intimidated
No matter what your budget is, you shouldn’t be intimidated when meeting with a wedding planner.
You don’t have to hire them to do it all for you, just those things you feel less confident doing, or just don’t want to do yourself.
For example, I can certainly do my own taxes, but it saves me time and money having my accountant prepare my tax return.
Not to mention the peace of mind I have that it’s done and filed on time, and they will handle problems if they arise.
But if you still are thinking you don’t need any help and can do it yourself, at the very least I suggest checking out some of the best wedding planning information available today, from the top wedding planners out there.
My favorites among this group of talented planners are Mindy Weiss and Meg Keene.
Both are experienced wedding planners that you can learn a lot from.
With the average cost of a wedding today at $20,000 +, investing a little time learning the ins and outs of planning your wedding, before you start spending your money, is definitely a smart idea.
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