Questions To Ask Your Wedding Planner Before Hiring Them

by Palomi Dey Sarkar · June 28, 2018

The best moment of your life is when your long-time partner with whom you are madly in love, proposes to you. No words can describe that feeling. The days that follow are the most merry and joyful. Once the proposal is over, the excitement of a wedding barges in. The enthusiasm that comes with it is so vehemently passionate that we often forget our night’s sleep in the excitement of it. But one can never undo the fact that planning a wedding is one of the most daunting tasks. Of course every woman desires this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be as gala and grand as possible. But its deliverance is a challenging endeavor.

Today, with the busy schedule of work hours, couples cannot contribute any extra time for carrying out all preparations themselves. Hence the stress of planning a wedding feels like a nightmare. Besides planning for one cost almost a fortune. This is when a Wedding Planner comes to your rescue. Yes, wedding planners have been known to save all harried brides-to-be and their supportive grooms from their primary and major concern of worry- the wedding. Also this is the time when a bride realizes that their husband-to-be isn’t the correct person to rely on for planning their marriage.

Suggested read: Let’s Make Outdoor Weddings Great Again

Wedding planners are a blessing in flesh and bone. They can snag you the best discounts in town that you would otherwise not get, grab you the best deals, take you to the best vendors and caterers and even save you some money while breathing life into your wedding vision. However the most important thing about them is that they give you much needed relief from the pressure of arranging it all by yourself and making it special, because oh my god, the task is huge and most difficult to deal with. Wedding Planners step in like miraculous rescuers, doing most of the legwork for you, checking out potential venues and wedding service providers, all by synchronizing your budget, expectations and ideas. They present to you all the facts so that you can take a thoughtful and informed decision about your D-day, thus making it memorable. So here’s why a wedding planner is a worthwhile investment for bride/grooms who do not know where to start.

They take care of your budgetary constraints and legal contracts

Every small discussion adds up to big savings when you have a planner who knows what responsibility they have. Planning a wedding isn’t always a fun task apart from the aahhs and the oohhs over the beautiful wedding cake designs. There is nothing enjoyable about researching travel services, accommodation and food catering. Wedding planners come with packages and you choose it according to your convenience.

They take all effort to keep your wedding vision on track

Wedding planners try to understand and deliver your dream wedding from start to finish. They take all efforts and push all boundaries to make the day unique in your own special way with utter dedication.

They make sure to keep all the stress at bay

No, there is nothing romantic about planning a wedding. The hassles are endless. There are so many details, big and small, to take care like meddling your family and friends, finding cost effective options which can drive you crazy. Streamlining things, taking the workload off your hands and making the environment stress free is what planners are best at.

They win your heart by striking the best deals for you

If you think researching vendors yourself will ensure the best supplier decision, you can be wrong. Professionals work in a methodical way, by bringing the vendors more business since they aim to inspire them. Hence it is easier for them to strike negotiations. Apart from Googling stuff, you may not even know how to approach them. So before you are disappointed by your own choices, leave the matter to expert hands.

They are time saving and conservative with resources

It’s almost impossible to fathom how much work, time is involved and how many details need to be taken care of. The task is colossal, so rather than drowning yourself in the to-do list, allowing a wedding planner to handle some of these tasks is a lifesaver.

They can save you from last moment troubles

Wedding planners have every alternative at their hands. What if, just the day before your wedding, the baker denies having ever received your order or your flower manager phones you halfway during your bridal lunch party that payments have not been cleared. A wedding planner can effortlessly save you from the crisis because they are well aware of the troubles that can pop up at the final moment.

Of course, if you want to pull your purse strings tighter and cut out all costs of hiring a wedding planner because you think it’s better to spend millions on your honeymoon or adding to your marriage emergency fund, you are all welcome to put your hard earned money to the use you consider the best. But let me warn you, if you aren’t adept at handling the nitty-gritty of wedding planning all by yourself, for every family who had to marry their sons and daughters in this world can vouch, the planning is A LOT. So better bring out your cellphone, type some numbers and begin your search for the best wedding planners in town.

But picking a wedding planner isn’t easy. Besides the basic vetting, you have to scour through their websites, portfolios, testimonies, reviews, call references and also asses their personalities. For here is the person who will work intimately with you to successfully set up this most special day of your life.

So here’s an NLT compiled list of the important questions to ask your wedding planner before handing them the duty to organize your wedding.

13 Important Questions To Ask Your Wedding Planner Before Hiring Them

Are you available on this particular day? What is your idea of planning?

Your first question to your prospective wedding planner is about their availability. If they are unavailable on your wedding dates, you do not waste anymore time and search for other planners. You should also ask them about their planning schedule like how many weddings are they organizing on that particular month or week and how much time can they give to your wedding. This will give you a fair idea of their schedule and engagements and whether it will do justice to your wedding before you are ready to take forward your decisions. Researching other valuable insights about the quality of work delivered by them will give you a head start on whether to open windows for negotiation and business.

What are the different services that you offer?

The prime step towards deciding on your wedding planner is to ask about the different wedding packages they offer. Depending on the amount of task you hand over to your planners, the information about their services delivered comes in handy, letting you take an informed decision. Whether you want them to render help in everyday coordination of events, full service planning or a la carte planning, whether you want them to take care of just the decorations or assist you in all step-by-step processes, a full service package will be conveyed to your usefulness and advantage.

What are the services included in the packages?

Once you have made up your mind on which service pack to avail, it will be clever for you to ask your wedding planner to clarify all the details of services included in the said package. There shouldn’t be any gap or negligence in the assessment of what the package entails and what is going to be delivered. All work should be smooth sailing and without any loopholes. All discussions should be completed well in time regarding invitations, wording and ordering to address and accommodation, mailing and guest list coordination, handling rentals, systematic coordination of delivery and set up, finalizing a photographer, florist, musician and caterer as a part of package before things go berserk at the last stage.

What is the estimate cost involved in this process?

You would never want to spend more than your limit while trying to arrange for all the grandeur. So ask your planner about their monetary expectation, how much they charge per service and what are their minimum discount offers. Surveys say that wedding planning is usually 15% of the entire wedding expense, so if you find their work impressive but are unable to afford it for the cost restrictions, you can always ask if they’re willing to deliver a part-time blueprint planning or tailored service package for a lower fee.

What are the medium of payment and their area of expertise?

You should always inquire if they accept a flat fee, a certain percentage or whether they charge additional expenses over the basic planning cost. You must also ask in detail about the break-up of their quoted fee, their calculation method and how much commission do they pay to the vendors. Negotiation of fees to avoid being charged double is highly necessary. Do your part of research on their arenas of specialty, like if they specialize in venue designing or event styling more than food organisation because a thorough knowledge regarding the skills they’ll put to use is essential to bring about balance in planning and implementation.

Can you give us a basic idea of your selection, hiring and service rendering processes?

If you have decided to let a whole group of wedding planners unburden your mammoth worries rather than hiring pros yourself, you need to ensure that they are delivering the best of the best services they have. You can ask them to give you a little detail of their work procedure, their planning, how they are going to execute it and from when etc. Your duty is to make certain that everyone is going according to your dream vision.

Are you familiar with our chosen wedding venue?

It’s an added bonus that your wedding planner is familiar with your chosen venue. This makes things and arrangements easier for them. Having organised a wedding, once in that same place before, they become familiar with the venue staff, layout and logistics of the area to let things go smoothly. You can also take inspiration from the previous wedding and incorporate or mix-match ideas while envisioning your own wedding there.

Can I share my own ideas about my dream wedding with you?

This topic should strike an interesting conversation. A faintly chalked idea of a wedding if shared with your planner can contribute to a free-flow of ideas. If your idea of a low-key wedding is constantly overridden by a ballroom style event or a loud, boisterous occasion, you should immediately wave the red flag. If difference of opinion is allowed to persist, it can precipitate issues and lead to a greater disaster later on.

How should I communicate with you and how many meetings should we arrange?

Proper communication, whether it is through email or over phone gives you an opportunity to gauge their work closely. Some planners prefer sharing demos of their work process by sending you a restrictive number of emails. Others may follow you up on the phone. There are some planners who let you walk through their swatches and samples individually, some let all the information trickle down to you slowly while others clarify all your queries immediately. Getting a clear idea of their planning on the very outset allows you to measure their strategy according to your compatibility. A required number of meetings should also be scheduled to display, coordinate and execute all the plans effectively and decide upon any changes immediately.

What is your backup plan if an unforeseen disaster occurs?

The first and foremost concern is what happens if your wedding planner falls sick on your wedding day. Is there an assistant of hers who can take over all the duties? Will it turn to an all-panic situation if any trouble pops up or a grueling circumstance hits the boat? Ensuring that the backup plans are present and used at the correct time is a wise decision. You can also ask them how they had handled emergencies previously so that you are well-assured of their problem solving abilities.

Do you carry personal liability and professional indemnity insurance?

You need to know if they are willing to save you if any mishap occurs. Do they have insurance to give protection from accidents and which aspects do they cover? Suppose the pillar-set-up for decoration damages the venue, their insurance should cover all such costs. Almost all professional wedding planners have an option of liability insurance that comes with that package itself.

How many staff from your planning group will attend the wedding?

This depends on your number of invitations. If the logistics of your wedding guest list exceeds your estimated number, the wedding planner should cut down on her/his team members and manage all work among the required number of fellow workers only. Considering the assistants, coordinators, event stylists and makeup artist, the number shouldn’t be huge. The main goal should be to let the couple relax and enjoy their day.

Can you assure me that the day will be one of the most memorable occasions of my life?

This dream-come-true wedding should be executed in the most extraordinary way possible. And your wedding planner can give you the most assurance regarding this. Once you establish a basic level of trust and understanding with your planner, the accomplishment of the task becomes easier and plain sailing. Because, even they know how failing to stand up to their client’s expectations can be the beginning of their journey downhill.

That is all we have on today’s post on the questions to ask your wedding planner before hiring them. We hope you enjoyed what you just read. Let us know if you found the article informative. We love your comments.

Featured image source: Pixabay under Creative Commons License

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