Regardless of when in your wedding planning you are, hiring a wedding planner can simply be one of the best investments made in your budget. Even if you want to plan your big wedding singlehandedly, please do entertain the idea of hiring a Day Of Coordinator, merely so you can actually be a bride on your wedding day (and your mother can actually be a mother on the wedding day etc). On one of the most incredible days of your entire life, I doubt you want to be getting phone calls while you are trying to get ready from the officiant saying "I am stuck in traffic, I am not sure when I will be there" ... why add to your stress when you don't have to.
Take your time when looking for a wedding planner/coordinator. Read wedding blogs, check out wedding directories, get friend referrals, read wedding magazines ~ wedding planners are listed everywhere. Check out their websites, read their blogs, follow them on Twitter. By doing so, you'll get a very good sense of who they are and whether or not they are someone you'd like to work with. Arrange consultations with a select few and bring as much information to the meeting regarding the wedding as possible. Be open to what the planner has to say and keep in mind (this applies to all vendors) that the wedding planner is interviewing you just as much as you are interviewing them. Your relationship with your wedding planner should be a positive experience ~ you want to mesh well with them and look forward to communicating with them. You want a planner that will listen and understand your every desire and then find a way to make it happen.
Most planners are willing to negotiate (within reason) on pricing/services. The number one thing I hear all the time is that services are too pricey and clients can't understand why a wedding planner is so expensive. Trust me, regardless of what your planner charges you, the value of your planner is basically priceless. They are your insurance policy that your wedding will be the best that it can be.
{me in action on a wedding day, shot by Sarah DiCicco}
This post was originally published on June 11th, 2009
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