How to Choose the Right Wedding Planner For You - What To Look For and Questions to Ask

Selecting the right wedding planner for you is an important step in the wedding planning process. Your wedding planner becomes an extension of you and your fiancé in preparation and on your wedding day. She/he guides you in how to best utilize your budget, refine your design vision, and execute the many moving parts to create the wedding of your dreams.

We are sharing tips and questions to ask when interviewing a potential wedding planner to ensure you find someone who best fits your needs, budget, and personalities!

Do Your Research

We suggest researching vendors on popular wedding planning directories, such as WeddingWire and The Knot, to find planners which are aesthetically interesting or similar to your style and vision. We suggest viewing companies’ websites to see their experience and read reviews from past clients’ experiences. This gives you a good sense if the planner is trustworthy, professional, and experienced. 

Another great source is asking friends and family to recommend wedding planners they have hired - hearing first hand experience of working with a planner is priceless.

Questions to Ask

When reaching out to a potential wedding planner, we suggest asking the following questions in the introductory email:

• Are they available on your preferred or chosen wedding date?
• What are starting costs for the services they offer (ie. day-of coordination, partial planning, or full planning)?
• Do they offer a complimentary consultation phone or video call prior to booking their services?
• Share a bit about what you are looking for - are you interested in hiring them to design and coordinate or only handle the onsite coordination and execution? Will you personally handle selecting and booking some vendors, or do you prefer to use the planner’s preferred vendor list? Providing as much information as possible helps the planner decide if your wedding is a good fit for their style and capabilities, as well as helping you refine your options.

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Initial Consultation Call

We believe it’s crucial to have a conversation with a potential planner before agreeing to hire their services. It is most ideal to meet in person, but due to COVID-19 and current travel restrictions, video call is a great alternative. Prepare questions to ask your planner such as:

• Where is he/she located? This is especially good to ask if you are planning a destination wedding.
• How many meetings or calls per month will you have during the wedding planning process?
• How big is their team and does he/she typically work solo or have an assistant(s) on wedding day?
• What is he/she’s travel fee (if you are having a destination wedding)?

Good Personality Match

Almost  as important as finding a planner with experience and professionalism is choosing someone who is a good personality match for you and your fiancé. We truly believe the wedding planning process is a collaboration, bouncing ideas back and forth, to create an event which reflects you! He/she acts as your hands and feet to create your special day. Not to mention, you may be collaborating with this person for nine months to a year, so we hope you like them beyond just business! Make sure to ask questions about their interests, design style/inspirations, and past experience to hopefully discover commonalities.

The Contract

If you are ready to move forward with hiring a planner, make sure you review their contract and company policies carefully before signing. Especially during COVID-19, ask his/her COVID-19 postponement or cancellation policy. Contracts might also include a payment plan- make sure the payment plan is reasonable and doable as you budget finances for wedding planning season and early married life plans.

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We hope you found these tips helpful. If you have any additional questions, feel free to reach us at ellamaeproductions@gmail.com!

Xo,

Michelle Ellamae