Destination Weddings Discussions

Advice on trusting an overseas wedding planner?

For those of you that had DWs and used a wedding planner from the county in which you were wed, how were you sure they were legit? I've been emailing with a wedding planner in Italy,  and although I don't don't find any negative reviews online anywhere,  I'm also not finding anything too recent either.  But out of 4 or 5 planners I've contacted over there,  this one has by far been the most responsive any helpful.

Also,  how do you typically pay wedding planners? Do you usually make payments over time as the planning progresses? I would be worried paying it all up front.  Can you tell I have trust issues?  

Re: Advice on trusting an overseas wedding planner?

  • For those of you that had DWs and used a wedding planner from the county in which you were wed, how were you sure they were legit? I've been emailing with a wedding planner in Italy,  and although I don't don't find any negative reviews online anywhere,  I'm also not finding anything too recent either.  But out of 4 or 5 planners I've contacted over there,  this one has by far been the most responsive any helpful.

    Also,  how do you typically pay wedding planners? Do you usually make payments over time as the planning progresses? I would be worried paying it all up front.  Can you tell I have trust issues?  


    Although I haven't had a DW, I do extensive background checks in my line of work. I would encourage you ask for references and actually talk to these people about their experience. Reputable vendors (also goes for planners) should be happy to provide several references. I would be specific about the kind of references you are looking for i.e. references of people that live in your home country and have used the planner like you will intend to use. This way, you will know ahead of time if things are to be expected i.e. preferred e-mail vs. phone calls or didn't always get back to the couple.

    I think that most vendors are paid installments. I would pay no more than 25% initially, another 25% halfway to date and then rest on completion of contract. Consider it like building a house.

  • Have you checked into the legality of getting married in Italy?  It requires a lot of paperwork and time!  Italy is not an easy country for foreigners to get married in.

    http://italy.usembassy.gov/acs/marriage/general-marriage.html

    httpiimgurcomTCCjW0wjpg
  • During my DW, I had a wedding planner. We discussed her fee at the beginning and I paid a deposit, but she didn't get paid until the day of the wedding. I did fly out to meet her about 6 months before the date and to check out the venue. She was in charge of coordinating the venue and additional vendors. She was fantastic. I did as you did and talked to a few other planners and checked reviews online. But, I also asked for two references of recent weddings she had done. Any reputable planner should be able to produce these.
    "There is always some madness in love. But there is also always some reason in madness." -Friedrich Nietzsche, "On Reading and Writing"
  • Our planner was actually the banquet coordinator at the venue, so we weren't too concerned.  We paid all deposits on CC, giving us some insurance in case of non-service.  Final payments were made the day of/day before, or the CC was used as it was on file depending on the final payment (i.e., open bar cost was unknown at the time of event, so it was charged the next day).  

    I would ask for current references as any reputable planner will offer them.  And pay for everything with credit cards so that you have some insurance if they do not render services.  Keep written contracts as well to back you up if needed.  

  • I don't want to contribute to your trust issues...but I'm in the midst of a nightmare with a foreign wedding planner. We got references and talked to couples in similar circumstances but - I guess you can never prepare for everything.

    Luckily we paid 30% in advance and the rest on our wedding day. So if we have to fire her we are only out $300 of her fee. (Now what we are going to do to get our wedding done is another story.)

    I would be very cautious about paying more than 25-30% in advance. I would check references, as other people have advised. And finally, what I wish we had done, make sure there are other wedding planners in the area that you might hire if something goes wrong. We hired one of only a handful of wedding planners in the region and the only one who speaks English.

    Credit cards are helpful if they are commonly accepted in Italy. And going through your venue might also be helpful.  Good luck!
  • edited April 2016
    For those of you that had DWs and used a wedding planner from the county in which you were wed, how were you sure they were legit? I've been emailing with a wedding planner in Italy,  and although I don't don't find any negative reviews online anywhere,  I'm also not finding anything too recent either.  But out of 4 or 5 planners I've contacted over there,  this one has by far been the most responsive any helpful.
    Hi. As a disclaimer I want to say straight out I'm a wedding planner in Italy.

    The problem with Italian vendors (all, not just planners) is that Italy hasn't actually fully moved on to this century yet! There are tons of professionals who exist but are not online at all or have a less than ideal online presence. I'm saying this just because I think it's something us foreigners usually take for granted, being able to check everything online. 

    This brings me to the second issue. Italy is a top DW country and has a huge number of wedding professionals. Reviews are a good way to try to understand who to trust, but from a point of view of a relatively new company I would only say that the lack of reviews can also be explained in some cases. I for example have only recently listed my company on many vendor sites (and still are not on all of them) so have not yet accumulated online reviews, even though I have been in the business for a good while. In my case, I also worked for someone else long before setting up my own business, and of course can't claim the glory for the events organised under someone else's banner.

    Choosing a wedding planner is not easy, but trust me it's not so easy for the planner either. At least us planners who work for ourselves, rather than accepting every client that the boss puts on our desk, prefer to work with people we get along with. I personally like to try to arrange at least a Skype call with my potential clients to get a feeling for who they are, if a meeting in person is not possible. We don't want the planning process to become a painful one for anyone! We want to get to know you so that we can actually understand your vision and make it happen as smoothly as possible. 

    Therefore:
    1) Look for reviews, but remember they are not everything.
    2) Talk to your planner and ask questions, they should be happy to answer!
    3) Good communication counts for a lot! You want someone who responds, especially when you're far away yourself.

    Also,  how do you typically pay wedding planners? Do you usually make payments over time as the planning progresses? I would be worried paying it all up front. 

    I can only speak for my own company in this case. I personally ask a booking fee (non refundable) that blocks the date for that client. I do not book more than one per day, preferably not even more than one per week so I can give my full attention to that wedding on the days before!
    When confirming with vendors, I inform my client of the booking fees for those services, and my clients send me the money which I then use to book the vendors. If the client prefers to pay the vendor booking fees directly that is also a possibility, but international payments can sometimes become a hassle, which is why I often am a middle man on money transfers. Different vendors have different payment policies, so some of them will want the rest of the money for example a week before, others on the day. I discuss these with the clients and we transfer money accordingly. Depending on the planning process (is it 3 or 12 months?) I ask for my fee in instalments and the final fee will be due on the day of the wedding or shortly after.
    I believe most planners work more or less like I've described above.

    Long answer short: I would never ask for a lump sum before hand, because the planning process is not straight forward. You might get new ideas, want to book more or less of something along the way, and all of the decisions affect the costs, naturally.

    Again, these questions are absolutely legitimate, and you should ask your planner right out how they want to work. If they are a reliable service, they shouldn't have any trouble answering!

    Good luck!

  • edited April 2016
    For those of you that had DWs and used a wedding planner from the county in which you were wed, how were you sure they were legit? I've been emailing with a wedding planner in Italy,  and although I don't don't find any negative reviews online anywhere,  I'm also not finding anything too recent either.  But out of 4 or 5 planners I've contacted over there,  this one has by far been the most responsive any helpful.
    Hi. As a disclaimer I want to say straight out I'm a wedding planner in Italy.

    The problem with Italian vendors (all, not just planners) is that Italy hasn't actually fully moved on to this century yet! There are tons of professionals who exist but are not online at all or have a less than ideal online presence. I'm saying this just because I think it's something us foreigners usually take for granted, being able to check everything online. 

    This brings me to the second issue. Italy is a top DW country and has a huge number of wedding professionals. Reviews are a good way to try to understand who to trust, but from a point of view of a relatively new company I would only say that the lack of reviews can also be explained in some cases. I for example have only recently listed my company on many vendor sites (and still are not on all of them) so have not yet accumulated online reviews, even though I have been in the business for a good while. In my case, I also worked for someone else long before setting up my own business, and of course can't claim the glory for the events organised under someone else's banner.

    Choosing a wedding planner is not easy, but trust me it's not so easy for the planner either. At least us planners who work for ourselves, rather than accepting every client that the boss puts on our desk, prefer to work with people we get along with. I personally like to try to arrange at least a Skype call with my potential clients to get a feeling for who they are, if a meeting in person is not possible. We don't want the planning process to become a painful one for anyone! We want to get to know you so that we can actually understand your vision and make it happen as smoothly as possible. 

    Therefore:
    1) Look for reviews, but remember they are not everything.
    2) Talk to your planner and ask questions, they should be happy to answer!
    3) Good communication counts for a lot! You want someone who responds, especially when you're far away yourself.

    Also,  how do you typically pay wedding planners? Do you usually make payments over time as the planning progresses? I would be worried paying it all up front. 
    I can only speak for my own company in this case. I personally ask a booking fee (non refundable) that blocks the date for that client. I do not book more than one per day, preferably not even more than one per week so I can give my full attention to that wedding on the days before!
    When confirming with vendors, I inform my client of the booking fees for those services, and my clients send me the money which I then use to book the vendors. If the client prefers to pay the vendor booking fees directly that is also a possibility, but international payments can sometimes become a hassle, which is why I often am a middle man on money transfers. Different vendors have different payment policies, so some of them will want the rest of the money for example a week before, others on the day. I discuss these with the clients and we transfer money accordingly. Depending on the planning process (is it 3 or 12 months?) I ask for my fee in instalments and the final fee will be due on the day of the wedding or shortly after.
    I believe most planners work more or less like I've described above.

    Long answer short: I would never ask for a lump sum before hand, because the planning process is not straight forward. You might get new ideas, want to book more or less of something along the way, and all of the decisions affect the costs, naturally.

    Again, these questions are absolutely legitimate, and you should ask your planner right out how they want to work. If they are a reliable service, they shouldn't have any trouble answering!

    Good luck!

    (Edited out due to TOS violation). 
    I think you give some really good advice here, but be careful about advertising as a vendor. Vendor posts are against the TOS on the boards. I would edit out your business name so the good advice you give doesn't get deleted. 
  • For those of you that had DWs and used a wedding planner from the county in which you were wed, how were you sure they were legit? I've been emailing with a wedding planner in Italy,  and although I don't don't find any negative reviews online anywhere,  I'm also not finding anything too recent either.  But out of 4 or 5 planners I've contacted over there,  this one has by far been the most responsive any helpful.
    Hi. As a disclaimer I want to say straight out I'm a wedding planner in Italy.

    The problem with Italian vendors (all, not just planners) is that Italy hasn't actually fully moved on to this century yet! There are tons of professionals who exist but are not online at all or have a less than ideal online presence. I'm saying this just because I think it's something us foreigners usually take for granted, being able to check everything online. 

    This brings me to the second issue. Italy is a top DW country and has a huge number of wedding professionals. Reviews are a good way to try to understand who to trust, but from a point of view of a relatively new company I would only say that the lack of reviews can also be explained in some cases. I for example have only recently listed my company on many vendor sites (and still are not on all of them) so have not yet accumulated online reviews, even though I have been in the business for a good while. In my case, I also worked for someone else long before setting up my own business, and of course can't claim the glory for the events organised under someone else's banner.

    Choosing a wedding planner is not easy, but trust me it's not so easy for the planner either. At least us planners who work for ourselves, rather than accepting every client that the boss puts on our desk, prefer to work with people we get along with. I personally like to try to arrange at least a Skype call with my potential clients to get a feeling for who they are, if a meeting in person is not possible. We don't want the planning process to become a painful one for anyone! We want to get to know you so that we can actually understand your vision and make it happen as smoothly as possible. 

    Therefore:
    1) Look for reviews, but remember they are not everything.
    2) Talk to your planner and ask questions, they should be happy to answer!
    3) Good communication counts for a lot! You want someone who responds, especially when you're far away yourself.

    Also,  how do you typically pay wedding planners? Do you usually make payments over time as the planning progresses? I would be worried paying it all up front. 
    I can only speak for my own company in this case. I personally ask a booking fee (non refundable) that blocks the date for that client. I do not book more than one per day, preferably not even more than one per week so I can give my full attention to that wedding on the days before!
    When confirming with vendors, I inform my client of the booking fees for those services, and my clients send me the money which I then use to book the vendors. If the client prefers to pay the vendor booking fees directly that is also a possibility, but international payments can sometimes become a hassle, which is why I often am a middle man on money transfers. Different vendors have different payment policies, so some of them will want the rest of the money for example a week before, others on the day. I discuss these with the clients and we transfer money accordingly. Depending on the planning process (is it 3 or 12 months?) I ask for my fee in instalments and the final fee will be due on the day of the wedding or shortly after.
    I believe most planners work more or less like I've described above.

    Long answer short: I would never ask for a lump sum before hand, because the planning process is not straight forward. You might get new ideas, want to book more or less of something along the way, and all of the decisions affect the costs, naturally.

    Again, these questions are absolutely legitimate, and you should ask your planner right out how they want to work. If they are a reliable service, they shouldn't have any trouble answering!

    Good luck!

    (Edited out due to TOS violation). 
    I think you give some really good advice here, but be careful about advertising as a vendor. Vendor posts are against the TOS on the boards. I would edit out your business name so the good advice you give doesn't get deleted. 
    Charlotte is correct- vendors are not allowed to post on these boards. If there is even a hint of trying to get your business name out there, or an attempt to sell, the post will be deleted and you will be banned. I edited out your name and business name, as the post was mostly advice driven.

     







  • edited April 2016
    I think you give some really good advice here, but be careful about advertising as a vendor. Vendor posts are against the TOS on the boards. I would edit out your business name so the good advice you give doesn't get deleted. 
    Charlotte is correct- vendors are not allowed to post on these boards. If there is even a hint of trying to get your business name out there, or an attempt to sell, the post will be deleted and you will be banned. I edited out your name and business name, as the post was mostly advice driven.
    Apologies, I must have missed that part of the TOS and I really did mean to just give some advice from the perspective of someone who deals with these questions on a regular basis.
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