Wedding Planners

AmJam04

So I've decided that for my wedding, I would love to have a "full service" wedding planner. I've tried looking for more specific information and all I've ever been able to find has been info on whether or not I should have one. Ok, well, I've decided I should have one. Now what? haha.
Now I'm wondering about the details: When the heck do I hire him/her?

Do I look for a wedding planner before I select my venue?
How early should I look for a planner? I'm not ready to start seriously planning anything for a few more weeks, so do I hire him/her NOW and just bounce ideas around for awhile or do I hire him/her when I'm ready to get serious?

Do any of you have experience with wedding planners? Any little details I should know?

Thanks!

ootmother2

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Good luck!

LeiselEB

We hired our planner after selecting the ceremony and reception venues, and after having booked our photographer. I knew that she had worked with all of these places before, so it wasn't an issue, but it will definitely help to work with someone who is familiar with your venue.

Our engagement will end up being about 18 months, and we hired our planner maybe 4 months into the engagement. 

I think you'd be better off booking someone now - the earlier the better. My planner is really the best in my area, so I wanted to make sure I got her for our date. I came to her with a lot of my own ideas, and she definitely understood the look I was going for and will be able to carry it out, but she also came up with some things I hadn't thought of, and was a great resource for florist and DJ recommendations. Wedding planners have worked with a ton of people, they'll know who is the best. It's not like you can't change your mind about things or come up with new ideas down the road after booking them. They'll work with you along the way - I've had three meetings so far with my planner, and we've changed the linens every single time. She's super understanding of changing tastes, and I imagine most planners get that brides don't stick with the same plan from the get go.

I'd just be very upfront with your budget, but also know that wedding planners make their living off of weddings. Be clear from the get go about what you want to spend. Pricing is different for everyone, I'm sure, but ours was an upfront fee of a few thousand dollars, and then we'd pay the cost for the custom linens we use, and for any rentals from her. Renting from the planner ended up being a lot cheaper than from  rental company, so the fee basically covered itself already, we've found.

Hope that helps, I'm sure other brides will have more advice/comments. Good luck!

TiffannieF

I would hire the planner asap.  When you have a consultation (first visit to get basic information from him/her and prices) that's when you would let them know that you are in the beginning process of wedding planning.  This might work out better because they will know way more venues and pricing than you will so they may be able to help narrow down your time.

With anything WR I always recommend getting your date reserved ASAP.

[Deleted User]

I vote for saving your money & not hiring a planner. I contemplated it & decided against it. In my opinion, there's really nothing the planner can do that I can't do myself.