Texas-Houston

Wedding planner and budget advice needed

Hello everyone, my name is Mike and I just recently became engaged to the most wonderful woman I have ever met, Shannon.  We are just now starting the planning for our November 2011 wedding and could use a little advice.

Since neither of us know anyone that has planned a wedding in the Houston area we are considering hiring a wedding planner.  However, we are not sure if this is feasible on our budget so we have a few questions.

1) Is ther a general rule/guideline on wedding planner costs as a % of your overall wedding budget?  If it ihelps we are budgeting 20K for the wedding (excluding dress, honeymoon, planner fees; those items have been budgeted separately as estimations at this point). 

2) With our relatively limited budget are we crazy thinking that we can/should hire a profesional planner?

3) Are there any wedding planners that you would recommend?  We have already contacted Jennifer Wood (waiting to hear back) and Sourieebliss (just heard back, but a little concered she is out of our budget range).

4) Should we just move forward with finding a venue and then utilizing their own in-house wedding planner?

Thanks everyone for any and all information you can provide.

MikeB.

Re: Wedding planner and budget advice needed

  • loop0406loop0406 member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    I would recommend finding a venue you're interested in 1st. Sometimes they have all-inclusive packages. You can choose from their linens, centerpieces, etc. After the wedding, since you didn't pay for the items, you don't have to stress on selling the linens, centerpieces, chair sashes, etc since they're not technically yours to keep. Some venues will even decorate the ceremony for you.

    Once you locate a venue, if they don't have a wedding planner to assist you, look thru the vendor reviews at projectwedding.com and weddingbee.com for recommendations. You can also find wedding planners listed on craigslist.org with their websites listed.

    We had considered a wedding planner at 1st but after going to Barnes & Nobel and getting some books for ideas, we have planned ourselves, it hasn't been that stressful actually. There are tons of DIY ideas on the DIY board.

    Good luck !
  • debralphdebralph member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    My friend and I are both getting married within the next year and a half and she had a free consult with Hand In Hand Weddings & Events and really liked her and she said her prices were affordable. Hope this helps
  • Karamel_bpKaramel_bp member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011

    My wedding planner is LaTory Jacobs, she is excellent and very affordable. Her contact information is lyjacobs@yahoo.com  832-364-7921

    Anniversary
  • edited December 2011
    Thanks for all the feedback everyone.  I am happy to report that we met with Jennifer Wood this afternoon and have decided to utilize her services.

    Now the search is on for a venue.  We are hoping to find something that is beautiful and will lend itself to an Italian themed wedding.
  • edited December 2011
    good luck :) 
    image
  • edited December 2011
    We found our venue first before booking a planner. Some planners charge more if the couple does not have a venue yet. We went with http://eventsbyaudrey.com/ because our friends used her and highly recommended her. We looked at other planners too before making the decision, though. So far she has been great. We are 8 months out and have everything just about done. We met with some vendors and they all love her and had nothing to say but the nicest and sweetest things about her.
    ~~~grammatically incorrect~~~
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