Wedding planner, worth the cost?

jessiemarie514 · October 2014

To be honest, I have no idea how much a wedding planner costs (or how their fees are usually structured). We're planning a very small wedding--likely 30 or fewer people. We live in Texas, but will be getting married in California, near my parents so that makes it a little more difficult, but I would trust my parents opinion on anything that would need to be done in person.

Thoughts?

slothiegal · October 2014

For us, it was worth it. I'm incredibly disorganized/unfocused and I was brand new to the area when we started planning. Plus, H was putting in a super long hours at work at the time...it just made sense for us. We had to cut one or two other things we wanted (i.e. a photo booth) in order to afford it, but again...for us, it was the best choice.

But there are TONS of ladies here who have planned simply AMAZING weddings without a planner (and I'm in awe of them!). It's definitely, definitely doable. I think it's a really "know thyself" sort of thing.

southernbelle0915 · October 2014

It depends on how complicated your wedding is going to be, but for the typical wedding for only 30 people, I would say no you don't need one. Something that would probably make things very easy and cost effective for you would be to rent out a private room at a restaurant and have your reception there. With only 30 people, it's totally doable and you don't have to worry about linens, centerpieces, plates, chargers, etc. that can make things complicated.

Almie425 · October 2014

I used one and it was absolutely worth it. But, I also had more than 30 guests and I work two jobs!

misskinababy · October 2014

I'm a type-A personality and I'm a control freak, so I didn't think I would need a wedding planner....and I was right. I'm planning the whole thing myself and my guest list is 170+. I've already got most of my vendors and I'm getting married in June. Since you're only having 30 guests, I don't think a wedding planner is worth it. But I would look into a day of coordinator.

esstee33 · October 2014

I planned my entire first wedding myself and DIY'd almost everything. The only thing I'd do differently if I were to have the big, traditional wedding again is to hire a day-of coordinator. When you're the bride, it's pretty hard to make sure things are happening when they're supposed to.

Thankfully, BF and I are on the same page with not having a big, traditional wedding. We each did it once and that was quite enough.

[Deleted User] · October 2014

I agree that with 30 people you are probably better finding a nice resturant that has a private room you can use to have your reception there instead of a traditional big hall venue. If you are a pretty organized person and your parents are willing to help you, you can probably get away without having one. If you're parents are willing to give help get names of florist & a baker & dj if you want one that they have heard are good, that would be a big help. Then if you can arrange to fly home for a long weekend to meet with all the different vendors, then you finalize details and have everything set.

tammym1001 · October 2014

I planned my wedding on my own because I wanted it to be exactly what I wanted. We only had 35 guests, but I did end up hiring a DOC. It was the best money I spent. I didn't have to worry about anything on my wedding day and it worked out wonderfully. About 3 hours before the wedding was supposed to start my cake toppled over. If I would have had to deal with that while trying to get ready I don't know how I would have managed. With a DOC I didn't even hear about it until after it was already fixed.

twojunebrides · October 2014

tammym1001 said:

I planned my wedding on my own because I wanted it to be exactly what I wanted. We only had 35 guests, but I did end up hiring a DOC. It was the best money I spent. I didn't have to worry about anything on my wedding day and it worked out wonderfully. About 3 hours before the wedding was supposed to start my cake toppled over. If I would have had to deal with that while trying to get ready I don't know how I would have managed. With a DOC I didn't even hear about it until after it was already fixed.

the cake in the pic on your signature?!?! holy cow! That's one heck of a DOC!

atlastmrsg · October 2014

I didn't need a planner--my wedding was only 120 miles from home, so I handled the details myself. But DOC for sure. I was doing photos when earliest guests (old people) arrived about 45 minutes early. DOC started getting them where they needed to go since my valet parking service was just finishing setting up. She also did little things like bring the guest book from entrance to ceremony to a high-boy table in cocktail hour so anyone could write a note during drinks if they didn't when they arrived, greeted the band when it arrived, had envelopes for vendors who wanted on-site payment, etc. No way I could've done all that.

tammym1001 · October 2014

twojunebrides said:

tammym1001 said:

I planned my wedding on my own because I wanted it to be exactly what I wanted. We only had 35 guests, but I did end up hiring a DOC. It was the best money I spent. I didn't have to worry about anything on my wedding day and it worked out wonderfully. About 3 hours before the wedding was supposed to start my cake toppled over. If I would have had to deal with that while trying to get ready I don't know how I would have managed. With a DOC I didn't even hear about it until after it was already fixed.

the cake in the pic on your signature?!?! holy cow! That's one heck of a DOC!

Yes the picture in my sig is after the cake was fixed. She didn't actually fix it herself, but she got the bakers back to the venue with new cake and everything they needed to fix it before the wedding started. Our ceremony and reception were in the same room so it had to be done and cleaned up before everything started. Here's a pic of it fallen over:

cambryn · October 2014

I think it depends a lot on your personality, knowledge of how to organize an event, and friends and family. It also depends on your wedding expectations.

Considering that this will be an out of town wedding, and you do not trust your parents- it sounds like you may need some feet on the ground over there.

If you can trust your parents to send good pictures and such- then it sounds like a party of 30 would be pretty easy (in the scheme of things) to arrange, even from a distance. Day of coordinator so you don't have to deal with all the little annoyances and details of a venue would be nice.

If you have a lot of trouble organizing and making executive decisions, a wedding planner would be a good thing to have, I would think.

I personally don't have one- but I'm hyper-organized, have helped plan and cater other people's weddings, and have a crew of people I trust to do things when I'm not around.

Esther Morales · October 2014

Do the most that you can and then you can hire a designer to decorate your table tops (so you don't have to do that on your wedding day) and they can double as your day coordinator. They can DIY your flowers, do your cake and sweetheart table, place a nice entrance/welcome table and gift table for you and add candlelight and other touches. I hired one for my sister here in NYC and it cost me $1000 - including everything for 50 people.

bphi163 · October 2014

Wow! I agree with twojunebrides.. you had one heck of a DOC!

eshaney · October 2014

Even if I was getting married with only parents and siblings present, I would do as much as I could beforehand and definitely have a DOC. I don't want to worry about one single thing starting the Wednesday before my wedding so my coordinator is more involved than day-of... but knowing that I can just turn off the planning because at that point there isn't much else I can do and just be a happy girl enjoying her guests and having a good time is literally priceless to me (and my budget doesn't really allow for anything "priceless" so that should tell you something).

Wedding planner, worth the cost?

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