Image Via Marta Ilardo Photos
Gone are the days when people used to think wedding planners are only for the rich and famous.
Whatever your budget is, planning a wedding is complicated and time-consuming. You will get frustrated and often feel overwhelmed and stressed. Even the super organised amongst you will experience levels of stress never felt before.
It takes months to organise a wedding. You will spend hours researching, contacting suppliers,and comparing costs. Often, couples don't know where to look for their dream suppliers and settle for the ones offered by their venue (sometimes falling into the small print trap where they have to use the venue's recommended suppliers that cost more than they originally budgeted for!).
But do we need a wedding planner?
Not everyone does, no. If you dedicate the time to do the legwork/do your research and are hot with logistics, don't mind decorating the venue yourself on the morning of, don't mind coordinating suppliers, and do the takedown at the end of the night, then you don't need one. If this is the case, allow enough prep time for yourself. This will be impossible if you have a morning or midday ceremony for example. Setting up a venue takes around 6 hours.
The reasons why people hire a wedding planner/stylist:
Time (or lack of)
Planning knowledge & Logistics
Design & Styling
Setup & Takedown
Finding the right suppliers
Coordination (running of the day, so you are left to enjoy yourself)
Location
A pro in your corner who has your back (budget control, negotiations, advice, support, experience)
How can having a wedding planner save you money?
Juggling a personal and professional life is tough enough. Add the seriously time-consuming wedding planning on top and pretty soon your cup will overflow.
With most couples financing their wedding these days, not going over the budget will seem impossible. Especially if you don't have experience with wedding planning.
Let's say on average, and after hours and hours of research, most couples contact around 5 suppliers in each category, gathering quotes, and negotiating, before deciding on the right one for them.
One of the best and smartest moves at the start of your wedding planning will be to hire a wedding planner/stylist. With a pro on board, you will be saving money from the go.
They will help you break down your budget into categories: absolute must-haves and nice-to-haves, so it's all pretty clear how much money has to be allocated where.
They have connections within the industry and will know where to find the best-suited suppliers for you, know how much each supplier charges, and what niche they specialise in. (not all florists can do the same type of floristry!)
They will be able to get you discounts on some things/negotiate on the price, get you extras, and advise you on where you shouldn't be spending your hard-earned cash.
And most importantly, they will get the venue ready for you, run the day, and do the clear-up / takedown.
How much will a wedding planner cost?
It depends on what service you are after and where your wedding is. Most split their services into three or four categories:
Wedding Coordination (only)
Design & Styling (only)
Partial Wedding Planning
Full Wedding Planning
All of the above will have a starting price point which will increase according to the size and complexity of your wedding. Larger or more complicated the wedding, the higher the planning cost.
Most planners will charge around 10-15% of your overall budget, with a minimum starting fee. Some will charge you a fixed fee at the start of your booking with them.
For Full Wedding Planning, expect to pay anything from 3K to 7K if your budget is under 50K, for example.
Wedding Coordination prices vary from £500 to 2K depending on the planner. But do consider why some charge so little before making a decision! Coordinating a wedding is no mean feat. You need to have someone capable on-site to execute things right.
Partial Planning is sometimes offered on a bespoke proposal basis, i.e. you only need help with certain things. Then you might get a planner to give you a proposal in line with your needs and their time.
Is hiring a wedding planner worth it?
I've been told over and over again that hiring a wedding planner was the best decision and money spent on the wedding.
A good planner will be able to save you around 10-20% of your overall wedding cost, easily covering their fee in the process.
So, if you ask me (and most of the married couples), it is absolutely 100% WORTH hiring a wedding planner/stylist.
Clever wedding planning tools
Here at WLLW, we work smart by offering not only incredible design and styling but providing our couples with a revolutionary planning tool designed around their needs, making the logistics a doddle.
With this clever planning tool, our couples have everything in one place - like the guest list, RSVPs, e-invites, seating plans, dietary and accessibility requirements, accommodation info and booking, wedding venue directions, and more. And our super graphic/stationery designer, Carly, will make it super cool and pretty for you.
This tool can be used instead of a wedding website you might consider having (one less thing to cross off your budget!), as you can share all the important information this way. Genius!
To find out what packages we offer and what you get with each one, please take a look here.
Happy planning, lovers!
Zuza xx