The decision to hire a wedding planner is a very personal one! At Longmeadow Event Center, we have had the opportunity to work with a great many wedding planners, and we have had great experiences working with them.

Here are our 5 considerations to help you decide if a wedding planner is right for you:

1. Time – This is the big one. A wedding planner can reduce stress and save you lots of time. Ask yourself this, “Do I want to get into the nitty gritty details of everything?” If you are a detail oriented person, that’s great. But if you want to make the big decisions and leave the legwork to someone else, a wedding planner may be right for you.
2. Fun – Some parts of planning a wedding is great fun. Tasting cake comes to mind, but do you really want to be the one arranging transportation to and from the church and/or reception hall. With a wedding planner you can take on the tasks you will enjoy and leave the scut work to the wedding planner.
3. Shopping for Vendors – Who will do the flowers, catering, photography, etc? Professional wedding planners cultivate relationships with vendors and they typically know the good from the bad. They sometimes have pre-negotiated rates that can save you some money, but don’t expect the savings to cover the full cost of the planner. Be careful here, some wedding planners get paid a kickback from certain vendors for steering couples their way. Be sure to read the planner’s contract and ask about these fees.
4. Things Go Wrong – This may be the best reason to hire a wedding planner. Inevitably something (or things) will go wrong. If these problems occur before the wedding, you have time to fix it, but if the happen during the wedding (and they will) you can be distracted from your special day.
5. Cost – Different levels of service are available, from day of coordination only to full blown wedding coordination. As a general rule, expect your wedding planner to cost about 10% of the total cost of the wedding. If this is something you can afford, that’s great! But if you would rather put the money toward a really great honeymoon, or the down payment on your new home you may want to skip the planner and do the job yourself.

Our best advise is to sit down as a couple and discuss the following things:

• Overall budget – Is a wedding planner even a possibility?
• Helpers – Is the bride’s sister, dying to organize the wedding?
• Who’s out there – Research local wedding planners and get a feel for their services and costs.

It’s your wedding and on your special day, be sure to make a decision that’s best for you!