If you want even the tiniest little detail to be taken care of at your wedding, it would be recommended that you hire a wedding planner. He or she can save you a lot of time and money. The wedding planner will help you coordinate your wedding and the most important of all they will save you from frustration.

So, what is a wedding planner anyway, and what do they do?

A wedding planner (sometimes called a wedding consultant, wedding coordinator or a wedding producer) is hired to help the bride and groom coordinate a wide variety of tasks associated with their wedding. Planning your wedding can get vary frustrating at times that will make you forget about the fun that you need to have. So, it is a good idea to spend a little bit more on a wedding planner to make sure your wedding day goes smooth.

A wedding planner can help plan many aspects of your wedding, including DJs, floral arrangements, cake, seating arrangements, invitations, photography, and so on. In some cases, they might also be able to use their industry connections with vendors to get you a good deal on many things.

The wedding planner will conduct an interview with the bride-to-be and the groom, and then coordinate the details of the wedding that have been agreed upon. A good wedding planner should be able to assist in organizing, budgeting, purchasing services for your wedding, and after the interview he or she will put a contract together that you and him or her need to sign. Without a contract there’s a lot of room for misunderstanding and confusion of what was agreed upon.

In the contract, or often referred to as a letter of agreement, the wedding planner will include his or her services, the cost of these services and payment terms.

When you receive the contract, if there’s anything you do not agree with or anything not to your desire, discuss it before signing. When you sign the contract, you and your soon to-be wedding planner have to agree on all of the items listed to avoid any possible misunderstanding. But remember: even though you have been through the interview process, you are not obligated to continue with his or her service until you sign the contract.

So, how can you find a good wedding planner?

Nowadays, it’s probably the easiest to find them on the Internet. But, it’s best if you know anyone who had had them for their wedding. Referrals are always the best.

Even if you have to seek help from the Internet or yellow pages, be sure to ask for his or her credentials. Ask for references from each of your potential planners and research their past work. Also, ask to see a few other weddings your potential planner has prepared. This will help you make a decision very easily of whether you like their style or you need to seek another one.

Some of the advantages of hiring a wedding planner are: saving you from frustration; money savings, since most have connections in the industry; low stress, and so on.

However, there could also be some disadvantages, such as: overconfident (ego) planner may try to convince you into having a wedding of his or her dreams and not of your dreams. If you’re a person who likes to be known or to show off, hiring a planner may not be a good idea as they will be in charge of your wedding. Another disadvantage would be that you may hire a scam artist who may not have done any weddings while broadcasting his or her enormous experience. That’s why it is vital to do a thorough research on the planners of your interest.

So, how much does a wedding planner cost?

Expect their fee to be anywhere between 5% and up to 20% of your total wedding budget.

Some important points:

• Be sure your wedding planner is a member of the Association of Bridal Consultants.
• Contact your wedding planner’s references. Contact at least three brides and be sure that the wedding planner performed well.
• Be sure the wedding planner is dressed to match on your wedding day.

Photo credit: www.sweetchicevents.com