How much does a wedding planner cost?

It's interesting:
"Sorry if the speeches drag on. Wedding receptions can be a bit like an X Factor results show. You just want to skip through the talky bits to find out ..."

When couples plan their weddings, life can get hectic. As a result, many couples often call upon wedding planners for help. Wedding planners help couples stay on track of their expenses, secure wedding locations and even take the majority of the execution of the wedding's design under their wing. They are organizational gurus, and depending on how many services they render as well as their popularity, they can cost a few hundred dollars or several thousand.

1. Planning a Wedding

   • Depending on how much a couple uses a wedding planner during the wedding-planning stages, the cost can increase. When you're considering using a wedding planner, think about what you need help with and what you need to make your wedding planning stages more organized. This is critical when deciding how much of your wedding budget to allocate to a wedding planner.

   Duties of a Wedding Coordinator

   • A professional wedding planner's job is to serve as a researcher, coordinator, financial planner, supervisor and more for a wedding. Since wedding coordinators tend to offer so much insight to a couple when planning their wedding, they generally charge about 10 to 15 percent of a wedding budget.

   How Much is a Wedding Coordinator?

   • While finding the perfect wedding planner to suit a couple's taste is key, it is also important to choose one that fits within their budgets. Many wedding planners offer fee structures that can help a couple better manage the costs of using a wedding planner. Wedding planners offer hourly rates, flat fees, charge a percentage of a wedding's budget or charge for each service they execute. For example, wedding planners may charge a rate of $50 an hour if they are only working with a couple at certain stages of the wedding-planning process. Or, they may charge a flat fee of $2,000 if they are working with a couple throughout the entire wedding-planning process. Wedding planners may also charge certain flat rates if they are only helping a couple execute certain aspects of their wedding, such as securing and managing details regarding the venue or wedding reception. For example, a flat rate of $500 may be charged to manage and secure the wedding venue.

     When a couple is meeting with a wedding planner, they should get an estimate of the amount the wedding planner will charge as well as a hard copy of the wedding planner's contract. The wedding planner should let couples know ahead of time how much her rates are and what type of fee schedule she uses. Often couples will pay a wedding planner half of her rate up front and half at the conclusion of the wedding.

   Types of Wedding Coordinators

   • For couples on a tight budget, a "day-of-wedding" planner can be of great help. While the day-of-wedding planner doesn't help with the planning of the wedding before the big day, he confirms vendors, makes sure that everything is up to par with the location and handles and executes all details of the wedding day on that day. These types of wedding planners cost significantly less than wedding planners who work with couples throughout the entire planning process. In general, day-of-wedding planners charge a flat fee, hourly fee or small percentage rate, about 5 percent of the wedding budget.

   Misconceptions

   • Finding a wedding planner that suits a couple's tastes and budget is not as easy as flipping through a phone book. Planning a wedding is personal and requires a coordinator that you like, feel comfortable with and understands your vision.

     Couples should ask friends and family for wedding-planner recommendations or use a reputable site like the Association of Bridal Consultants for well-known wedding planners. Even then, couples should ask wedding planners for recommendations and meet with them a couple of times before they make a decision to let them plan their wedding.

Source: www.ehow.com

Tags: wedding planner, wedding planners, wedding budget, their wedding, Wedding planners, about percent, about percent wedding