How to Hire a Wedding Planner

Choosing your wedding planner is one of the more personal and important decisions in your wedding planning process. This is a person you are going to be working alongside for months and looking to for advice in the planning, budgeting, and execution of your wedding day.

wedding planners are your cheerleaders, project managers, and are here to support your wedding dreams.

When researching wedding planners there are 3 key areas to focus on: 

SPECIALTY &
FOCUS

SERVICE TYPES
OFFERED

OVERALL FIT
AND STYLE

Before choosing a wedding planner you should figure out what kind of wedding you want:

Specific Theme or Type of Wedding

Approximate Guest Count

Destination Wedding or Local Wedding Venue

Specific Aesthetic or Style

While not set in stone, having at least a rough idea of what kind of wedding you want will go a long way to help you find a planner that is going to be able to fully deliver on the wedding of your dreams. 

The true value of a wedding planner comes from their expertise and experience, so it just makes sense to hire someone that has the knowledge and/or experience specific to what you’re looking for. 

Once you have an idea of what specialty or type of wedding experience you are looking for in your planner, make a shortlist of 4-6 planners that fit your criteria MAX.

It is best at this point to keep this list relatively short – having dozens of options to choose from is only going to make this a more stressful choice at the end of the day. 

The next decision is service type, AKA how involved your wedding planner will be in the creation of your big day. Although planners will package their services in different ways, they all essentially boil down to 2 options:

Full Planning & Design

This is likely what you think of when you think of wedding planning.  Your planner will do most of the legwork, like plan and design the wedding, develop and oversee your wedding budget, contact and hire vendors, coordinate a production schedule and timeline, and execute everything the day of.

Wedding Management:

This is the service for anyone that wants to plan the majority of their wedding on their own and is looking for help with final details and day of execution. Also called “Day-of” or “Month-of” Coordination, the offerings will vary from planner to planner.

Services range from planners who will join you a few weeks out to round out your planning time and coordinate your wedding, to planners that will do this and provide limited support throughout your planning process.

NOTE: There is no such thing as a planner who will show up for the day of your wedding only. No experienced planner would ever show up at a wedding without preparation of some kind. 

Once you know what kind of service you’re looking for, now is the time to do a deep dive; look at portfolios, social media profiles, and reviews of your planner shortlist. 

As you go through this process, be sure to think about the following questions:

Can you trust this person?

Do you feel like they’re a good match for your personalities and you can build a relationship with them?

Do you vibe with their style and the quality of work they produce?

At this point, you should have 1-3 planners on your list that you are seriously considering and who tick most, if not all, the boxes.

Then book a discovery call or consult. We strongly suggest sticking with speaking to  1-2 planners at a time, so you can compare them easily and don’t overwhelm yourself.

At the end of the day, this is about finding the person you trust to bring your dream wedding to life.

Trust your gut. Even the most experienced planner may not be the right fit if you are not able to build a rapport with them. Look for experience, transparency, and someone you will be able to rely on throughout your planning process.

Important Final Tip

A wedding planner is just as much a risk management specialist as they are an event planner.

A professional planner should have business liability insurance, a business license, and proof of their education and/or experience.

A potential wedding planner should also provide you with a written quote or proposal that outlines their services, pricing and any potential fees that may come up down the road. They should also have a detailed contract that outlines everything in detail and has clauses that protect both of you.

Should a planner not be able to provide any of these things, then that is a big red flag, and in our opinion, walk away from that planner.

 

Weddings are a risky business, so be sure to cover your ASS-ets!

Other Edmonton-Based Wedding Planners

We know we aren’t a good match for everyone, and we’re 100% a-okay with that.

Here are some other Edmonton Wedding Planners we adore and wholeheartedly recommend:

Sandra Bettina Weddings & Events

Photo of Sandra Bettina, Edmonton Wedding Planner, of Sandra Bettina Weddings and Events
Specialty:

Timeless, Classically Elegant  Weddings w/ an Upbeat Vibe

Services:

Full Planning & Design, Partial Planning & Wedding Day Management

    Roselite
    Events

    Photo of Noha Tarabain, Edmonton Wedding Planner, of Roselite Events
    Specialty:

    Muslim, Arab & Cultural Weddings, South Asian Weddings

    Services:

    Full Planning & Design, Partial Planning & Wedding Day Management

      Olivia Fata
      Events

      Photo of Olivia Fata, Edmonton Wedding Planner, of Olivia Fata Events
      Specialty:

      Providing DIY couples exclusive wedding management services and planning support

      Services:

      Wedding Day Management

        Ashley Cruz
        Events

        Photo of Ashley Cruz, Edmonton Wedding Planner, of Ashley Cruz Events
        Specialty:

        Socially conscious weddings that make your guests feel like they’re on a retreat

        Services:

        Full Planning & Design