How much does a wedding planner cost? And is it worth it?
Huge congratulations on
your engagement!
Planning a wedding is such a special time however it’s often underestimated just how much time, careful planning, forethought and organisation goes into arranging the perfect day! Here’s the ultimate guide on how much a wedding planner costs and how absolutely worth it such services can be…
Have you got the time?
Did you know the average wedding takes up 250 hours of planning? (Gulp)
That’s made up of endless searching and scrolling though websites, Pinterest boards and supplier sites, followed by countless emails, calls and logistical planning. From juggling each supplier’s individual questions and requests to linking them all altogether to bring things to life. That level of wedmin (as its affectionally known in the industry) can be overwhelming and not to mention hugely time consuming! And in today’s busy work-life balancing act, that amount of additional time can be extremely hard to find!
Weigh up the financials….
Next, let’s think about the financial commitment. In the UK, a prospective bride and groom now spend an average of £30,000 on their nuptials, yep that’s a lot of money! The equivalent to a house deposit, a brand new car or an entire round the world trip! A wedding has come to represent a significant investment and therefore calls for expert management to avoid stress, mistakes, undue pressure and overspending. Would you buy that house without an estate agent, mortgage advisor, surveyor etc… or book that round the world trip without a travel agent? Most likely not.
What is a Wedding Planner?
Having a wedding planner on hand is one of the best investments you can make to save you both time, money and most importantly stress! We are your expert, confidant and advisor for all your wedding needs and questions, the discreet cornerstone of your wedding, ensuring that everything runs smoothly from managing your budget, suppliers, guest requests and on-the-day timeline to setting up all of your gorgeous decor and Pinterest ideas and clearing everything down afterwards while you relax and enjoy spending time with your nearest and dearest.
Wedding Planner vs Venue Wedding Co-ordinator
It has become popular in recent years for venues to offer a wedding coordinator on behalf of their location to help manage on-site logistics for the day but don’t be fooled, this does not include supplier management or co-ordination of anything you wish to bring into the venue such as invitations and stationary, table decor, venue styling, flowers, lighting, sound, staging, musicians, your cake, photographer etc… their aim is to manage your booking with the property so as you can see there is a lot to manage outside of their remit.
On the Day itself…..
While planning is key, so much of a wedding must also be taken care of in the lead up to and on the day itself - we find most of our bride and grooms discover that they’d rather spend the best day of their lives together with their guests enjoying their magical occasion, rather than juggling suppliers, questions, guest queries and timings. Lots of brides assume that their gorgeous Pinterest dreams will magically take shape while they are getting their hair and make up done… sadly that’s not the case and if you don’t book someone to lay out your favours and place cards and fold your napkins that will be up to you on the day itself.
What about my family and bridesmaids, they’ll help….
Unless one of your bridesmaids is an event planner, (in which case you lucky duck, good choice of bride tribe) we would never recommend putting undue pressure on any of your guests to fulfil this role. Their can often already be too many cooks involved in planning a wedding, and with best intentions aside, I can’t tell you the amount of times I have had brides really disappointed with their friends and or families commitment to helping with their big day. Your nearest and dearest’s top priorities will be to spend time with you, enjoying themselves in both the lead up to and the day of your wedding, not whether your DJ has done his sound check or the vegetarians have been marked on your table plan.
That’s where we come in…
Serendipity Events are experts in organising luxury weddings, from intimate celebrations to weekend extravaganzas, we offer a truly personalised service that will support you in navigating your way through the wedding planning process as well as managing all the details on the day itself. We also offer impeccable wedding styling, decor and stationary to create the perfect ambiance for your special day.
So how much will it cost?
There are generally 3 different types of wedding planning:
Full Planning
This is the planning package for those who want unlimited access to expert support just a Whatsapp message away, a bespoke expertly thought-through wedding and total piece of mind that guests will leave stating “its the best wedding they have ever been to”….
Full Wedding planning leaves no stone unturned, starting with finding your perfect wedding venue, creatively designing your wedding concept, colours and stationary to providing you with the ultimate planning document, checklists and timescales to guide you through every step of the process meanwhile taking on all supplier sourcing, communication, contracts and admin. Your wedding planner will organise the highest quality, trusted suppliers from florists, photographers, caterers, cake makers and entertainment to arranging site visits, meeting and hair and make up trials and more… no cowboy suppliers will let you down nor will you feel the stress of handling any part of your wedding alone.
Full Wedding Planning is usually around 10-20% of your overall budget, but remember your wedding planner’s little black book contains all the best suppliers in your area and they often receive special rates which can be passed on to you, saving you money at each turn. They’ll also know what is and isn’t a fair price for something to you wont pay over the odds for any part of your special day.
Partial Planning
This is the way to go for organisation enthusiasts with plenty of time who want to source and manage their own venue and contracts, source some suppliers themselves and manage their own planning timeline, tasks and guests with expert support each step of the way. Very often partial planning is taken up half way through the process, once your venue has been booked and as time starts to tick away, the ever-growing list of tasks, emails and questions mount up.
Partial Planning is usually a proportionately reduced sum based on the amount of work you have left to do, around 5-10% of your wedding budget.
On the Day Management
Last but certainly not least is ‘on the day management’, this is actually one of the most vital elements of having a wedding planner by your side and included in the two packages above. As it says on the tin, this package offers you the chance to brain dump absolutely everything you’ve booked, planned, imagined in your head, and have pinned on Pinterest on to an expert who will take care of all of it while you relax and enjoy spending time with the people you love. They’ll make sure timings run smoothly, all your suppliers know what they’re doing and when plus most importantly that no-one bothers you with styling questions, logistical queries or jobs for you to do on the best day of your life.
On the Day Management usually charges a day rate of upwards of £750
So whatever your wedding dreams, the best advice we can offer is to invest early in enjoying the wedding planning process, it can save you heaps of time, money and stress in the long run!