Without
taking anything away from how special and wonderful weddings are, there’s no
denying that they can be very stressful as far as planning and organising goes.
As a result, many couples consider the services of a professional wedding
planner, who handles everything from planning the catering, the decor and can
help you select the bridal jewellery and accessories. But is handing the
responsibility over to someone that is essentially a stranger a good idea? In
this article, we look at the pros and cons of hiring a wedding planner.
Pros
Less Stress
While
most of the responsibility is out of your hands, you still have the final say
on what happens, where it happens and how it happens. The main benefit of
employing a wedding planner is to take care of all those overwhelming details
when it comes to planning a wedding, leaving you to make the most important
decisions and not having to worry as much about organising them. The grunt work
is left to someone else – which means stressing less during the lead up – but
your overall say isn’t diminished. Depending on the package your purchase, a
wedding planner might be able to take care of all bookings, which can be very
handy if you’re planning a wedding out of town.Discounts
Wedding
planners work closely with companies in the service industry, so most of them
have built up relationships with certain venues, caterers, decorators and more.
In many cases, a good relationship between a planner and other service
providers can mean significant discounts for you. Service professionals offer a
discount because the wedding planner consistently steers business their way.
Whether or not this covers the cost of the wedding planners is debateable, but
you should certainly factor in these savings.
Experience
We’re
not all natural event planners and sometimes having a professional at your side
to help you make decisions is invaluable. They usually know what works well,
what looks good and how to make the most out of your day. You can get their
counsel in regards to everything from the bridal jewellery you wear, to what
you serve as a main to general etiquette.
Cons
Cost
The
prices charged by wedding planners should not be underestimated, even with the
discounts that can be gained. Especially if you’re planning a relatively small
wedding, costs can make up a significant chunk of the overall amount spent on
the wedding, so it’s probably best to simply organise things yourself.Hourly Fees
We
would encourage you to hire the services of a wedding planner that charges a
fixed price, rather than an hourly fee. It can be difficult to estimate the
number of hours spent in the planning process and you could easily end up
spending far more on a wedding planner than you ever intended.
