Surely the majority of the public has seen the movie The Wedding Planner. Well, a wedding planner will do all that Jennifer Lopez’s character does and more (except for falling in love with the groom, that’s a big no-no).

For some brides, they grow up dreaming of the day they get to plan every detail of their fairytale wedding and a number of them do! So kudos to those brides for pulling off wonderful and beautiful weddings on their own! Other brides, however, would prefer to avoid those details and just have everything perfect for their special day. And who could blame them? When it comes to the wedding, everything surrounding it is stressful enough. A wedding planner can ease some of that stress and make sure your wedding day is perfect! But with so many wedding planners out there, how does a busy bride pick the right one?

Easy! Interview, interview, interview! That’s the name of the game when you want to pick highly qualified candidates. But first, decide how much professional help you may want or need, that’s either full or partial. Each wedding planner may have different package definitions so please be sure to ask what their planning packages would include.

Brides may be asking why it is even necessary to hire a professional for help at all. Well, here are some reasons to start off with:

Professional experience - so very important with the amount of stress surrounding the wedding day and even pre-wedding preparation Vendor relationships - wedding planners usually have a vendor base they work with and can probably secure some sort of discount with them, needless to say a valuable asset Help with budget - since wedding planners have to stay within budgets, they develop great creative ideas that are easy on the wallet but still deliver the dream wedding you want

Wedding planning packages differ depending on the professional. However, here are examples of general packages, ranging from full-service to day-of planning. Of course, packages are usually customizable, or at least should be, so be sure to inquire about this. Every bride, every wedding, every vision or dream of a wedding is different and each wedding planner should be prepared for this. This tiny list of possibilities is meant to serve as an example of some of the major tasks that would be involved. General price ranges are excluded because, as with many other wedding vendors, prices differ, sometimes drastically, depending upon your wedding location.

Full-service planning:

• Establish and maintain the wedding budget
• Negotiate and examine all vendor contracts
• Coordinate all vendors and services
• Help wih wedding save-the-date cards, invitations, table cards/place seatings, etc.
• Plan, coordinate and oversee the entire wedding from rehearsal to reception

Partial coordination:

• From a list of or references by the bride, choose vendors and negotiate contracts
• Review, solidify, and maintain wedding budget
• Assist with wedding stationary
• Plan, coordinate and oversee the entire wedding from rehearsal to reception

Day-of coordination:

• Make sure the wedding day goes off without a hitch from the rehearsal to the reception!

So now that you have an idea of what is generally offered in packages, here’s how wedding planners normally charge. There’s usually a flat fee when it comes to their planning packages. Since the packages are usually customizable, that’s when a wedding planner may charge for his/her services using different methods, such as the flat fee mentioned, hourly or a percentage. The hourly fee is usually charged for consultation, partial and day-of coordination. The percentage can be tricky sometimes. Essentially it is calculated as a percentage of the wedding budget. Why is this tricky? Because your goal is to minimize costs, right? Well, that would mean keeping the wedding budget to a minimum and that may pose as a conflict of interest for the wedding planner whose compensation is directly related to the budget. Your best bet? Stick with a planner’s packages or go hourly or combination but just not percentage.When you are first looking for a wedding planner, feel free to ask your other vendors (ie: photographer, caterer, florist, etc.) for any recommendations or referrals. Since they’re in the industry, they’ve surely worked with a number of highly qualified wedding planners. Once you’ve found a handful of possible candidates, time for choosing!

Some questions or tasks you should be thinking about in your “interviewing process”:

• Ask about experience, training and any accreditation (ie: certificates, degrees, etc.)
• Ask about professional organizations they may belong to. A key organization is the Association of Bridal Consultants.
• Find out about the wedding planner’s vendor base. You want to be sure he/she has vendors who can work within your budget.
• References! Always ask for at least 3 references and make sure they are a mix of client, vendor and colleague. You want to make sure your wedding planner is very experienced.
• Bottom line: pick someone you feel comfortable with and who fully understands your vision with the capability of bringing it to life!

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