Can I afford a wedding planner?

I would recommend a DOC.

We don't have one. Our venue provides one to us, but the last wedding I was at had a wedding planner who was a giant bitch. Anyway, I know she made about $10,000 off of their $60K wedding. It was something like 10% of the total wedding cost plus tax, gratuity, etc. It really depends on how the planner charges.

You probably could, but you will need to shop around and potentially make cuts in other areas. I feel you with being busy, I work 40+ hours a week in a corporate job, am working on my masters and am also wedding planning. You can make t work on your own if you want to, it's just about setting a schedule and sticking to it.

Find one that is willing to customize your package (A La Carte). I'm sure they will work with you to fit within your budget.

I'm following this because I'm having issues balancing, and I'm beginning to think I need a DOC. But I know my FH would be very against this cost...so I'm not sure what to do, just sure I am overwhelmed by everything I have going on right now (full-time teacher, which is really like 60+ hrs/wk with all my commitments, plus coaching, plus wedding planning, plus some family drama equals me being very stressed out). I'm not I can afford one though.

I have the same budget as you with similar venue & rental costs. I hired a day of coordinator for $1,100 but that won't help you plan for the whole wedding, just coordinate day of activities. I think most full wedding planners are usually at least $3,000 or more. It really depends on where you live though, I'm in NJ where $15,000 doesn't go far at all.

Edit: That said, a lot of ladies here have said their wedding planners have ended up saving as much as the fee of the planner because they'll get you discounts on vendors they use, so it may be worth you looking into.

Thanks ladies. I think it might be worth it. Especially since all of my bridesmaids are out of town or out of state. I'm going to start looking into it.

I think if you don't have friends around to help and it isn't something that will be fun and a stress reliever for you then I think it would be worth it. I am working full time and doing my masters online but wedding planning is an escape for me so I really enjoy it. I also have a very helpful MOH and mom who I can bounce ideas off of and who give me ideas.

In my town there is a woman who runs a studio and is basically a wedding planner. Her services are completely free. She is paid by vendors that she represents (although you don't have to use them). I'm sure this is something quite unique, but may be something worth searching for.

Wow! That is awesome Brittany! I wish I could find something like that around here. I will look into it. I would guess that is kinda what you get when a venue provides a planner for you. Alas, we are having a barn wedding and no coorinator is involved. I am going to look into things like that. But I think I can budget up to 2500 for a coordinator. Maybe I can get like a partial planning type deal.

With all the help available online you really don't need one. I recommend a DOC.

I have a DOC, and she's more of a month of, I have full access to her when I have questions, she'll resolve vendor issues, she's put together my timeline already and emailed it out, given advice, and she's got discounts with other vendors to partner with, which we had access to earlier in planning. She has been so worth it, even if she was double she would still be worth it.

I don't know if a full on planner is worth it but at least a DOC + absolutely is. Find a way to get one in your budget.

Can you afford it on your budget? It depends on how many people you are inviting, and how much catering will cost per person.

$15k minus $4200 is $10,800. From that, you have to pay for catering, cake, bar, dj, floral designer, photographer, invitations, and officiant.

Remember, when you look at catering costs, you sometimes are charged a 20% service fee, which is not a gratuity (that's another 20%). For the bar, it's not just the beverage cost per person, but it's also a charge for the bartender, gratuity, and possibly a security guard (some venues require when alcohol is served). So when you see $50 per person for the meal, it's actually $50 plus $10 plus $10 - it's really costing you $70 per person. Same with the bar.

So you might need to go through some accounting exercises. What does a dj cost in your area? What's the average cost for flowers? Photographer? Officiant? Cake? Planner? Go on some local website for these pros and get their average or starting costs and start figuring it out.

Best wishes. It does help to have a planner, if you can. As a mom of a college student....I say....school comes first, you are almost done with the semester!

Monique, we are only having about 60 people. , DJ is 1500, floral will be cheapish (doing centerpieces myself, just bouquets and maybe something small at the ceremony. Our invites are picked out, (very far in advance) with postage its $250 + 68 for save the dates. My friend, a local cake "queen" is making our cake as a wedding gift, and photography will likely be between 2500 and 3500. I can't decide...I guess I need to add this all up. I am so bad at math! Lol. Thanks for your input.

It can't hurt to talk to a few and ask! They'll want to know up front what your budget is, and they should be able to tell you whether they can work with you and still keep everything under that number.

Sure you can do it!!! Back it all out. Guesstimate your floral. Subtract that out, subtract out the DJ, subtract out invites (and postage - good catch!!!), back out the photography.

Find an average price from some caterers. Don't forget all the add-ons I mentioned above. And the bar, if you're having one.

Back out (subtract) that food and beverage...and what you have left, is what you have for a planner.

Then, you have to decide, if it's over your budget - will you be able to increase your budget to cover? Or, will you just have partial planning or DOC?

This is all part of the exercise a planner would do for you if they are a "full planner." They work on the budget piece for you.

And you might very well be able to afford it, since you are having an intimate wedding. You are just doing the basic math to figure that out. You can do it!!

My full planning and styling planner was 5k. That's quite a chunk of your budget. however, you can certainly find one that will day or/month of coordinating for a few hundred dollars. I disagree with the people who say that you don't really need them; my planner saved me a lot of time and money and everything came together really really well.

I would go with a DOC, my budget started at 10k. (maybe more now) but my DOC was $1,100 and she has been working with me for a long time. she owns her own company, i think i found her through WW, not sure though.

she has definitely helped keep me on task

Does your venue have a DOC? I think most venues have something like this, but mine didn't. I have a DOC, and she has been amazing...answering questions through email. Soon we'll be doing walkthroughs with her and she'll make us a schedule for the entire week of the wedding. Definitely worth the price.

I found a DOC for $700. And I'm in an expensive area! My original budget was $10k. I'm probably going to end up close to $15k at this point.