Did you meet planner before booking?

Yeah, absolutely meet with her first to get a feel for her. We were going to go with someone else until we met with our DOC and after that meeting I had to hire her!

I met with everyone before booking. Especially my venue and their planner

You don't need a wedding planner, I did my wedding all by myself!!! 40 days!!!

And remind you, my wedding is costing us 50K, not sure if ur doing the wedding planner so she can work around your budget? But I had no budget so I did it myself

You should most definitely request a face to face meeting before you send her a deposit. I would think any reputable coordinator would count this as a standard. What if you meet her face to face and you two don't hit it off? A coordinator will be the person you work most closely with though out the entire process. Make sure you like her!

As a wedding planner and day-of-coordinator, I offer a free consultation either in-person or over the telephone. I would much rather in-person to make sure that we are a fit for each other. I do have many couples that book based on our phone conversation though. It's whatever makes you comfortable.

As far as timing, if you are looking for a full planner to help plan most aspects of your day, the sooner the better for booking. For day-of-coordination, a year to six months out is my preferred. With that being said, I have coordinated weddings with two weeks notice. Not ideal, but it happens. Happy planning!

Yes! Meet the planner in person before you book. We made an appointment to meet our planner in her studio, and she asked before the meeting if we had any inspiration for our wedding that she could look at, such as my Pinterest boards. She also provided information and pricing on a variety of packages before the meeting. When we met with her, we discussed what we were looking for in a wedding, what we would need the most help from her with, etc. We were able to leave and discuss our meeting and whether she was a good fit for for us, and then we emailed her later to know that we wanted to hire her. Side note: getting a wedding planner is the best wedding decision I have made to date. If it's in your budget, go for it!

Thank for the advice! I emailed her about setting up a time to talk in person. I definitely have a budget and need someone to reign in my champagne tastes to my (craft) beer budget lol