How much was your wedding planner?

Full planning usually costs about 20% of the budget.

What does she offer for that price?

Pretty much everything. If I wanted to I could basically just show up!

It depends. Some will help with errands/projects on an hourly basis. When you hire on this basis, they are not really planning but helping with projects on an as needed basis and you have to call and schedule for them to be there. This is how I am hiring my girl. I just need her for certain things and as my DOC (the venue we finally decided on does not provide this service)

When they are actually planning the wedding (i.e. David Tutera) they charge on a flat fee (typically 20% - 25% of your budget)

I just feel like $5,000 is insane. But all her reviews - on every website I can find - are phenomenal.

I only a Month of Coord., which she actually starts 3 months out. I'm paying $1,000

I have a DOC, for $1,000. She does the rehearsal and day-of.

If she's too much, consider a DOC. You still do the majority of the planning, but hand everything off to her about 30 days before, depending on the coordinator.

How much is your lack of stress worth? I do not have a planner, and wish I could afford one. I assume you would give her your budget of each aspect of the wedding (ie flowers, cake, venue) and she would make it happen within that budget? If that were the case I would say go for it. At that point, with her connections/discounts, and your set budgets, what are you really losing?

I skipped this. They were charging $6000 and up in my area for basic services and I felt I could do a better job if I stayed organized and did things myself. Not to mention that money could be better spent elsewhere. Turns out I was right. I planned a 3 day affair in 3 different venues involving a whole different set of vendors for each day/event and it all went beautifully. So glad I opted to plan myself.

I agree with Amy. Good planners get discounts from their vendors, so you should pay less for those services. Plus you wouldn't have to invest as much time and effort. But just in case, I would interview one or two more to make sure this one is the best fit for you.

We are doing the month of coordination which is $1500. Her ultimate package is $3500. She goes above and beyond and was voted best in our area. Shes great!

I have a planner that cost $1500 which also included my bouquet, his boutineer, our marriage license, transportation for up to 25 people, the JOP her setting up and cleaning up for the cermony. We added a steel drum and cake and a stretched hummer, bm bouquet and flower for mom, gm flower. Our total is $2762 plus our location is $1000 and we will have an open bar for 2 hours at $30 a head as for food we will have dinner on our cruise ship.

Mine was about 4k in the DC area for full service.

While i understand it is 1 fifth of your budget, and yes she will save you money. There is a lot of work done involved in planning a wedding.

An average wedding will take 250(!!!!) hours to plan. That means if she charges you $5000.00 she will be making $20 dollars an hour. Realistically she will spend more hours than 250 working with you, driving, setting up appointments, going over vendors, selecting vendors, coming up with timelines, schedules, decor options and options for you. They will save you time, money, stress etc.

I would say she is charging you 20% of your budget, which is a little higher than normal. In Canada it is usually 10-15 % but that is for an average planner I no of some charging more because of how talented they are. BUT that being said, it completely depends on your area, how experienced she is, if she is charging you for gas/meals/expenses etc. You need to go over her contract. Contact previous brides and grooms that she has worked with and do your research.

I paid 6k for mine. So far have not regret it one bit. She negotiates prices for me and so far she has saved me close to 3k. My job keeps me pretty busy so I don't usually have time to research vendors, she does it for me and then I pick. However, If I would have time and the creativity of some ladies in this forum maybe I wouldn't got her.

Planners typically average between $3k-$5k. They do save you money on venues because of the relationship they have with them and yes, I agree, it really depends on the amount of stress you do not feel like dealing with. Sometimes it is worth it. Unless your venue is very planning oriented then you shouldn't really need one. For example, Jeremy and I booked a venue and all we do is go to meetings, talk to the people, pick out flowers, colors, decor and what not and they take care of everything.

Awesome advice girls. I think I will probably go with a planner. We are meeting with her today and I am interviewing 2 more this week. But I really like her.

Justine had an excellent point with the per hour math. She costs 5,000 dollars (or a hair under that) and she knows exactly what I want and what venues I am looking at so she must think she can do my wedding for 20k. I mean, right?