Wedding Planner - Yes, No, Waste of $

I don't think I need one because I plan everything, but my mom says I do because she thought the same thing and she was so glad once she finally got one. I wouldn't mind having one the day of the wedding to kind of control the guests and what not but other than that It just depends.

FSIL got married last June, they did nothing. They wrote a check to a planning company here in town and they did it all....I didn't know this because the wedding was beautiful but FMIL says everything at the wedding was wrong. She said the cake was wrong, flowers, décor, EVERYTHING. Now part of that is their fault. I definitely think they still could have hired a planner but had say in something. Just the planner alone was 25,000. RIDICULOUS.

Now as for me. We did not hire a planner and everything is running smoothly. I really think it is up to you!

eta: spelling

I got a month of coordinator, she was amazing. You can plan all you want, the day of though it Is helpful to have someone run things for you. Totally worth the money in my opinion. I handed everything off to her and she handled every last detail perfectly. I was stress free the day of because of her. I'd say at least a day of coordinator. there's a difference between planner and coordinator. I planned every little detail of my wedding by myself (okay with my husband too).. But I needed somebody the day of to put all those details into reality and handle all the stress and problems and vendors and decor that I couldn't do. She brought my wedding vision to life and I will forever be grateful for finding her

I am way too Type A for a planner. But I will have a DOC. She is a trusted friend who DOCs professionally. I know I will worry myself to death the day of without her.

If you want find someone who gets along with you and your husband. A person who will carry out your wishes and will shut down problems before they happen.

We'll hire a DOC if we can make room in the budget. I don't want to have to worry about details on the day-of, and I don't want to put my friends & family to work.

YES. Hands down best money I spent was a month of coordinator (she called it day of coordinating but it was really month of).

At any point from the time I first contacted her until the wedding, if I had any questions, she was available. When I first hired her, she was on vacation and got back to me within a couple hours of my inquiry. We met with her for 4 hours the month before to go over all of the details and timeline. The week before she contacted all of my vendors and had them call her instead of me with questions. She coordinated all deliveries. She set up all the table linens and put out all the decor. She made sure the chairs were moved from the ceremony to the reception during cocktail hour. She smoothed over any bumps and made sure I had no idea of any problems that arose.

You'll want to hire a DOC with good reviews, lots of wedding experience, and who answers emails and inquiries promptly.

I'm super Type A so I've pretty much got everything planned out for myself. It would be pointless for me to get one. But if you think it's worth it, I don't see why not. My venue came with a DOC though so I'll at least have someone helping me day of.

From everyone I have talked to that has a planner, they wouldn't have done it any other way. I love planning events and while this is the biggest one I have ever done (especially with my own money), I think that I am doing a good job on my own. One thing I would love though, is a DOC. That would make my life easier but it just isn't in our budget

If you can't afford a full planner, I would at least try to get a DOC.

Its hard to say unless someone has had en extreme experience. I did all the planning myself. I found my own venue, DJ, photographer, flowers, etc. But then again I LIKE finding stuff myself. I liked knowing whats going on and I wanted to do comparing of vendors myself.

So, my opinion is that it is a waste of money. If you feel like you are organised and want/have the time and energy to put in to get stuff done, its totally do-able.

Others will tell you they had a great experience with their planners and it was worth every penny. Don't forget for most of us... we only have ONE experience. Using a planner or not using a planner. If we had a good experience, we will all probably suggest you did what we did

Day of was fine and a co-ordinator wasn't needed.

I went to a wedding last month that was at a very pricey venue and Im sure it cost a fortune. They had a planner and a DOC and things did NOT go smoothly, dinner was served cold, and a few other glitches. I was shocked because I knew the poor bride paid a ton to have a co-ordinator to avoid those things. Its really hard to say.

It depends on your venue and what's important to you. For example, my venue basically is all-inclusive, so there's no set-up required, I'm not DIY-ing anything, and there's basically a Day Of person that comes with that venue that helps coordinate everything anyways. Also, I'm not that particular in the sense that I don't have a SPECIFIC vision, so it's a waste of money for me.

That being said, if I were having my wedding at a place that was all DIY and I had a vision I could tell someone to execute, maybe I'd splurge. But no, not worth it in my case.

I'm glad you started this thread...I woke up in a panic this morning. "MY WEDDING'S GOING TO SHIT!!" Flat out panic attack. First thing I did was look up my DoC website to see how much for complete planning (even though really all the big stuff is done). The details are making me crazy and I have a bunch of work stuff that is taking my attention right now. I don't want to hijack your thread... but ladies/gents while you answer Brittni's question; can you tell me if a planner would be helpful in executing a decor vision?

I hired a partial planner about 6 months out. All of my vendors were booked, but they were able to help me add a videographer and finalize all the details. My package also included a team of 3 DOCS for the wedding. They finalized everything with my vendors the week of, did all set up, tear down, packed the car, and so much more. Best money I ever spent.

A great partial planner or DOC is worth their weight in gold. A bad one is worthless and annoys all your other vendors.

I'm going to have a DOC. I'm actually meeting with one tomorrow for the first time but I'm pretty sure she will be who I use. I feel like one is necessary for me bc we have rented a venue 1.5 hours away & getting the decor and all that done was going to be hard for us. She offered doc, month of coordinating, & wedding planner. I've considered splurging & doing a month of coordinating but I don't think it's in the budget

I think a good planner would be extremely helpful, but maybe not a full planner is necessary; however, a lot of brides on here have complained about not ever hearing from their planners and missing out on deals and opportunities because their planner wasn't "on it". Even some that essentially didn't hear from their planner until a few month before the wedding (uhm yikes, not even sure how that happened but anyway).

If it were in my budget, I would have a DOC. That being said, it's not. I'm actually enjoying planning it on my own. I think it depends on the wedding and the bride and how much time you have to dedicate to planning.

Agree that if it's a unique venue or a lot of diy then it would be helpful. I was recently in a wedding and the other BMs and bride were running around doing set up etc and thought she missed some of the experience of enjoying her day.

I have a planner for the whole journey I though I could handle things myself but then I started planning I was like oh no too many little details LOL

If you can afford it than yes get a wedding planner, or at least a DOC.

Having someone on hand to help so you can enjoy the experience is priceless.

@Kiandra C ... the details are starting to wear on me .\/.

I have an event coordinator that was included in my venue. She makes things so much easier especially for the day of directing bridal party, the guests and keeping your night of events flowing in a timely manner. Highly reccomend one especially for day of.