Wedding planner?

My wedding is being considered "semi-destination" - it is approx 4 hours away from home and everyone will be staying in a hotel.

I hired a planner - and definitely recommend one - because I wanted to have all local vendors to avoid paying travel fees, so I based my planner decision on who i felt had the best understanding of the vendors in the area that would fit my price point.

I used a couple of websites and google searches to create a list of approx 20 different people and then emailed them about availability - this will help cut down your list. I then had phone calls with the remaining planners (approx 6) and chose from there. I asked A LOT of questions about how long they've been in the business and the different vendors they know and work with frequently.

One thing that really stood out to me about the planner I chose is that she has worked on many weddings at the venue we booked and new the hotel staff there pretty well and gave me complete confidence that the venue we chose were extremely professional and know how to run a wedding well!

Hope this helps!

I started planning my November 2021 destination wedding (Cancun) in January of this year. I do not have a wedding planner. I am also not doing an all inclusive resort type of wedding for my Catholic wedding (not my style) It's taken lots of research and time. I do have a day of coordinator, who is one of the main vendors (multiple services) for my reception. The park where the chapel we are getting married at has their own wedding coordinator for that part as well. I did look into wedding planners, looked at reviews on weddingwire along with other apps, started looking at reviews online, social media (who my chapel followed, who the villa follows, then photographer, etc) to look at their styles and have a phone initial "consultation" with multiple ones. However, I didn't feel the "need" for one, personally, after all that. I do think that what they do is great and can be very helpful! I am 10 weeks out and my ceremony/reception planning and timeline is complete, just have attire alterations left!

View Quoted Comment Very helpful, thank you so much!

View Quoted Comment Definitely helpful, thank you!!!

Ours is semi-destination, everyone will be traveling 3-6 hours. We hired a planner because we wanted someone with local expertise, who knew all the vendors and had a relationship with the venue. We’re in early stages, but I love having her to chase down info and talk through the plan for the weekend rather than FH and I trying to figure things out on our own.