Wedding planner

I think it depends! If you don't have the time or interest in wedding planning, hiring a full wedding planner would be a good option. At minimum, I strongly recommend a day-of coordinator. My husband and I booked a day-of coordinator for our wedding, and she handled SO many behind-the-scenes tasks on the day of the wedding, which left my husband and I free to socialize with guests and relax and enjoy our day! We didn't have to try to track down where the shuttle was, or gather the wedding party members for photos, or setup/tear down our decor, etc. There are also month-of coordinators if you are looking for something in between a full planner and a day-of coordinator. They usually help during the last month before your wedding, and they handle tasks such as tracking RSVPs, creating a day-of timeline, reaching out to your vendors to ensure that everyone is on the same page, and any last-minute things that come up.

It depends on your budget and how hands on you want to be with planning. If you dont want to be too hands on I would definitely get a full on planner. Like lisa said, at a minimum I STRONGLY recommend a day of. Our day of has handled any questions I've had in the last year since I hired her. Now that we're in the month of she's handling things with our vendors as far as time to be there, our schedule etc. She was there for our 30 day walk through.

If you do hire one, I would say hire one as soon as possible. We hired ours a year out whne we started planning after we had a venue. Definitely have a phone call or zoom call. We zoomed with ours. You really want to talk to certain vendors outside of email to see their vibe and if it's the right match for you. With someone like this who will be so involved with your wedding, you want to make sure they're responsive with emails and seem very interested in what they do. Read a lot of reviews etc.

I've seen so many people say they super regret not hiring a coordinator and had so many struggles day of that the coordinator would've handled. So many who have hired one say they had issues day of they weren't even aware of that the coordinator handled. They help set up if your venue doesn't do any of that. I just think the expense is well worth it

We got a day-of coordinator, and I'm already so grateful for her! Our reception venue thought we were doing both ceremony and reception there, and our photographers thought we wanted grand exit pictures and was planning to start later than we needed them based on the amount of time we booked them for. Both of these issues were handled by our coordinator and a breeze to clear up. I'm also super glad they'll be handling any vendor communication, tracking the shuttle, and serving as the point of contact for the wedding day. This way I don't have to stress about any last minute issues and can just enjoy my day.

Like the PPs I strongly recommend a day-of coordinator at least. They can do things like confirm your vendors will be there/deliver on the day of, assist with decor placement, help create a timeline, keep you and your families on the timeline during the day, and be the first point of contact if any issues come up with vendors or guests during your wedding (it would be so stressful if they came to *you* with issues first!). We are so glad we had one! It took a huge load off of our families from having to manage things!

As others have said, if you're having a reasonable sized wedding that relies on timings going to plan and your budget allows for it then a day-of would be great.

We had 70 - 100 people (with 20/30 extras arriving for the evening) and our wedding was very informal plus benefited from ceremony and reception being at the same place. As a result we did absolutely fine without a coordinator, although having somebody to gather the necessary people for photos would have been very helpful.

Our venue requires a day-of coordinator but I decided to hire a month of coordinator to help me with finalizing details. It gave me the decision making power to get everything I liked booked and now I just hand over all of the contracts and information to the coordinator and she schedules the timeline, coordinates all the vendors, makes sure everyone knows what they are doing... My sister had a day-of coordinator and said it really took a lot off her plate and helped her enjoy the day.

A Day Of Coordinator is an absolutely must for me. I want to be the BRIDE that day, not the person trying to organize or oversee anything or anybody. Our venue offers that service for an additional fee, so I snagged her up immediately. I like that she is affiliated with our venue, as she is already familiar with the set up and how things run. I love planning and doing all the pre-wedding stuff, so - again - for me a full coordinator wasn't necessary. Know what you are comfortable with and go from there.

P.S. I'm retired, so I have the TIME to do the planning without worrying about work stuff.