16 Questions to Ask Wedding Planner

You just got engaged and the marital bliss has just kicked in. What do you do next when you are ready to plan for your wedding day? You seek out a wedding planner to help assist your planning process. This thought process seems straightforward but not all wedding planners are the same, there is a list of very important questions that you want to ask to make sure that you get everything that you want for your big day along with getting the best service. When thinking of the questions to ask you want to make sure that the planner has many weddings under their belt, you also have to know and ask what services and types of wedding planning that offer. These types of questions and many more will be included in this article.

Can You Work Within Our Budget?

One of the first questions to ask when you begin to ask a wedding planner questions is “can you work within the budget that we have for wedding planning”. This is very important, you want to make sure that you can afford everything that you envision for your big day. Getting multiple quotes and hearing what different companies says is also vital. Often couples that are planning for a wedding have designs that are outside of their budget. This is really important. A great wedding planner will be able to provide alternatives for their clients and give you a more reasonable plan that keeps you in budget and fulfil the requirements of your contract.

How much do you charge?

A key piece of information that you will want to take away from your initial meeting with a wedding planner is how much they charge. Different wedding planner vendors work differently when it comes to compensation and budgets. Some planning experts charge a flat fee for their services depending on the time that each service will take. Other planners charge a percentage of your total wedding budget, these vendors will typically have a minimum budget that they are willing to work with. Every company operates differently and their fee will be based on their business model. Are you available on my date?
The next important question to ask a wedding planner that you want to hire is if they are even available for your date. Weddings are a very seasonal business and good wedding planners often are booked to capacity during these seasons. Some couples set their wedding date a few years ahead of time and begin planning and hiring vendors to ensure that they have the very best company to work on their big day.

What types of services do you offer?

The next thing you will want to know when you hire a wedding planner is to ask what type of services do they offer. One would think that all businesses offer the same services but that is not true. Some companies offer full service planning, here they handle every aspect of your wedding for you, things like finding vendors, floral design, seating arrangements, etc. You will have to discuss with your planner what their level of full service includes. Some may not handle things such as a rehearsal dinner, other businesses may handle activities post wedding such as honeymoon planning, this all varies depending on what is in your contract.

Make sure you ask: Do you have references?

The next questions to ask a wedding planner is whether they have references. You will want a reputable planner for your wedding day, the best planners with experience will have a history of good that you could direct you to. This would allow you to ask these former clients questions that would give you some insight into how the company operates.

How do you handle payments?

Payment handling is the next thing to think about asking a wedding planner is how they handle payments. You will want to know if the company offers a payment plan leading up to the event, payment upfront, or payment due the day of your event.

Do You work alone or with a team?

The next question to ask is is whether your planner works alone or with a team. This may ease your tensions if they have a whole team working for your wedding date. The additional help will ease the burden on the lead planner for the day.

Ask a Wedding planner do you handle rentals?

The next thing that you would like to know is whether the company provides rentals for your big day. The venue that you are married at may not have things like the flatware colors to match the theme of your day or may not have the chair styles that you would prefer. You will want to know if they offer rentals to suit your need. You will need to include these rentals in your contract.

Can I review your contract?

The next question to ask a wedding planner is whether you can review their standard contract. This document is agreed upon requirements between you and the wedding planning company. You want this to be ironclad, you get one shot at this day and you want to scenarios to be accounted for. It is advised that you have your legal counsel review this document between you and the planner.

How many weddings do you handle at the same time?

The next thing on your list to ask a wedding planner is how many weddings do they work on at any given time. This is a very important question for you to have the best experience to have the right wedding. You may feel that you will be stressed during your wedding day, but your planning team will have their own set of worries. One of the questions to ask is how many weddings are they working on while they work on yours. Too many at once can lead to error or diluted service attention.

How often will we have meetings?

The next item on the list that you would like to ask a wedding planner is how often will you have meetings will you have with the wedding planner team. Leading up to your wedding you will want to know how many meetings are included ahead of time for the planning process. Know this early will ease your tensions and also help manage your expectations from the vendors perspective.

What is the most unique wedding you ever planned?

When getting your wedding planned you will want to get the right wedding planner for the job. One question that you can ask to narrow down your choices is “What is the most unique wedding that you planned”? How the planner says answers the questions will provide you with the see many clues to their design style, how serious they take wedding planning process, and how they plan to make the best use of the venue. You want to hire the right person or team that will get the job done right on your wedding day.

What are your forms of communication?

Another one of the questions to ask the person planning your wedding is “what forms of communication they leverage”? This is very important to find out so that you know what is acceptable, what is not, and what frequency is allowed for your event. Wedding planners are really busy and cannot be plagued with endless questions from the nervous bride. You don’t want to get in the way of someone doing a good job, you also have to be considerate that they have other clients and cannot give you their full attention at the drop of a dime.

Do you have a backup in the case of an emergency?

Another bit of information that you will want the wedding planner to take the time to explain to you to ensure that you feel comfortable is whether they have a backup in the event of an emergency. Life happens and you want to ensure that your planner has someone to serve as a backup even if something goes wrong. What the planner says to you will give you an insight into their contingency plan.

Do you have prefered vendors that you can recommend for us to hire?

Another one of the questions to ask your wedding planner is to find out if they have preferred vendors that they like to work with. These vendors include venue, photographers, florist, etc. The answer that they provide should hold weight, they do this for a living and have seen good and bad companies in the business. You can always find your own but it will help for your team to have a synergy. You will need for them to get on the same page quickly, and having the right people and the a previous relationship goes a long way.

Do you do destination weddings?

This doesn’t apply to every wedding but if you plan to have a destination wedding you want to make sure that your wedding planner travels. In addition to that, you want to make sure that they are available to travel during your wedding. You will also want them to provide you with their expert advice on destination weddings. You will want to see the different venue options, your planner can help you find the right location. What your planner recommends will be very critical, take their advice seriously.

Do you have insurance?

One of the final questions to ask your wedding planner is whether they have insurance or not they have insurance. You need to make sure that they are covered if anything goes wrong with your wedding. If they do not have insurance you will need to require that find some and have it prior to working with them, there should be no way that you work with them without it. If they tell you that they don’t have it initially and get it later, you really want to ensure that they did and let you see it and what is included in their coverage. If they don’t agree with this, find another company.

This is a very in-depth set of questions to ask when working with a wedding company. They will help you make the best decision when making this very important decision. If you need help with choosing a wedding planner, feel free to reach out to Daphnee Lauren Events. Daphne is very insights, see what she says about the design for your wedding. Even if she cannot work on your event she will provide great advice.

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