Do You Need a Wedding Planner for Your Small Wedding?

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Congratulations on being engaged! What an exciting time this must be for you. There are many decisions for you and your partner to discuss, so we’d like to make this process a little more manageable for you. We want to help you figure out whether you need a planner for your wedding, and if so, which type of planner makes the most sense for you.

Would you believe us if we said that you should grab a planner that makes you book the venue, select your wedding dress, and order the food all before you even hire them? Hopefully, that didn’t scare you off – but it’s true! Therefor, let’s jump into the different types of planners, and we’ll explain why they’re right for you.

When choosing someone to save your day, your options are wedding planners, day-of coordinators, and wedding designers. However, each of them specializes in their own area of wedding planning.

The Wedding Planner

Wedding planners are full-service planners, which also translates to full prices. These are teams that help you sort out your thoughts. From the moment you are engaged, they are by your side, guiding you through the abundance of choices you’ll need to make, and they are there on your wedding day to make sure all of your dreams and wishes come to fruition just as planned.

Unless you are one of the following:

• Too busy to plan your wedding
• Quickly overwhelmed and stressed with too many options
• A bad planner

However, we do not recommend using a full-service wedding planner. As mentioned above, they are much more costly, and they are much more useful for larger, more elaborate weddings. Thus, if you intend to keep things simple or have a clear idea of what you may want your wedding to look like, a wedding planner will be over-kill, and you can do a lot without their assistance.

The Wedding Designer

Wedding designers are most useful for couples whose focus is the look of their wedding or those who have zero sense of design. Therefore, if you aspire to have a wedding that belongs in a bridal magazine, or you wouldn’t be able to determine a bouquet from a boutonniere, this planner might be for you. Bear in mind, they don’t help with any of the actual planning. Their only purpose is to make your wedding look stunning.

If you know what you want your wedding to look like, or you are really good with design and can figure out your preferences along the way, we do not recommend a wedding designer.

The Day-Of Coordinator

This individual/team will be your wedding savior. If you have an inkling of an idea about what you want your wedding to look like, or you can handle planning pretty well, the day-of coordinator is your best choice. They offer their services at a fraction of a full-service planner (and honestly, they kind of do the same work).

Benefits of a day-of coordinator include:

1. Much cheaper than a full-service wedding planner
2. Can help to finalize contracts and bookings with all of your vendors
3. Act as a second pair of eyes, ensuring the work you’ve already done is perfect
4. They are present on the day of and take any stress off of your plate
5. Coordinator will make sure your wedding runs smoothly

Yes, the day of coordinator comes into the equation after you’ve done all the heavy lifting. But we promise you they are life-saving and make the process a lot easier, and for less. For more tips on planning a small wedding, check out The Ultimate Guide to Small Weddings for more information.

 

Header Image Credit: @photosbynicolemarie