How Do You Find The Perfect Wedding Planner

Welcome Back Bloomers!

As many of you know Marcus and I got married at the courthouse November 23rd, 2020. We knew that we wanted something small and intimate just the two of us to solidify our union. However, we also wanted to be able to share our union with family and friends at a later date. This meant planning our dream wedding with family and friends for March 26th, 2022. I still can’t believe it’s been almost two months since. With both of our schedules it was only right that we searched for a wedding planner to assist with the process. I am what they call a Type A bride so being a Virgo says a lot haha. Although, I may be organized and enjoy planning we needed someone who could bring our vision together without stressing myself out. Today, I want to share with you all some great questions we used to narrow down the right planner for us.

More About The Planner’s Background

1. Do you have our wedding date available?
2. How long have you been a wedding planner and do you have a certification? What made you want to become a planner?
3. What do you do if issues arise on the day of such as inclement weather, vendor miscommunication, unable to show the day of etc.?
4. Do you have an assistant? If so, will I meet this person prior to the wedding?
5. How would you prefer to be contacted via email, text, or call?
6. Tell me the most challenging wedding you have planned and how you navigated through the day.
7. Is wedding planning your full-time job? If part-time, what is your other field of choice?
8. How many weddings do you have planned the month of ours?
9. Can you provide us with a list of references?
10. Have you done “my style” wedding before? If so, can you show us some of your work from these weddings.
11. Do you have insurance?

Must Ask Venue Related

1. Have you worked with our venue before? If you do not have a venue picked out you should ask “What venue’s have you worked with in the past? “Follow up by asking what they enjoyed or disliked about working with the venue’s in question.
2. Have you planned an outdoor or indoor wedding? If so, do you have some samples I can view.
3. Describe an event where bad weather was a factor and what steps did you take to resolve the issue.
4. Will you be present for venue tours we would be interested in? If so, how many?

Working With Other Vendors

1. Do you have a vendor recommendation list? If so, are we required to book only the vendors you recommend? Inquire about what they liked about working with these vendors.
2. Do you go to vendor meetings/tastings?
3. What does your assistance look like when reviewing contracts?
4. Who communicates with the vendors the month of/day of?
5. Can we provide you with any final payments and tips to distribute to vendors the day of?

Scope of Work

1. What types of planning services do you offer (full, partial, month of coordination, day of coordination)? What is the cost associated with each? [Make sure you can see a price list of what each service includes to make the best decision]
2. Will you be my planner on site for the day of our wedding or will it be another planner? Who all will be present the day of to keep us on schedule?
3. If there is an emergency, what are the processes if you are unable to be at our wedding? Enquire about qualifications of backup planner.
4. What time will you arrive and depart on the day of?
5. Do you stay until all vendors have left the venue and clean up at the end of the night? Is there an added cost associated with clean up?
6. How many meetings are included in your packages? How many phone calls/text?
7. Do you offer a wedding rehearsal/pre/post-brunch in your packages?
8. Do you assist with wedding dress and bridal party shopping?
9. Will you create a timeline for the day of? Do you assist with creating a floor plan for the day of?
10. Will you provide us with a checklist of things we are responsible for completing with a timeline?

Let’s Talk Money

1. If we book with you, how soon will we receive a contract to sign?
2. How much is the deposit to secure our date? Can we make installment payments? When is the final payment due?
3. Do you track our wedding budget? Will you keep us updated on contracts if changes are made when guest counts are finalized?
4. How do you plan on managing our wedding budget? Will we have access to a detailed list of items we are paying for?
5. What forms of payments do you use? PayPal? Website? Zelle?
6. What is your cancellation and refund policy?
7. Do we give you the money to distribute to vendors for payment? How will we be billed?

I hope these questions help you just as much as they helped my husband and I.