This is part 5 in our blog series “How much will your wedding cost?” and for this post I am focusing on Wedding Planners/Consultants. As with all the blogs in this series, I am using CostOfWedding.com as a resource for the facts and figures listed in this blog.
According to the Cost of Wedding website, Toledo couples spend between $581 and $968 on average for a Wedding Planner or Consultant. For the more experienced planners, they spend on average between $1,161 and $1,548+. The report also breaks this down further depending on the type of services provided, which I will try to explain later. For “A La Carte” services, Toledo Brides and Grooms spend between $661 and $1,101 for A La Carte coordinators and between $1,322 and $1,762+ for the experts with the average cost being $881. For “Day Of” Coordinators, Toledoans spend between $574 and $956 for coordinators and between $1,148 and $1,530+ for the experts with the average spent on “day of” wedding coordinators being $765. For “Getting Started” services, Toledo couples spend between $565 and $941 for planners and between $1,130 and $1,506+ for the more experienced planners with the average amount spent for “Getting Started” services being $753. For “Full Service” planners, Toledo Brides and Grooms spend on average between $2,331 and $3,885 for wedding planners and between $4,662 and $6,216+ for more experienced experts with the average spending at $3,108 for “Full Service” wedding planning. For “Month of Direction” services, Toledo couples spend between $825 and $1,375 on average with them spending between $1,650 and $2,200 for the experts and the average spent was $1,100 in 2011.
With so many different numbers for different types of services, it is obvious that wedding planners/coordinators can fit into any type of budget. So what do they do and what is the difference in services? Without being a wedding planner myself, I will try my best to answer this for you. First, let’s start by differentiating between wedding designers, wedding planners and wedding coordinators. A wedding designer is one who works primarily on the “visual” aspect of your wedding from flowers to centerpieces to decorations and usually plans these things out based on your “vision” for your wedding, a creative director of sorts. A wedding planner is more for logistical planning such as helping to hire your vendors like the photographer, caterer, reception hall and such. They can help you plan your itinerary for your wedding day, schedule your appointments, make sure everything is in place for your wedding and can even help you save money. They are also sometimes called wedding consultants. A wedding coordinator is a lot like a wedding planner but may not always do the same things or as much as a planner would do. For instance, a coordinator may let you pick your vendors and just help you finalize everything and work with the vendors after you have already booked them to make sure everything runs smoothly for you on your special day. Some reception halls have their own event coordinators and these are NOT the same as a wedding coordinator that you would hire. Reception hall coordinators are only responsible for their own staff and services included in your bill. They are the ones that make sure dinner is served on time and the hall is ready to go when your guests arrive. They are not responsible to make sure the DJ knows when to play the song for your first dance and they are not the one you go to when you realize someone switched their seating cards because they didn’t like the table they were at and now there are people without seats.
Supposedly, it takes 250 hours on average to plan a wedding. That’s like working full time (based on a 40 hour work week) for over 6 months just to plan for a single day! Locally speaking, many of our area’s “wedding planners” do as much or as little as you want them to do and have services to cover all bases for wedding design, planning and coordination. They offer initial consultations to guide you with the planning of your wedding. They can do all the research for you so that you can stay within your budget and save you valuable time. They can also oversee everything on your wedding day to make sure that there are no problems, which helps alleviate stress on the bride and that’s priceless!
So why hire a wedding planner or coordinator? A good wedding planner or coordinator can save you enough money elsewhere in your budget to pay for most, if not all, of their services. They can give you advice and do a lot of the legwork for you. They know what is trending for today’s modern brides and can help you find what you want to make your wedding unique. Many of the Toledo wedding planners also offer items for you to rent for your wedding like centerpieces, chair and table covers, and even backdrops and lighting. They keep you organized and help deal with any problems along the road that you may encounter. Because they plan weddings for a living, they probably will know things that you may never even think of. But I think the biggest and best reason to hire a wedding planner or coordinator is to keep you stress-free so you can relax and enjoy your wedding day!
There are many wedding planners, coordinators and designers in the Greater Toledo Area. The types of services and price packages they offer vary according to their services, experience and your needs. The way they charge also varies from company to company so make sure you know for sure how much you will end up paying before you sign a contract with them. If nothing else, you really should consider hiring a good wedding coordinator for “Day of” services for your wedding day just to make sure that everything runs smoothly so you can enjoy the festivities that you planned.
Hopefully I have answered some of your questions about wedding planners/consultants and/or wedding coordinators. If I’m wrong on any of the details I have stated about services, I’m sure my wedding planning friends will be sure to comment on here to let me know (and hopefully also let me know if I’m right!).
As I stated earlier, these are just estimates from CostOfWedding.com. The amount you will actually spend will vary greatly depending on your taste, location and ideas.
This is the fifth part in a series of several blog posts regarding the cost of a Toledo wedding. Look for the next blog post about wedding flowers and decorations coming soon. Feel free to post any comment or question you may have to let me know if this is helpful to you for planning your wedding.
For more information on Kurt Nielsen Wedding Photography including pricing, please visit my website at: www.kurtnphoto.com. You can contact me at:
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