For you ladies who have wedding planners/coordinators, what are their duties going to be, how much are they charging? I need some comparison help!

I didn't have a wedding planner. I did have a wedding coordinator that was a part of the package the church offered where I had my ceremony. The price was all inclusive. I paid a total of $550 for the wedding coordinator, musician, custodian, marriage counseling (book included), and a souvenir marriage certificate. You can't beat that!

Girl the prices varies. All depending on what you will need them to do. I had everything I wanted, the order of everything, and all the vendors I was going to use. I even had samples from the vendors. And the cheapest person wanted to charge me 2,000

DaughterRhonda wrote:

I paid a total of $550 for the wedding coordinator, musician, custodian, marriage counseling (book included), and a souvenir marriage certificate. You can't beat that!

No you can't! That's what i'm talking about

housewife147 wrote:

And the cheapest person wanted to charge me 2,000

My jaw just DROPPED! I would put her to WORK!!!for that $$$

It's just because it seems like i've been running around doing so much (alone) Seeing vendors, florists, caterers picking up lil items here and there. I'm like...I could almost do it all by myself except for the day of the wedding. Wondering if it's worth even having one at this point?

Ms. Boston i'm planning on having a wedding DAY coordinator just to keep things stress-free on the day of, maybe the week of, but that's it.

I was going to have a wedding planner. My friend used this guy and she said that he was really wonderful and made her wedding day stree free. She thought that I should really consider using him so I decided I would. Well, my FH and I met with him and he had some wonderful ideas - that was in February. Well up until two weeks ago, the only planning he had done was get a quote from one caterer. I have had to constantly call him and sometimes he would not return my call. So, needless to say with my wedding coming up June 30, my FH said we would not be using him. I mean, we have been doing all the running around. So, the wedding planner deal did not work out for me. I am to the point of getting stressed. I do have my photographer, caterer, church and reception hall. All the wedding attire is ordered. One of my bridesmaids is taking care of the cake. I have not ordered my flowers yet. So I hope the other things that I have to do are fairly minor.

My sister is helping me plan the wedding. And since it's not until 7/5/08, I think we have PLENTY of time to plan things so that we aren't stressed at the last moment.

My friend who is a wedding coordinator and team of 3 charged me her discounted price of $550.00. He staff of course handled the day-off stuff...One person was at the reception hall making sure the cake got there on time and the food was right so she didn't have to try and be there, and her and the other staff member was at the church...one was in the sanctuary working with the host/hostesses and making sure family sat where they were supposed to, while she was with the bridal party in the rooms. Her fee also included tracking my budget, deadlines, coordinating times, deadlines, details with all the vendors (photo, reception, flowers, rentals), including the church facilities managers, the pastor, church secretaries...she had them all on speed dial...she reviewed all my reciepts, made sure hotel contracts were signed, and she even went with me to all my fittings, BM fittings, and we have the same hair stylist so she did that too.
it was the best $550.00 we ever spent. Even my DH who was initally opposed to her constantly being around us and the need for her at all had to say she did great.....When we went to some other weddings after that, he just cannot stop bragging on our wedding coordinator....Even our photographer who did my brother's wedding (they used a coordinator from the bride's hometown) was missing my coordinator.....

A good one is worth the money...and a good one hounds you a lot, keeps you from over spending, and keeps you on your toes! I would have spent more $$ for that type of service for 8 months we planned and the end result we got....We certainly got more than what we paid for....

If you have to spend 2000.00- Just make sure they have a reputation (Talk to their other clients if you can) of excellence, and you want to see how they work.. For instance, my coordintor is good, but she micro-manages, and is anal...which may be annoying and a turn-off for some. I was determined to have a flawless wedding, so I encouraged her to keep going, and keep me from procrastinating, which she did....If i had a mental breakdown, a problem with a vendor, I was able to call her 1st, and trip out,and she handled it...You need to be able to do that too...I paid her so I could trip out and she was cool with it....

I will have a day of, well more like 2 weeks b4 to day of, coordinator. She is a minister and choir director at my church. She has an assistant that will be at the reception hall during the ceremony and she will handle everything else. She will:
1. be the central contact for my vendors,
2. decorate the church,
3. decorate the reception hall,
4. manage the cocktail hour while we take pics,
5. come get us when its time to end pics,
6. announce us into the hall,
7. manage all the reception events (cake cutting, garter and bouquet toss, 1st dance, etc.)
8. Help photographer w/ photo favors and advice cards for guestbook.

I will also assign a rep from both families to assist her in identifying people for pics. Price - $400 for coordination, $200 for decorations (this is her actual business).

Good deal FMKU! Make sure whoever works with her- that she has their number so she can work with them, establish a rapport...
I learned that when the coordinators have a rapport with the people they will be working with before the wedding, its easier to get them to understand her vision instead of meeting them the day before the wedding, and they have this person bossing them around.....having all my vendors, hostesses, etc on speed dial, man the day of the wedding, she had them working great, and they were all like friends by the time the rehearsal came around.....

Bumblebeekee wrote:

Good deal FMKU! Make sure whoever works with her- that she has their number so she can work with them, establish a rapport...

Good tip Bumble! Thanks! She would have definitely been meeting the family members the day before if you hadn't given me that tidbit! I have been updating her already as I select vendors.

You are surely welcome....plus, when your helpers know what to expect, and feel comfortable with the 'Other boss" then it takes some of the frustration of the day off of them because they already know the drill...By the time rehearsal comes, its just review, instead of just learning....I mean would you study for the test for the first time the DAY before the test?
Thats how i thought of it when I planned....Our rehearsal was 45 minutes from start to finish. we got off to a late start, but when we started, we did 2 runs and were done...we spent most of the time mingling and getting to know each other cause everything went so smooth....

I worked with a planner for a couple of months before my wedding but I did pretty much everything my self. Her main responsibility was making sure the day itself went off without problems. We weren't in constant contact with each other at all. She just checked in with me every so often to see if I needed help with anything. She went to my second fitting with me (only because she is also a seamstress), she coodinated a rehearsal for my soloists and she ran the wedding rehearsal. Plus she did the alterations on my flowergirl dress. All this only cost $250 and it was worth every penny. Especially since my daughter popped the string on her dress when she was about to get out the limo so we could start wedding. My coordinator was right there with her sewing kit. I would have gladly paid more for her. Not $2000, but at least another hundred.

Even still Pam, you were in contact enough for you to feel comfortable, she still thought ahead enough to want to work out certain details such as fittings and songs instead of just popping up the say before and having to make important decisions about music for example 24 hours before the wedding...Plus, the great thing is that she did a good enough job for you to want to either work with her again, recommend her to a friend or pay her a little more...Thats the tyoe of result you want your money to get you! Sounds like you got your money's worth and then some.....

Good Morning ladies and good afternoon to others, I'm in search for a wedding planner (I

JSGirl you sound like me about two monthes ago. And if you caught me right after we annoucned our engagement it might have been worse. Listen to me when I tell you, DO NOT get caught up in these TV shows and magizines. I promise you will you get so caught up you'll loose joy of God putting you together with the man of you were meant for. You'll find yourself crying in a stack of glossy mags with the remote in your hand as the reality of your budget and fantasy of tv collides. And the idea of the "the wedding I saw on that show or the wedding of my dreams" will become a virtual God. Not good.

There is a way to have an awesome, classy, unique and totally you wedding within your budget. But to do that honestly a few things have to happen. You have to put down the magizines and remote and truely pray to God to show you what your wedding should be like, to give you the serenity to plan this with out getting hung up on the little things, and to keep you in check when you start feeling over whelmed by what you want and what you can afford. Trust me when I say He will make a way for your day to be a beautiful one inspite of the budget!

The moment I stopped tripping about the budget and worrying about this stuff I had so much peace. The "stuff" is not what is going to make your marriage. You, your man, and God in the center is what will.

Ooooh, tell it Abeni. Girl that will preach, do you hear me? )

yezzur! lol I got rid of a lot of my magizines. Shoot, i need to burn them!

Wow, Abeni. You have definetly come into your own since you first joined the boards, like a blossoming flower. You go girl, excellent advice.

::blushes:: aww thank you so much. I've learned a lot from all of you and I'm glad to share what I went through with those who need it. Too bad I don't know anything about wedding planners though. lol

thanks ladies I needed that.

Bump. This is always a good topic!