Let me bust a common myth…wedding planners are not just for rich people! Even weddings on a modest budget will still benefit from a wedding planner. Depending on the type of service and your desired level of involvement, a wedding planner can cost you anywhere from $2,000 - $25,000. This large range varies based on the market, the package size (day-of coordination vs. full-service planning) and how the planner charges (fixed fees vs. hourly work vs. a percentage of your total budget).
Often times the average couple writes off having a wedding planner because they feel it’s a luxury they simply cannot afford. Well, what if I told you, you can? With the right priorities, finding room in your budget for a wedding planner is simple.
A wedding planner can maneuver your budget to get the best value for your money, often farther than you could on your own. At the very least, a wedding planner takes the aggravation of planning your own wedding off of your shoulders and gives you back your precious time to enjoy being engaged.
Without one, you’re leaving the biggest day of your life up to chance. Hiring a wedding planner is the best guarantee you can get that your wedding will be epic and horror story free. To put it plainly, if you care about the success of your wedding, a wedding planner should be on your list of needs, not wants, when it comes to your wedding budget.
You might already know all of this, but be thinking, “can I afford a wedding planner? I just don’t see how it’s going to work with my budget.” Well, fear not! Here are 5 strategies to hiring a wedding planner while staying on budget:
1.A wedding planner can save you money
A wedding planner can often neutralize their own cost just based on the savings they rack up for you throughout your planning process.
Wedding planners have connections, know the best deals and can identify when something is worth what it costs or if you should move on. They are budget ninjas in all things wedding related. They know how to negotiate with vendors when appropriate and get the best quality for the best price across the board. They also typically get trade discounts from companies they have good relationships with. Some planners will pass those discounts directly on to you for even more cost savings.
Keep in mind this added value of a wedding planner when you’re considering whether or not you can afford one.
2.Make small sacrifices with other vendors
There are a few small sacrifices you can make when making decisions for your wedding that ultimately will not change your experience, but will save you money. You can repurpose this money to make room in your budget for a wedding planner, a cost that will change your experience for the better. Instead of wasting your time trying to figure out how to be a wedding expert, try these strategies instead:
Instead of a band switch to a DJ (usually saving $3,000 at least)
You may be thinking, “the vibe just won’t be as fun!” Actually, as a person who has been a sober fly on the wall at hundreds of weddings, there is no noticeable difference in guest experience when they are sweaty and drunk dancing in front of a live band versus a killer DJ. You can repurpose that money for a wedding planner who will work with your DJ to wrangle your family and friends for speeches, coordinate your first dances and keep the night running on time so you can hit the dance floor.
Drop the expensive wedding cake and instead serve passed desserts (saving roughly $500)
The cake is a tradition…and you know I’m not one for wedding tradition. The reason I’m so “eh” for traditions is because they tend to cost you unnecessary money! It is so much cheaper these days to do a bite sized passed treat while your guests shred on the dance floor. When you have a cake, you not only need to pay for the actual cake, but also a cake cutting fee for your caterer to slice and serve it. Save yourself the money and put the cost savings toward a wedding planner who will make sure you get to try every single tiny dessert before they’re devoured by your guests.
Opt for a standard open bar as opposed to top shelf premium liquors (saving roughly $10 per person depending on the bar service)
Let’s be honest, after the first two co*cktails most people can’t even tell what shelf they’re drinking from. If having an open bar is a priority, but Grey Goose is not, this is an easy way to save some money in order to pay for the wedding planner who will locate your drunk Best Man 5 minutes before his speech.
Remove the stationary food display from your co*cktail hour (saving roughly $8 per person)
As long as you have good hors d’oeuvres, those stations usually go to waste and never look as good as they cost. Also, they’re a breeding ground for flies in the middle of a hot summer day. I’ve seen some sh*t you can’t unsee on those cheese displays…*shiver* Repurpose the money on a wedding planner who will help you select the best hors d’oeuvres and a balanced menu.
Rent the same set of chairs for ceremony and dinner instead of renting two sets for each (saving $5 - $30 per chair)
Best part about this is that your wedding planner’s team will be there to move the chairs for you! This is such an easy hack, as long as the guests are away from the line of fire from the chair parade, it can be done easily and efficiently when coordinated by a planner.
Select a venue in a location that is easy to grab a late-night Uber (saving you transportation costs of at least $1,000)
Transportation can be $1,000 PER vehicle sometimes, so your cost savings here will likely be much higher. Regardless, you can repurpose that money to hire a wedding planner who not only help you find a centrally located venue, but will also make sure all of your jolly and drunk guests are able to locate their Uber at the end of the night.
Cut the custom favors (saving you at least $5 per guest)
These usually end up in the trash unless your wedding guests are super sentimental, or just hoarders.
If you were to use ALL of these cost-saving strategies, you just found yourself $8,000 - $10,000+ worth of savings. The best part, you don’t have to cut everything, just the things that don’t align with your priorities.
None of these cuts will directly affect your guests’ experience, or your own experience, for the worse. However, having the added benefit of a wedding planner to ensure everything goes smoothly, will 100% affect your experience for the better.
3. Knock 20 people off of your guest list
Seriously, when you consider how much a wedding really costs, the number of guests directly impacts the bottom line. Depending on your food and beverage costs, you could be spending $150 per guest, easily.
It’s actually easier than you think to cut your wedding guest list. These days, inviting people out of “obligation” is less of a priority. Couples are realizing it takes a lot for someone to earn a coveted spot on their invite list.
If you were to cut 20 people off your guest list, assuming a per person food and beverage cost of $150, you’ll save an instant $3,000 that can go toward your wedding planner’s fees.
In addition to food and beverage, there are other costs that depend on your guest count, such as favors, stationery, centerpieces and rentals (chairs, tables, linens, plates, napkins, flatware, glassware, etc!). Assuming these extras cost about $45 per guest, by removing 20 guests you can save an additional $900 that can go toward your wedding planner’s fees.
4.Factor in the monetary gifts you will receive from your wedding guests
Even if you have a wedding shower prior to your wedding day, it’s customary for wedding guests to also bring that cold hard cash (or checks) as a wedding gift. That stuff adds up. While it’s not wise to entirely depend on a certain amount in gifts to pay for the wedding, keep this future money deluge in the back of your mind. If hiring a wedding planner puts you over budget, remember there will be a little something-something coming your way that will help underwrite the cost.
You can even start a wedding planner fund on your registry if you’d rather not register for a bunch of stuff you already have…
5. Condense your wedding weekend schedule
Is someone offering to pay for a post-wedding brunch? Kindly ask them to instead use their generous gift to pay for your wedding planner. Here’s the thing about brunches – if your wedding was a hit, your guests are probably…not their best selves…the morning after your wedding.
Think back to the last wedding you partied hard at. The next day you probably had to pull the car over on the way to brunch to boot on the side of the road next to a morning 5k. Just me?
Sometimes your guests see an open bar and think of it as a challenge, and that’s okay. But, before you pour another $5,000+ into a fancy post-wedding brunch, take a hard look at your guest list and consider if your partiers might go for something more casual instead. Or they might just sleep in and you’ll have to box up 5 pounds of gourmet avocado toast.
If having the typical weekend wedding events are important to you, there are still ways to host a Rehearsal Dinner, Welcome Reception and Brunch and still save enough money in order to swing a wedding planner. For example:
For the rehearsal dinner, go straight into dinner and skip the co*cktail hour beforehand (no passed hors d’oeuvres or anything before dinner) which will also cut down on the length of the dinner and thus your bar bill.
Keep the Welcome Reception short (host a literal co*cktail hour) and don’t pay for food. Tell guests ahead of time that it’s a co*cktails-only situation and to plan on eating dinner beforehand (while the rest of you are enjoying the rehearsal dinner). Holding the Welcome Reception at a later hour in the evening will also help manage expectations.
Host coffee and juice at brunch, but leave the alcohol costs up to your guests. There’s no need to pay for a Bloody Mary or Mimosa Bar when most of it gets dumped after anyway (I’ve seen it happen; it was tragic).
Re-use your floral arrangements from the wedding day at your brunch, that way your décor cost is $0.
Try hosting all three events in the same place as your wedding, this way you can reuse all of the same rentals and reduce your costs significantly.
So, can you afford a wedding planner? If you recognize hiring a wedding planner is a need, not a want, there are so many strategies to choose from to make room in your budget. All you need to do is simply choose which path is best for you. In the end, a wedding planner not only saves you the aggravation, but also the TIME you could spend enjoying being engaged, that is if you’d rather kickback in engagement bliss rather than frantically scouring the internet for vendors. Ultimately, if you can find the room for one, hiring a wedding planner is an investment worth making.
For more tips on how to save money on your wedding and how to reduce the cost of alcohol at your wedding, check out my other blogs!
Photo by Samantha Margaret Photography
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