Why Do Wedding Planners Cost So Much
Content
Williamsburg Wedding Design
Why Do Wedding Planners Cost “So Much”
Demystifying the Pricing and Value of the Professional Wedding Planner Shayna Walker 12/26/2010
Why Do Wedding Planners Cost “So Much”?
I started this piece as a blog post. When I reached the 5th page of my first draft I realized that there was too much to say in a pithy, easy to read 300 – 500 words. When I re-read the article I also realized that what I had to say was important, and that it could fundamentally change the way that engaged couples approached the question: “Can I afford a wedding planner?” So, I turned my blog post into a free download – one that the smartest of brides and grooms (and more than a few wedding planners) will read whether or not they decide to hire a professional to handle their wedding planning and management needs. If I enlighten one person about what goes into pricing wedding planning services, and that one person approaches a planning professional with more knowledge (and dare I hope – more respect?) than they started with, then writing this was worth it.
Housekeeping
First the required stuff. I’m the author of this ebook. That means it is ©2010 Shayna Walker, all rights reserved. However, I want you to share it – this is good information and I want it to reach a whole lot of people, so please share it. Send it to a friend. Link to it on your blog or website. Tweet it. Post it on Facebook. Just be honest about it and cite where (and who) it came from. Your karma will stay intact and you’ll encourage others to be brave and educate. I trust you’re one of the good eggs, so do the right thing. For the purposes of citation (feel free to excerpt the good parts): About the Author Shayna Walker owns and operates Williamsburg Wedding Design. She publishes several blogs including The World According to Weddlady, The Williamsburg Wedding Blog and Life in Weddings. She has worked in some capacity in the hospitality and events industry since 1997, contributes to multiple industry blogs and publications, speaks on a variety of wedding related subjects and lives a secret life as a social media strategist. She’s a single mom of adorable twins and has the requisite dog to make her seem well-rounded.
The Real Deal
I’m going to explain to you exactly why planners cost so darn “much”.
Graphically (warning…it’s a little scary!)
In detail (with some made-up statistics and some actual numbers – identified correctly as we go)
Using a real example: ME
Let’s All Start on the Same Page
Before reading this, statistically at least 80% of you (I’m making that up – but it’s a large percentage) might contact me to ask for my rates and consider me “too expensive”. The polite ones among you would send a follow up email saying thank you but your budget does not allow for the investment. The others will just never respond. That’s okay. We’re all human. If 80% consider my rates too high, there will be at least 5% of you who consider my rates “a bargain”. You’ll either hire on the spot, OR (in a strange psychology twist) decide that if my rates are so “low” I’m not experienced enough. I applaud the logic, at least. In fact, I’d like you to chat with the first 80% so I’ll be sending you their phone numbers (kidding – abandon this now if you lack a sense of humor). The 15% of you left will find my rates “in the ballpark”. You’re statistically (again, totally unbacked by any kind of mathematical evidence) the folks who I will work with most easily, generally because you’ve done a little research both into market-appropriate rates and my qualifications before you contact me. In marketing terms, you’re a “qualified lead”…in my (uber-appreciative) lingo you’re a “Wise Bride”.
Of course those percentages are approximate, and based on my own years of experience with people planning weddings for the first time and using the available resources to “educate” themselves – namely magazines, good books, lousy books, good blogs, lousy blogs, good advice from friends and lousy advice from friends. As with many things, your knowledge is the sum total of your research and your experience, and this is probably the first time you’ve done this. Most people don’t intend to sound uneducated - they just don’t know any better. However, once you’ve read this I’m going to consider you part of the “learned” insiders and whether you find a wedding planner to be a value to you or not, you will at least understand what is behind the monetary value that we assign ourselves and will make your decisions based on more than just “Ooh. That sounds like a lot.” Yes. I am trusting you not to check your brain just because you’re engaged, and I believe that the vast majority of you can handle that with no problem.
Let’s Talk Numbers
For the purposes of this exercise, we’re going to take my Wedding Day Management, or base package Not everyone charges based on packages – I do because I am a logistical planner, not a designer; it works for me and for my clients. Despite what some folks say, both methods are valid. Wedding Day Management is not a planning package – rather, it’s a support service that includes an initial consultation, some valuable referrals and tools, reviews, timeline construction, rehearsal coordination and a pair of experienced staff members on your wedding day. The total estimated hours included in the package are 20-30 and the base price is $1500. (About that base price…keep reading)
You Have to Allow for Market Differences
As far as I can tell through anecdotal evidence, I am one of the most expensive planners (at least at the “day-of” level) in Williamsburg, Virginia. Compared to markets as close as Virginia Beach, and as far as Los Angeles, that’s cheap. Compared to a market like Richmond or perhaps your hometown, it’s expensive. I don’t mind being the most expensive in my market because I’m also at the top of the “experienced” list regionally and I’ve earned a great reputation through years of hard work. This article isn’t about the “right” price – it’s about understanding what contributes to the price of wedding planning.
My Market Conditions
Our average wedding regionally is in the $20 - $30,000 range. We get some that are much, much higher, and a lot that are lower. My clients are all over the spectrum when it comes to budget because most hire me based on my skill not on price, but it would be a lie to say that overall pricing decisions are made without consideration for the regional average budget. So, if you’re in Los Angeles, and $1500 is what you pay your assistants: a) tell me where to send my CV (L.A. is my hometown!) and b) bless your market – you also pay a lot more for advertising, cost of living, and other factors (keep reading). If you’re a celebrity in any market, and $1500 is what you pay the gal who walks your dog between appointments, see my CV note. I’ll start tomorrow.
Factoring in Frequency and Quality of Life
I have children who I like very much. I work my wedding planning business full-time and it naturally requires a lot of weekend commitments. I could slash my prices and be guaranteed twice as many weddings as I book now. However, I’m not willing to cut my prices in half in order to work twice as hard, twice as often and see my kids half as much. I get no additional value from saying I’m working 30 half-priced weddings than I do from 15 weddings that pay what I’m worth. Perhaps there is someone who does (not that I can think of anyone)…mostly, I think “busy for the sake of being busy” is sheer craziness. I do have service levels above Wedding Day Management, but this article will be long enough, so I’m going to work them all into an average and assume that I need to work 20 WDM weddings to make $30,000 (a frugal living wage in my region) and leave it at that for the sake of this example. Do I try to make more each year? Heck yes! And once you account for partial and full-service packages, along with hourly consultations, the numbers are not as cut and dry and every year is a different beast.
Other Personal Contributing Factors
Finally, I am not married, I do have 2 children and I receive child support on their behalf. That means that I have a “sort of” spouse’s income to help with fundamentals, but am basically the breadwinner in my family. That matters when you’re considering whether someone is operating as a business or a hobbyist. Phew – are we all on the same page now? I charge $1500 as a base rate to show up on a wedding day (and do the proper due diligence beforehand) having taken into account the quality of service I provide, my relative experience, my market conditions and my children’s stubborn refusal to give up their addiction to food and shelter. So how much does wedding planning really pay?
Tangibles and Direct Expenses
Let’s take that $1500, figure out what my gross annual income is then deduct as many clear-cut expenses as we possibly can to establish what my true hourly rate is. At $1500 x 20 weddings I bring in $30,000 per year. Of the approximately 30 total hours in the package, I work 20 of those myself, so that’s “just” 400 hours of work; a measly 7.7 hours of work per week! Compared to the normal full-time job at 40 hours per week, this is the life! Before we can determine an hourly rate for me, though, we have to deduct what I pay my contract labor for assistance on the wedding day. That money comes out as a check to someone else at every single wedding. $1500 - $150 (avg. cost of my wedding day assistant) = $1350 Now, the remaining $1350 goes ALL to me. Sa-weet right? $1350 x 20 = $27,000/year or $67.50 an hour (I’m rolling in money now!) and I get an 8-hour workweek? Who wouldn’t want my job? (I hear you laughing. Knock it off and keep reading!).
Defining the 400 Hours
Those 400 hours – they only account for the administrative or labor investment that I dedicate to each individual wedding. Per wedding it roughly breaks down as: 1 hour of initial consultation time 2 hours of walk-through time (ceremony & reception) 1 hour of final consultation time 1 hour rehearsal coordination 10 hours on the wedding day 5 hours of timeline building, account-specific administration (like contract reviews, vendor confirmations and email communication with my clients)
That is average. A handful of my clients are extremely low-maintenance (say, 2 per year) and the rest fall on a spectrum of time that sometimes exceeds what I’ve broken down above.
The “Other” Hours
Those 400 hours do not include: The 5 hours approximately each week that I invest (minimum) in responding to prospective client and miscellaneous inquiry phone calls and emails. The 5 hours or so I spend writing 3 wedding blogs (not posts – whole branded blogs) each week to market my business. The 5 - 10 hours or more each week that I invest in social media campaigns (including guest blogging, contributing articles, public speaking, etc.) to promote the blogs that market my business. You know…all that “free” advertising! The roughly 1 – 2 hours per week that it takes to simply administrate a business, including tax preparation, accounting, basic filing and other housekeeping activities. The time that I spend at networking meetings, on vendor site visits, in strategy meetings with potential partners, on my business plan and in goal setting. Add at least another 3 – 5 hours per week for those activities. My 7.7 hour per week job just got a lot closer to 30 - 35. Let’s say 30 for easy math. We jumped from 400 hours per year to 1560. And my hourly rate dropped to: $17.31 an hour. Sigh. At least it’s still more than you’d make flipping burgers, right?
The Intangible, Less Tangible and Lifestyle Expenses (Including Sacrifices)
Yes, my $17.31/hour job comes with perks. I get to set my own schedule as long as I stay available for my client’s when they need me. I get to see my children get on the bus every day, and greet them when they get home (except on rehearsal Fridays). There’s the little matter of childcare expenses when I have meetings or consultations, but I’ll freely admit that a lot of that is time they would already spend at their father’s home, so I avoid more childcare expense than some unlucky parents would. However, as generous as my ex can be with his time, I can’t seem to get him to pay for my exhibitor’s fees at bridal shows (not sporting if you ask me). I also have to deduct things like business licenses, self-employment tax, health care, dental care, accounting support at tax time, website hosting fees, domain name registrations, professional memberships, trade shows, conferences, travel to those trade shows and conferences, marketing materials and advertising, and maintenance of my emergency kit supplies, among other legitimate business expenses. Now you don’t want me to do the math, do you? $17.31 just dropped…a lot. Like, into single digits.
The Other Side of Pricing: Benefits to the Consumer (You!)
Then there are the benefits that make a wedding planner a good investment for the right bride and groom. Add to the above formulas the other side of the coin – the value that a bride and groom receive when they hire a truly professional wedding planner. What price do you put on peace of mind on your wedding day? You have to consider what you are investing in when you hire a wedding planner – even one who “only” manages the wedding day.
A Professional Planner Gets to Know Her Client In order to “read” your mind and act as an extension of your vision for your perfect day, we actually do need to get to know you. That preplanning time that is built into good “day-of” packages is critical. You can’t build a relationship with a questionnaire, and no self-respecting planner meets with you once then shows up on the big day (at the very least, if you are planning at a distance, there is contact via every means possible).
A Professional Planner Has Done This Before Yes, we are all new at some point. However, if you’re going to pay someone to fill the role of event manager, you deserve someone who has done this before. Would you hire a cake baker who’d only baked cookies before? Would you hire a photographer who just bought a camera, even if it was a “really good” camera and they “really loved” taking pictures? For that matter, would you hire a mechanic who had once seen someone do an oil change and was “pretty confident” he could do one too “’cause it looked easy and ‘fun’”? Don’t let the word “wedding” turn you stupid. It sounds harsh, but think about it. Why would you invest less time and accept lower quality at bargain prices on your wedding day than you would for any other major purchase? You need proof of some kind of track record before you hand over a check. Maybe that experience came from some previous employment but it needs to be real and valid. When we first start in this business there is so much more that most of us don’t even realize we don’t know yet. Experience matters and if you’re going to foot the bill, you deserve the best.
A Professional Planner Acts as a Catalyst for Positive Change, Not Negative Energy Who would you rather have interacting with your venue manager? Someone who is established and understands the fragile dynamics between two people whose relationship can either make or break an event OR the cheapest possible person for the job who is likely clueless about the boundaries between a facility manager and a professional planner? Who do you want negotiating on your behalf? Someone with experience who can identify the soft points of pricing that won’t impact the value that a vendor gives and that you receive, or a “bull in a china shop” who will risk your relationship with your various providers by demeaning their value and diminishing your bargaining power? If price was not an object, would you rather have the planner who is worth $300 or the one who is worth $1500 – or $3000 – or $5000 or more representing you on your wedding day?
A Bargain is in the Eye of the Beholder
The really smart among you are wondering how someone can afford to be a wedding planner at all. The truth is the average full-time wedding planner is hardly getting rich. I am lucky that I have other talents, a following that keeps me busier than average with clients, some of whom are able to select packages above the base level, and frankly that I have an ex-spouse who pays for his share of our children’s expenses. Not everyone who starts a wedding planning business (or who has been planning weddings since an era when it wasn’t a business) understands what goes into the pricing though. One of the surest signs that you are dealing with an inexperienced planner, a hobbyist, or one who derives her profit from kickbacks at the expense of integrity, is a bargainbasement price (that and the claim that “passion” is a qualification for planning weddings…a whole other article!). Professional Wedding Day Management (or day-of if you really want to call it that) is worth a whole lot more than $300.
The other truth is that none of this matters if you aren’t choosing a professional who can do the job and enhance your wedding day in a manner that makes the service valuable to you. I haven’t written this article with the purpose of making you feel sorry for wedding planners. For those who operate their businesses with experience and intelligence, it’s a perfectly viable way to make a living. What I do want is to prevent that knee-jerk “wow, that’s too expensive” reaction by giving you the real deal – the honest-togoodness nuts and bolts of what is actually behind wedding planner pricing. I want you to choose whether or not to hire a planner based on a real appreciation of pricing, of skill and of the contribution that a quality professional can make. I don’t want you to choose (or reject) someone based exclusively on price.
As much can be written about the price of wedding flowers, professional photography or live music; and if you take away nothing at all from this piece, I hope you’ll take a better understanding of the wedding business and the legitimate reasons that prices that initially seem high can ultimately be fair for the service provided. There are price points out there for everyone and there are legitimate ways to do almost anything yourself. Just be sure that the sacrifice you make is worth the actual money saved. There are no do-overs in weddings, so the risk you’re accepting might be a lot higher than you recognize.
Congratulations! There you have it. You can now consider yourself a “Wise Bride”. Go forth and use the information for good – and if you found it valuable, I encourage you to share. Happy Planning. Shayna Walker, Owner & Publisher Williamsburg Wedding Design and The World According to Weddlady
Why Do Wedding Planners Cost “So Much”
Demystifying the Pricing and Value of the Professional Wedding Planner Shayna Walker 12/26/2010
Why Do Wedding Planners Cost “So Much”?
I started this piece as a blog post. When I reached the 5th page of my first draft I realized that there was too much to say in a pithy, easy to read 300 – 500 words. When I re-read the article I also realized that what I had to say was important, and that it could fundamentally change the way that engaged couples approached the question: “Can I afford a wedding planner?” So, I turned my blog post into a free download – one that the smartest of brides and grooms (and more than a few wedding planners) will read whether or not they decide to hire a professional to handle their wedding planning and management needs. If I enlighten one person about what goes into pricing wedding planning services, and that one person approaches a planning professional with more knowledge (and dare I hope – more respect?) than they started with, then writing this was worth it.
Housekeeping
First the required stuff. I’m the author of this ebook. That means it is ©2010 Shayna Walker, all rights reserved. However, I want you to share it – this is good information and I want it to reach a whole lot of people, so please share it. Send it to a friend. Link to it on your blog or website. Tweet it. Post it on Facebook. Just be honest about it and cite where (and who) it came from. Your karma will stay intact and you’ll encourage others to be brave and educate. I trust you’re one of the good eggs, so do the right thing. For the purposes of citation (feel free to excerpt the good parts): About the Author Shayna Walker owns and operates Williamsburg Wedding Design. She publishes several blogs including The World According to Weddlady, The Williamsburg Wedding Blog and Life in Weddings. She has worked in some capacity in the hospitality and events industry since 1997, contributes to multiple industry blogs and publications, speaks on a variety of wedding related subjects and lives a secret life as a social media strategist. She’s a single mom of adorable twins and has the requisite dog to make her seem well-rounded.
The Real Deal
I’m going to explain to you exactly why planners cost so darn “much”.
Graphically (warning…it’s a little scary!)
In detail (with some made-up statistics and some actual numbers – identified correctly as we go)
Using a real example: ME
Let’s All Start on the Same Page
Before reading this, statistically at least 80% of you (I’m making that up – but it’s a large percentage) might contact me to ask for my rates and consider me “too expensive”. The polite ones among you would send a follow up email saying thank you but your budget does not allow for the investment. The others will just never respond. That’s okay. We’re all human. If 80% consider my rates too high, there will be at least 5% of you who consider my rates “a bargain”. You’ll either hire on the spot, OR (in a strange psychology twist) decide that if my rates are so “low” I’m not experienced enough. I applaud the logic, at least. In fact, I’d like you to chat with the first 80% so I’ll be sending you their phone numbers (kidding – abandon this now if you lack a sense of humor). The 15% of you left will find my rates “in the ballpark”. You’re statistically (again, totally unbacked by any kind of mathematical evidence) the folks who I will work with most easily, generally because you’ve done a little research both into market-appropriate rates and my qualifications before you contact me. In marketing terms, you’re a “qualified lead”…in my (uber-appreciative) lingo you’re a “Wise Bride”.
Of course those percentages are approximate, and based on my own years of experience with people planning weddings for the first time and using the available resources to “educate” themselves – namely magazines, good books, lousy books, good blogs, lousy blogs, good advice from friends and lousy advice from friends. As with many things, your knowledge is the sum total of your research and your experience, and this is probably the first time you’ve done this. Most people don’t intend to sound uneducated - they just don’t know any better. However, once you’ve read this I’m going to consider you part of the “learned” insiders and whether you find a wedding planner to be a value to you or not, you will at least understand what is behind the monetary value that we assign ourselves and will make your decisions based on more than just “Ooh. That sounds like a lot.” Yes. I am trusting you not to check your brain just because you’re engaged, and I believe that the vast majority of you can handle that with no problem.
Let’s Talk Numbers
For the purposes of this exercise, we’re going to take my Wedding Day Management, or base package Not everyone charges based on packages – I do because I am a logistical planner, not a designer; it works for me and for my clients. Despite what some folks say, both methods are valid. Wedding Day Management is not a planning package – rather, it’s a support service that includes an initial consultation, some valuable referrals and tools, reviews, timeline construction, rehearsal coordination and a pair of experienced staff members on your wedding day. The total estimated hours included in the package are 20-30 and the base price is $1500. (About that base price…keep reading)
You Have to Allow for Market Differences
As far as I can tell through anecdotal evidence, I am one of the most expensive planners (at least at the “day-of” level) in Williamsburg, Virginia. Compared to markets as close as Virginia Beach, and as far as Los Angeles, that’s cheap. Compared to a market like Richmond or perhaps your hometown, it’s expensive. I don’t mind being the most expensive in my market because I’m also at the top of the “experienced” list regionally and I’ve earned a great reputation through years of hard work. This article isn’t about the “right” price – it’s about understanding what contributes to the price of wedding planning.
My Market Conditions
Our average wedding regionally is in the $20 - $30,000 range. We get some that are much, much higher, and a lot that are lower. My clients are all over the spectrum when it comes to budget because most hire me based on my skill not on price, but it would be a lie to say that overall pricing decisions are made without consideration for the regional average budget. So, if you’re in Los Angeles, and $1500 is what you pay your assistants: a) tell me where to send my CV (L.A. is my hometown!) and b) bless your market – you also pay a lot more for advertising, cost of living, and other factors (keep reading). If you’re a celebrity in any market, and $1500 is what you pay the gal who walks your dog between appointments, see my CV note. I’ll start tomorrow.
Factoring in Frequency and Quality of Life
I have children who I like very much. I work my wedding planning business full-time and it naturally requires a lot of weekend commitments. I could slash my prices and be guaranteed twice as many weddings as I book now. However, I’m not willing to cut my prices in half in order to work twice as hard, twice as often and see my kids half as much. I get no additional value from saying I’m working 30 half-priced weddings than I do from 15 weddings that pay what I’m worth. Perhaps there is someone who does (not that I can think of anyone)…mostly, I think “busy for the sake of being busy” is sheer craziness. I do have service levels above Wedding Day Management, but this article will be long enough, so I’m going to work them all into an average and assume that I need to work 20 WDM weddings to make $30,000 (a frugal living wage in my region) and leave it at that for the sake of this example. Do I try to make more each year? Heck yes! And once you account for partial and full-service packages, along with hourly consultations, the numbers are not as cut and dry and every year is a different beast.
Other Personal Contributing Factors
Finally, I am not married, I do have 2 children and I receive child support on their behalf. That means that I have a “sort of” spouse’s income to help with fundamentals, but am basically the breadwinner in my family. That matters when you’re considering whether someone is operating as a business or a hobbyist. Phew – are we all on the same page now? I charge $1500 as a base rate to show up on a wedding day (and do the proper due diligence beforehand) having taken into account the quality of service I provide, my relative experience, my market conditions and my children’s stubborn refusal to give up their addiction to food and shelter. So how much does wedding planning really pay?
Tangibles and Direct Expenses
Let’s take that $1500, figure out what my gross annual income is then deduct as many clear-cut expenses as we possibly can to establish what my true hourly rate is. At $1500 x 20 weddings I bring in $30,000 per year. Of the approximately 30 total hours in the package, I work 20 of those myself, so that’s “just” 400 hours of work; a measly 7.7 hours of work per week! Compared to the normal full-time job at 40 hours per week, this is the life! Before we can determine an hourly rate for me, though, we have to deduct what I pay my contract labor for assistance on the wedding day. That money comes out as a check to someone else at every single wedding. $1500 - $150 (avg. cost of my wedding day assistant) = $1350 Now, the remaining $1350 goes ALL to me. Sa-weet right? $1350 x 20 = $27,000/year or $67.50 an hour (I’m rolling in money now!) and I get an 8-hour workweek? Who wouldn’t want my job? (I hear you laughing. Knock it off and keep reading!).
Defining the 400 Hours
Those 400 hours – they only account for the administrative or labor investment that I dedicate to each individual wedding. Per wedding it roughly breaks down as: 1 hour of initial consultation time 2 hours of walk-through time (ceremony & reception) 1 hour of final consultation time 1 hour rehearsal coordination 10 hours on the wedding day 5 hours of timeline building, account-specific administration (like contract reviews, vendor confirmations and email communication with my clients)
That is average. A handful of my clients are extremely low-maintenance (say, 2 per year) and the rest fall on a spectrum of time that sometimes exceeds what I’ve broken down above.
The “Other” Hours
Those 400 hours do not include: The 5 hours approximately each week that I invest (minimum) in responding to prospective client and miscellaneous inquiry phone calls and emails. The 5 hours or so I spend writing 3 wedding blogs (not posts – whole branded blogs) each week to market my business. The 5 - 10 hours or more each week that I invest in social media campaigns (including guest blogging, contributing articles, public speaking, etc.) to promote the blogs that market my business. You know…all that “free” advertising! The roughly 1 – 2 hours per week that it takes to simply administrate a business, including tax preparation, accounting, basic filing and other housekeeping activities. The time that I spend at networking meetings, on vendor site visits, in strategy meetings with potential partners, on my business plan and in goal setting. Add at least another 3 – 5 hours per week for those activities. My 7.7 hour per week job just got a lot closer to 30 - 35. Let’s say 30 for easy math. We jumped from 400 hours per year to 1560. And my hourly rate dropped to: $17.31 an hour. Sigh. At least it’s still more than you’d make flipping burgers, right?
The Intangible, Less Tangible and Lifestyle Expenses (Including Sacrifices)
Yes, my $17.31/hour job comes with perks. I get to set my own schedule as long as I stay available for my client’s when they need me. I get to see my children get on the bus every day, and greet them when they get home (except on rehearsal Fridays). There’s the little matter of childcare expenses when I have meetings or consultations, but I’ll freely admit that a lot of that is time they would already spend at their father’s home, so I avoid more childcare expense than some unlucky parents would. However, as generous as my ex can be with his time, I can’t seem to get him to pay for my exhibitor’s fees at bridal shows (not sporting if you ask me). I also have to deduct things like business licenses, self-employment tax, health care, dental care, accounting support at tax time, website hosting fees, domain name registrations, professional memberships, trade shows, conferences, travel to those trade shows and conferences, marketing materials and advertising, and maintenance of my emergency kit supplies, among other legitimate business expenses. Now you don’t want me to do the math, do you? $17.31 just dropped…a lot. Like, into single digits.
The Other Side of Pricing: Benefits to the Consumer (You!)
Then there are the benefits that make a wedding planner a good investment for the right bride and groom. Add to the above formulas the other side of the coin – the value that a bride and groom receive when they hire a truly professional wedding planner. What price do you put on peace of mind on your wedding day? You have to consider what you are investing in when you hire a wedding planner – even one who “only” manages the wedding day.
A Professional Planner Gets to Know Her Client In order to “read” your mind and act as an extension of your vision for your perfect day, we actually do need to get to know you. That preplanning time that is built into good “day-of” packages is critical. You can’t build a relationship with a questionnaire, and no self-respecting planner meets with you once then shows up on the big day (at the very least, if you are planning at a distance, there is contact via every means possible).
A Professional Planner Has Done This Before Yes, we are all new at some point. However, if you’re going to pay someone to fill the role of event manager, you deserve someone who has done this before. Would you hire a cake baker who’d only baked cookies before? Would you hire a photographer who just bought a camera, even if it was a “really good” camera and they “really loved” taking pictures? For that matter, would you hire a mechanic who had once seen someone do an oil change and was “pretty confident” he could do one too “’cause it looked easy and ‘fun’”? Don’t let the word “wedding” turn you stupid. It sounds harsh, but think about it. Why would you invest less time and accept lower quality at bargain prices on your wedding day than you would for any other major purchase? You need proof of some kind of track record before you hand over a check. Maybe that experience came from some previous employment but it needs to be real and valid. When we first start in this business there is so much more that most of us don’t even realize we don’t know yet. Experience matters and if you’re going to foot the bill, you deserve the best.
A Professional Planner Acts as a Catalyst for Positive Change, Not Negative Energy Who would you rather have interacting with your venue manager? Someone who is established and understands the fragile dynamics between two people whose relationship can either make or break an event OR the cheapest possible person for the job who is likely clueless about the boundaries between a facility manager and a professional planner? Who do you want negotiating on your behalf? Someone with experience who can identify the soft points of pricing that won’t impact the value that a vendor gives and that you receive, or a “bull in a china shop” who will risk your relationship with your various providers by demeaning their value and diminishing your bargaining power? If price was not an object, would you rather have the planner who is worth $300 or the one who is worth $1500 – or $3000 – or $5000 or more representing you on your wedding day?
A Bargain is in the Eye of the Beholder
The really smart among you are wondering how someone can afford to be a wedding planner at all. The truth is the average full-time wedding planner is hardly getting rich. I am lucky that I have other talents, a following that keeps me busier than average with clients, some of whom are able to select packages above the base level, and frankly that I have an ex-spouse who pays for his share of our children’s expenses. Not everyone who starts a wedding planning business (or who has been planning weddings since an era when it wasn’t a business) understands what goes into the pricing though. One of the surest signs that you are dealing with an inexperienced planner, a hobbyist, or one who derives her profit from kickbacks at the expense of integrity, is a bargainbasement price (that and the claim that “passion” is a qualification for planning weddings…a whole other article!). Professional Wedding Day Management (or day-of if you really want to call it that) is worth a whole lot more than $300.
The other truth is that none of this matters if you aren’t choosing a professional who can do the job and enhance your wedding day in a manner that makes the service valuable to you. I haven’t written this article with the purpose of making you feel sorry for wedding planners. For those who operate their businesses with experience and intelligence, it’s a perfectly viable way to make a living. What I do want is to prevent that knee-jerk “wow, that’s too expensive” reaction by giving you the real deal – the honest-togoodness nuts and bolts of what is actually behind wedding planner pricing. I want you to choose whether or not to hire a planner based on a real appreciation of pricing, of skill and of the contribution that a quality professional can make. I don’t want you to choose (or reject) someone based exclusively on price.
As much can be written about the price of wedding flowers, professional photography or live music; and if you take away nothing at all from this piece, I hope you’ll take a better understanding of the wedding business and the legitimate reasons that prices that initially seem high can ultimately be fair for the service provided. There are price points out there for everyone and there are legitimate ways to do almost anything yourself. Just be sure that the sacrifice you make is worth the actual money saved. There are no do-overs in weddings, so the risk you’re accepting might be a lot higher than you recognize.
Congratulations! There you have it. You can now consider yourself a “Wise Bride”. Go forth and use the information for good – and if you found it valuable, I encourage you to share. Happy Planning. Shayna Walker, Owner & Publisher Williamsburg Wedding Design and The World According to Weddlady
