Thinking of hiring a wedding planner? Make sure you understand the costs. Find out more about the different types of planner fees and how those fees can affect your wedding budget.
Understanding the cost of a wedding planner is essential to keeping your wedding within budget. Few couples realize that planners actually have different methods for obtaining payment for their services. No one method is really better than another. Each has its own set of advantages and disadvantages, but not understanding how those benefits and limitations can affect your wedding budget and planning can lead to unplanned expense and even poor results that can be seen in the details and overall results of your wedding.
“Free Service”
Free service wedding planners don’t charge you directly for their fees. Instead, the vendor provides the planner with a percentage of the items you purchase for your wedding. From a distance, this seems like the best way to keep your wedding budget under control—sometimes it is. But understanding the cost of a wedding planner requires you to recognize that not all vendors will pay your planner the same percentage. As a result, your wedding planner may be impartial towards certain vendors to increase their revenue. This may actually increase your wedding costs.
Percentage Fees
Understanding the cost of a wedding planner is especially important for planners that charge a percentage fee. Generally, percentage fee planning is used for larger, more detailed weddings. The fee generally ranges between 15-20% of the total wedding cost. This includes the ceremony and reception. Those who are having small weddings are likely to find percentage fee planners a poor choice for keeping within budget.
Flat Rate Fees
Flat rate fees are probably the most straightforward fee types when it comes to understanding the cost of a wedding planner. This type of wedding planner gives you a flat fee for their services. The fee will not fluctuate, no matter how much you spend on your vendors or on the details of your wedding. Flat rate planners are usually more cost effective overall. Understanding the cost of a wedding planner for flat rat fees, however, means that you should be aware that flat rate planners generally limit the number of hours the planner will spend on your wedding, making them a poor choice for larger weddings or weddings that require a lot of attention.
