Should I invest in a Wedding Coordinator?

What questions should I ask?

You’re here, you’re engaged, you’re blushing!  Now, you are getting down to business and starting the wedding coordination.  You’ve got a career, you’re a social butterfly and you volunteer every weekend at the pet shelter.  You’re thinking, “How am I going to plan the wedding too?”

Hiring a wedding coordinator, while definitely a perk for most wedding budgets, can certainly ease the planning process and keep you on track month to month!

We personally planned our entire wedding.  Call me crazy, but I enjoy DIYing and coordination.  It’s the PM in me!  From the thrift store searching for different style frames for our tables to the tree sign in we ordered to have our guests sign a leaf when they arrived to stringing lights on the gold brushed branches that we personally cut down from my mom and dad’s house in Georgia, that’s right, that was all us. We must be glutens for punishment because with 2 full time jobs, my photography, 2 puppies and a partridge in pear tree, we slept very little in the 8 months we positioned ourselves for planning!  If you are saying to yourself, Franchesca, you’re just crazy, then I’ll first agree with you and then hand you these 20 questions to ask a potential Wedding Coordinator you may want to work with!  Because after all, I would ask these questions too.

1. Are you available on my wedding date?
2. Do you book more than 1 wedding a day?
3. How did you become a wedding planner?
4. How long have you been a wedding planner?
5. How many weddings have you planned?
6. Do you have a business license?
7. How many clients do you work with a year?
8. Have you ever worked at our venue?
9. Do you receive commission from any vendors you refer us to?
10. Do I pay you or do you coordinate invoicing with the vendors?
11. What does your scope of work look like?
12. Do you have a backup planner in case an emergency arises?
13. What kinds of packages do you offer?
14. Is the rehearsal included in your packages?
15. Are your fees a percentage of the total wedding cost or do you charge a set fee?
16. Do you have a refund policy?
17. Do you have a list of references?
18. How could I see your portfolio?
19. How do we communicate? Emails, conference calls?
20. How do we pay you?

Whatever route you choose to go, know that your day is going to be special!