Wedding Coordinators and Party and Event Planners
EVENT PLANNING HOME
Wedding Coordinators and Party and Event Planners
If you are attempting to plan a complicated special event where a number of details have to be coordinated, hiring a wedding or event planner can save you a significant amount of time and ensure that all elements of your wedding or special event have been taken care of properly. Time is money so plan to spend some money for the planners time keeping in mind that the time you are paying for is time that you would have to spend doing it yourself. You are paying for their experience and knowledge to save you money and to make sure that all of the details of your event are handled properly.
SELECTING A PLANNER
With the recent "work at home" businesses boom, and companies who offer rapid
"certification" programs for wedding, party and event consultants, coordinators
and planners, selecting the right planner is essential if you are going to have a worry
free event and get your money's worth. When you speak to different planners, take
notes and determine your comfort level with the specific planner. Do they seem to
listen and understand what you have in mind? Inquire about the planner's experience
and the number of events they have coordinated.
Ask to obtain several recent references from the planner so you can check their clients satisfaction level. If they are not willing to share several recent references with you, don't waste any more time, move on to another planner.
Offered services will vary from planner to planner and can range from simple consulting services to make the job of "doing it yourself" easier to complete coordination of your wedding or special event. A consultant usually takes a more passive role and may simply offer "guidance" in areas where you may not be familiar while allowing you to do it yourself. On the other hand, a full service planner or coordinator will provide more "hands on" expertise and take an active role in planning and supervising your event, handling everything from working with you to establish a workable budget, to addressing and sending invitations, to selecting the best suppliers at the best price, to on-site supervision of the components of the actual event. Depending upon your budget you will have to decide which level of service is right for you.
Inquire about their fee structure and obtain a written outline of the fees or an estimate of the costs involved. Find out specifically what you are getting for your money, which areas they are taking care of and which areas they are not taking care of. Do they charge by the hour or based on a specified percentage of the total event cost? (A percentage based fee is not really a preferred arrangement since the planner makes more when the event costs you more which offers the planner very little incentive to save you money.)
Ask them if, in addition to the fee they charge you, they also receive a fee from the vendors they contract. If your goal is to receive the best value, planners who charge vendors should probably be avoided since the fee they charge the vendor sometimes (frequently) is "built in" to the vendor's charges to the client. That is pretty much like paying the planner twice, isn't it? (This same rule also applies to wedding and special event facilities who have an "approved" vendor list who receive a fee from the vendor for requiring the client use their services.) Remember though, just because a facility may have a vendor list does not mean that they automatically charge the vendor a fee. This is a question you will need to ask the facility.
Payment of the planner's fee is another issue to be discussed initially. Normally, the planner will charge a retainer in advance that covers either a percentage of the anticipated total or a specific number of hours of service. The balance is payable either in periodic time billing amounts, prior to the start of the event, or at the conclusion of the event.
Avoid paying 100% of all fees up front unless you know the planner has a rock solid reputation. From a practical standpoint it is usually best to reserve final payment until the conclusion of the event, just in case something goes wrong due to negligence on the part of the planner.
Payments to vendors contracted on your behalf by a planner will either be paid by you directly or paid by the planner from funds paid by you to the planner. When paying the planner for services provided by contracted vendors, be sure to obtain the original invoice copies rather than paying from a statement.
DISCUSSIONS WITH THE PLANNER
Once you are comfortable with the planner and have contracted their services it
is time to get down to the nuts and bolts of planning your special event. A thorough
initial discussion with the planner will give him/her the information needed to begin
planning your event. Be honest with the planner relative to the amount of funds
available for your wedding or special event since the planner will need to establish a
realistic plan/budget based on your event requirements/available funds. Thorough
discussion with the planner will allow the planner to advise you if your requirements are
not realistic when compared to your available funds and also allow the planner to offer
you alternative suggestions to stay within the available funds. Keep in mind that
some fine tuning of the components, i.e. facility, decor, food and beverage,
entertainment, etc. and their associated costs may be required to stay within your
available amount of funds.
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