Are you newly engaged, scrolled through Pinterest, and realized that planning a wedding is basically a full-time job? That’s where wedding planners come in! They’re basically behind-the-scenes superheroes who make your wedding day run as efficiently as possible!
If you’ve ever wondered why wedding planners price the way they do, you’re not alone. Keep in mind that no two weddings are alike. Every wedding has its own level of detail. While some weddings call for hours of logistics, design, and vendor coordination, others are more effortless. The planner’s fees are based on what it takes to bring the celebration to life. Let’s take a closer look at some of the factors that determine the cost of a luxury wedding planner.
Multi-Day Events vs. Single-Day Celebrations
A single-day wedding will naturally take less planning than a multi-day wedding event. A luxury wedding weekend typically involves multiple gatherings, such as a welcome party, rehearsal dinner, and often, a farewell brunch, too, which require extra design and coordination.
At HauteFêtes, we specialize in luxury weddings that are tailored to celebrate your love story. To deliver an exceptional experience from start to finish, we have a two-day event minimum. This allows us to fully immerse your guests in the celebration, thoughtfully design each gathering, and ensure every touchpoint — from decor to flow to hospitality — feels intentional, cohesive, and reflective of you as a couple.
How Long Your Wedding Lasts
Are you going to need to transport your guests at any point during your wedding weekend? If you want to have your wedding ceremony in one location and your reception in another, for example, you’ll need to bus your guests. If your guests need to get from Point A to Point B, this is going to require extra logistics coordination.
Transporting Guests From Point A to Point B
The length of your wedding is one of the biggest factors that determine wedding planning costs. Will your wedding planner and vendors need to start setting up at sunrise? Will the wedding run past midnight? The earlier or later your wedding day runs, the more coordination it will take to execute, produce, and coordinate with vendors to ensure your day flows seamlessly.
Transporting Guests From Point A to Point B
In addition to your guests, your wedding planner and their team will also need to be in two places at once as well. Clearly, that’s not going to be possible, so they’ll need to have a larger crew to ensure that there are staff available at each location to both set up before your guests arrive and staff each event.
The Scope of Your Wedding
Every wedding is unique, and so are the dreams you have in mind for your big day. From the number of guests and wedding venue size to whether it’s a full property buyout or an intimate gathering, all of the elements of your special day will determine the cost of a wedding planner.
If you’re planning a wedding that involves multiple venues or if you’re looking at building out a private estate with a tented wedding or other complex setup, these types of custom setups will all require additional planning and coordination with third parties. Accordingly, this type of scope will drive up the overall cost of your wedding due to team size and time investment.
If your planner will manage room blocks, transportation, and other elements of a destination wedding experience, this will also require extra hours of coordination. Or perhaps you’re looking to book a special band or headliner for your event. Or a private yacht for a sunset sail and sips welcome party! All of these fine details will help bring your vision to life — and require more hours of coordination from your wedding planner.
What’s Included In Wedding Planning Costs (And What Isn’t)?
The fees of a full-service wedding planner include everything it takes to thoughtfully produce your multi-day wedding. Some of the things included in the fee are:
- Creative development
- Design
- Venue and vendor sourcing and management
- Managing a wedding budget
- Copyediting
- Guest accommodation support
- Transportation coordination
- Logistics
- On-site execution across all events
Some of the things that aren’t included in the cost of a wedding planner include:
- Travel expenses, including airfare, car rentals, and accommodations
- Day of team staffing
To find out the full scope of services included in the package, be sure to ask your wedding planner before signing your contract.
Why Wedding Planners Matter More Than You Think
Many people don’t understand how complex the wedding planning process can be. It’s about more than choosing a venue and a mood board. There are countless details and logistics that aren’t obvious to people who have never planned a high-scale event before.
One of the biggest surprises for most couples is the number of hidden wedding expenses you’ll come across during the wedding planning process. A wedding planner knows the hidden costs and helps you navigate unexpected expenses so you can prepare for — or even avoid — them.
For example, if you’re planning an outdoor wedding, there are unexpected costs you’ll need to be aware of. Having a weather backup plan involves extra equipment, labor, and rental items. Your planner will address these issues early on, so there are no surprises.
A wedding planner will also help you determine where you can cut corners. They’ll have suggestions on how many guests you should invite given your budget, how to save money on your wedding menu, saving money on floral arrangements, and ways to minimize your decor to save money. A planner also helps you break down your wedding budget per guest.
You might think a planner will encourage you to spend more money, but this isn’t the case. Good wedding planners encourage their clients to spend their budget intentionally. They help you allocate your budget towards items that will make the greatest impact and ensure your special day is what you’ve been dreaming of. Whether it’s entertainment, guest experiences, or design, a good planner helps you work the most important items into your budget.
Planners Do A Lot Behind the Scenes
Many couples don’t understand the amount of behind-the-scenes work that goes into wedding planning. From negotiating with vendors and creating staff plans to contingency budgeting, there’s so much a wedding planner does to make your special day come together!
Not only does the scale of your wedding determine cost, but so does the planner’s relationship with vendors. Your planner is the glue that holds the foundation of your special day together. Wedding planners are able to solve problems before they happen, saving you time, stress, and additional costs.
The Time It Takes to Plan a Wedding
A lot of people underestimate the amount of time that goes into planning a wedding. A wedding can take 300 to 550 hours of planning leading up to the wedding, along with well over 150 hours leading into and during the weekend of the wedding. How? A wedding planning team can consist of anywhere between 4-10 team members working 3-5 days, including setup and breakdown.
In addition to managing their own team, wedding planners also oversee all vendors, the couple, their family, and their wedding guests. We’re grateful that our clients consistently comment on how approachable our wedding planning team is and how much our team adds to the caliber of guest experience.
Wedding Planner Pricing Models
When it comes to wedding planning, there’s no one-size-fits-all approach to pricing. Every planner prices themself in a way that reflects their time and expertise. Here’s a breakdown of the various pricing models that planners use:
- A flat fee. Some planners use a fixed-rate pricing model. Setting their rate in advance ensures that they’re being fairly compensated for their time, expertise, and creativity, rather than allowing their rate to fluctuate with the increasing budget. Couples will feel confident that their recommendations are based on what’s best for them, rather than budget fluctuations.
- A percentage model. Some wedding planners prefer to charge a percentage of your overall wedding budget rather than setting a flat fee. A larger event requires more time, staff, and coordination to bring it to life. With a percentage-based price model, you can typically expect to allocate 12-12% of your overall wedding budget toward planning services, depending on the size, location, and scope of your event.
- A hybrid approach. Some wedding planner packages use a blended approach. They set a flat fee to a certain budget and then add a small percentage over anything that exceeds that budget. It provides clarity on upfront wedding planning costs, while still ensuring planners are fairly compensated for large-scale events.
Transparency is key when it comes to pricing! It breeds trust with our clients. At HauteFêtes, we offer a flat fee model that allows our couples to feel confident that our luxury wedding planning recommendations are always made with their best interests in mind. If your wedding budget shifts along the way, our fees will remain the same.
The Bottom Line
There are a myriad of different factors that determine the cost of a wedding planner. Just as no two weddings are the same, no two wedding planning packages are the same. No matter the cost, a great wedding planner is invaluable. A planner does more than just set the perfect place setting. Planners help the couple manage the wedding budget, adhere to timelines, ensure payments are taken care of, oversee guest emails, and keep stress levels in check. A wedding planner will often also manage guest accommodation, transportation, website development, and guest welcome gift bags. We advocate for our couples to make sure their day goes as smoothly as possible so they can focus on what matters most: celebrating their love story!
If you’d like help planning your wedding, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us at HauteFêtes! We’re here to help ensure your special day goes off without a hitch.