Four Types of Wedding Planners

There are so many choices when it comes to wedding planners, and there are a range of professionals who fall under the ‘wedding planner’ title. Yet, their skill sets widely vary.  Some of these titles include consultant, coordinator, designer, stylist, etc. These differing designations usually reflect a special area of expertise that the planner has. However, when choosing if a planner is right for you and which type of planner is right for you, it’s important to begin with what you’re looking for and need.

Day of Coordination: Sarah Bean                                                                                                                            Photo: Kt Crabb Photography

The right planner can do many things:

• Helping choose the right vendors to match your needs, wants and budget.
• Helping develop your visions of colors, patterns and presenting new ideas.
• Assist with coordinating from start to finish.
• Manage décor setup on the day of your wedding.

So, do you need assistance with all of those above or only a few? As we had mentioned, there are many types of planners to choose from. Some are more vision oriented, while others specialize in scheduling and production.

Full-Service Planner
A full-service wedding planner handles it all, from design to coordination. From start to finish, this planner will work with you to create the overall vision, meet with vendors, and manage logistics.

Event Designer
An event designer focuses on pulling together the total look and guest experience, rather than focusing on event details like timeline and budget. Essentially, they are the interior designer of your event, so they will work with other décor vendors to create the event.

A La Carte Planner
Part-time planning isn’t as popular of a service, and deals more with advice and projects than actual planning organization. These services are normally used for assistance with specific projects.

Day of Coordinator
Many of these coordinators assure everything runs smoothly on the actual wedding day but are not very involved beforehand. At least not much more than a month prior. These individuals will handle all the vendors, event set up and event clean up. More so than that, they will develop the wedding day timelines for all involved, oversee the wedding rehearsal and review vendor contracts.

Finding good chemistry with a planner of your choice is very important, considering how intimately involved they are in carrying out your wedding vision. We understand how important professionalism, talent, and track-record are when selecting your own, so we invite you to learn about some of our preferred planners. Each of these planners have worked with us for events multiple times, demonstrating time and again their excellence:  

Circle City Planners
David Jackson & Co. 
Eventful Planning
Accolade of London
Anne Rodgers Productions
Detail & Design