Couples often pick wedding planners to ensure that their wedding planning is stress-free. From vendors to execution, wedding planners take care of everything. They make sure to avoid any haphazard or unforeseen events that could possibly ruin your dream wedding. And of course, when it comes to your D-day, you want everything to go perfectly just as you imagined it to be and also what you paid for. So, this is exactly why choosing a good and experienced wedding planner is important. Just looking through the wedding planner’s portfolio on the first meeting isn’t enough. Couples must make sure to ask questions (A LOT of questions) before finalizing them. From budget to execution, it is crucial to make sure you are all on the same page.
Note Down These Question To Ask Wedding Planners Before Finalizing Them:
Questions Related To Budget And Availability
Some of the first things to ask in the first meeting is their availability and if they fit your budget. Being upfront and blunt about budget will save you a lot of time and energy. In case they don’t fit into your budget, ask if they can work part-time for you.
Here are some basic questions that you need to take a note of for the first meeting with the potential wedding planners –
- Are you available on the wedding dates that we have picked?
- If yes, what are your working hours and convenient time that you prefer to be contacted?
- XYZ is our ideal budget, will you be able to within our budget?
- Have you previously planned a wedding of this scale on a similar budget?
- What is the lowest/highest budget that you have ever worked on?
- If you’re unable to work within our budget full-time, can you provide your services part-time?
Questions On Meetings
Right after you meet them for the first time, make sure you ask a few basic questions to avoid any communication gaps.
- How many meetings will be required before the wedding?
- Who would be available for us constantly for discussing nitty-gritty details?
- How often will you be in touch with us?
- What is your preferred mode of communication?
Questions On Services That The Wedding Planners Provide
Once you are past the basics of budgeting and availability, then comes the understanding of how things work with wedding planners. In some cases, there are wedding planners who take care of the design and aesthetics of the wedding. However, there are other planners who simply work as mediators who only take care of the coordination between all vendors. Ask your wedding planner which kind they are and if they charge anything extra for any other additional services.
- Do you offer your services in packages or à la carte?
- What specific services do you provide over all?
- Do you also plan destination weddings?
- What are all the services you will be able to provide in our budget?
- Other than the mentioned services, do you offer any additional services on demand?
- If yes, how do you charge for these additional services?
- Are you only a coordination service provider or a conceptual design service provider or both?
- Do you handle guest invitation, design coordination and RSVPs as well?
- Will you offer to mail invites to all our guests and handle the guest list or RSVP?
- Does your service include taking care of accommodation and logistics of our outstation guests?
Vendor Selection Process Related Questions
To make sure your wedding planners have the best team in place, make sure you ask them about their vendors. It is most commonly known that the planners have a network of preferred vendors they work with most of the time. Ask if you can suggest some vendors and how things will go about in such cases.
- Do you have any preferred vendors?
- What is your procedure for vendor selection and how much will we be involved in it?
- Will you be okay to work with the vendors of our choice?
- Will you be able to get us any discounts from the vendors we picked?
Questions About Wedding Planner’s Experience And Their Staff Details
Before the first meeting, make sure you have done your market survey. Read about the wedding planners’ reviews or testimonials. You can also head to ShaadiWish-approved wedding planners to ensure you pick the best in business. Go through their social media handles and make sure you scroll through the weddings that they have previously worked on.
- What are your social media handles where we can see your body of work?
- Where can we read some of your reviews or testimonials from clients?
- How many weddings have you previously planned?
- Have you previously planned a wedding at the wedding venue we picked?
(Pro Tip: it is best to finalize a wedding planner before booking the venue as you may get to sprawl through some more amazing venues with the help of your planner. Moreover, they will also help you get some exclusive discounts.)
- Will you be working on multiple weddings at once?
- If yes, then how will you be managing your time with us?
- Will you be providing us a team to coordinate all minute details with or will you be leading the entire planning?
- Have you planned a destination wedding previously?
- How many staff members will be present on our wedding day and are they well-trained for last minute mishaps?
Wedding Planner Questions On Vendor Management
It is good to understand the nitty-gritty details about vendor management right from the start to avoid last minute misunderstandings amidst your wedding chaos. Ask them if they will be providing a timeline for all vendors, if the vendors will accommodate any last-minute changes on the wedding day and so on.
- Will you handle the contract signing from vendors?
- Will you be providing a timeline for all vendors?
- Do you need our approval before finalizing the vendor?
- Will you be paying the vendors on our behalf or will we be signing cheques for them?
- Are the vendors open to any last-minute changes in designing?
Ideas And Execution Related Questions
It is your wedding, so you need to ensure that the wedding planner will accommodate your requirements and ideas. Ask them questions about design ideas they have in their head for you and if they can work around the theme you suggest.
- Will you be able to include the vision we have for our wedding?
- What are some ideas you have for our vision?
- Will you be making a vision board or a mood board to get a clear idea?
- In case of our absence, how will you communicate our vision clearly to the involved vendors?
Questions Related To Payments And Insurance
It is best to keep your payment terms clear from day one. Ask about advance payment, preferred mode of payment, if any additional costs are involved or so on. Also, it is best to ask for an insurance policy, just in case.
- Will you be requiring payment in advance?
- If yes, what percentage of the total amount will be required in advance and when?
- Will any additional expenses be involved (travel, logistics, accommodation, food, etc)?
- What would be your preferred mode of payment? (Cheques, cash or credit card)
- Do you offer any payment plans?
- Do you have insurance and what does it cover?
- Do you also offer event or disaster management insurance?
Not-To-Miss These Generic Questions For The Wedding Planners
There are tons of things that can go wrong on the wedding day so make sure you ask questions that might seem very basic. Ask about plan B for scenarios, last-minute vendor changes, nonattendance, or bad weather.
- What happens if the weather goes bad on the D-day and we have an outdoor venue?
- Do we have a plan B for any last-minute mismanagement or mishaps?
- What happens in case you fall sick on the day of the wedding? Who will be managing things?
- What happens if a vendor does not show up on the day of the wedding?
- Do you have any alternative contact details we can reach in case you are not reachable?
These were some really important questions that you need to ask wedding planners to ensure you pick the best ones for your D-day. We hope this list of questions help you finalize the right wedding planner!
Also, check out the best Gold Coast wedding videographer to make your D-day remarkable.
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