5 Things to Consider When Choosing Your Wedding Planner

By: Karin Wu, WPICC of Karin Wu & Co.

It’s easy to get overwhelmed during the wedding planning process. Along with organizing, researching and finding the best vendors for your budget, it also comes down to negotiating costs, ensuring that everything is done on time and that the big day runs smoothly – while ensuring your guests are all happy and enjoying themselves. Phew!

Here are 5 things to consider when choosing your wedding planner:

Personality and trust

It’s important for you to find a planner that you instantly get along with. There are a lot of moving pieces and it’s best to set up a video call to really get to know your planner. Be sure to relay any doubts and concerns you have, and run through how they’ll organize and coordinate with you throughout the process. There may be times when it may be difficult, but trusting your planner is key when working together as they’ll be managing the execution of your wedding.

Portfolio

Planners are able to work to ensure every aspect of your wedding is amazing, but they each have their own skill set that they bring to the table – whether it be the logistics, coordination, visuals, etc. You need to ensure that it matches what you are looking for.

Communication

I can’t stress this enough, but communication is key when planning your wedding! Things to consider are the planner response times in getting back to you. Is the planner too busy? Do they take a long time to get back to you? Are they relaying any concerns in a timely manner? The planner you hire needs to keep you up to date with the preparations and ensure that you know exactly when to expect a reply to help lessen the stress.

Pricing structure

Every planner is different when pricing their offers. Whether you only want the planner for specific tasks, on the big day, or planning your entire wedding from the beginning, can make a difference in price. Pricing structures can be a flat rate, a base fee plus extra charges depending on needs, or an hourly rate. Finding out the payment structure and the billing method is, is essential when it comes to the budget to ensure that both parties are happy

Business license and Insurance

It should come as no surprise that wedding planning can be stressful. You want to ensure the person you’re hiring has a business license with insurance, and not just anyone who claims they are a wedding planner (because they successfully planned their own wedding). There could be mishaps, mistakes or accidents likely to occur with many moving pieces during a wedding day, and it could get messy if your wedding planner doesn’t have these two in place.

Investing in the perfect wedding planner helps take away the pressure and responsibility from you and your partner, making the planning process enjoyable. After all, your wedding day is a big milestone – so make the most of it!

Karin Wu & Co. is a boutique wedding planning company serving the Greater Toronto Area. The company was founded by Karin Wu, a corporate project manager who combines her skills in planning with her passion for the beautiful love stories found in every couple’s dream; the celebration of unity and family and love. I know how overwhelming wedding planning can be. I still remember the very first wedding I planned. 
When my best friend got engaged, and she asked me to help plan her wedding along with being her Maid of Honour, I freaked out!
I knew that there were so many facets and details that go into planning a successful wedding and that I needed to be prepared. There was no way I was going to mess up the process – I wanted to know what I’d be doing! So I enrolled in the most comprehensive, respected and modern Wedding Planner course at the Wedding Planning Institute of Canada and became a Certified Wedding Planner.