Hi Liene,

I stumbled upon and have been reading your site since I first got engaged. It's fantastic, and you do a wonderful job writing about your experience and inspiring us "lay people." Keep up the good work!

I'm planning a rather large (200+) wedding for next October in West Palm Beach, FL. I live in Chicago, IL. My family is in the West Palm area, but I was planning on hiring a wedding coordinator for day-of and as-needed vendor help. So my question is, is it best to hire a coordinator/planner who is local to the area, in West Palm Beach or Palm Beach? Or can I use someone who's from the tri-county area, or even import a savvy planner like yourself from way out of the way?

Thanks,
Lisa


Hi Lisa,

Great question!

Destination weddings are an entirely different animal than planning a wedding in one's own area, and not all wedding planners are created equal, so if you were to hire a non-local wedding consultant, you'd want to be sure that they can actually plan destination weddings. At Blue Orchid Designs, we do plan quite a few destination weddings outside of our local areas, so importing us for your wedding would not be a problem since we are experienced at planning from afar and can coordinate all the extra logistics with that. I will tell you however, that hiring us just for day-of coordination for a destination wedding in Florida would probably not be your most economical option.

That said, you would probably get the most bang for your wedding buck by hiring an experienced planner for day-of coordination in the area you are getting married in. Since they are local, you would not have to pay travel fees on top of their coordination fees.

A professional wedding planner will also know the dish on everything behind the scenes that you will not find online or from previous brides, so I am a huge proponent of hiring one even just for vendor recommendations (many will offer this service a la carte). With the exception of catering and cosmetology, the wedding industry is largely unregulated. Because of this, vendors run the gamut from being exceptional to well below sub-par. A good wedding consultant can help you find professional vendors who will mesh with your personality, steer you away from ones who will spend the entire wedding day hitting on your bridesmaids instead of doing their job, and give you the peace of mind that you are hiring people who won't flake on you.

Day-of wedding coordination services entails quite a bit more than just showing up on your wedding day and keeping people on schedule, so the planner's fee should take that into account. Pricing will vary depending on the market, but definitely keep your radar up for the difference between "a good value" and "too cheap". Budget now for a good day-of coordinator and then set that money aside (I recommend putting it in an ING account so it is at least working for you during the next few months) so that you have it on hand when it comes time to hire your day-of coordinator and you aren't tempted to spend it on a second pair of must-have dancing shoes.

Even if you are doing the bulk of the planning, having a professional there on your wedding day to tie up the loose ends means that you and your friends and family can relax and enjoy your day. Being relaxed definitely shows through in your photos and wedding video and makes them a million times better as well. Your guests will also take their cues from you, so if you are enjoying yourself and having fun, they will follow suit. Having a good planner with you on your wedding day is worth every penny.