Questions you should be asking your potential wedding planner(s) when interviewing them on your first call.

It’s hard to find the perfect planner that suits everything you need and want. There are so many out there now, how do you discern who is the real deal?

Recommendations on social media can be hard because you don’t know who is a genuine previous client, who is a friend or staff member of the company trying to get more clients, and who is perhaps even getting paid a commission for recommending!

It’s also hard to choose purely based on Instagram grids – they’re completely curated with many using ChatGPT for their dm’s and captions…who are you even talking to?

ALWAYS chat with more than one planner. Four to Five is a good number to interview over a video call. Your planner is the person who will be your main point of contact for the next eighteen months or more, so make sure you’re asking the right questions!

Photography: Terralogical

How long have you been planning?

This is a great way to gage the experience of your planner.

Many have had experience in sales, promotion, styling or coordination only when it comes to weddings. But planning? That’s a whole other ball game.

It takes sometimes years for just one couple to plan their wedding, from the point of contact to execution of their big day.

Everything needs to be considered. Not just your vendors. But logistics. Runsheets. Layouts. Revision of vendor invoices, sometimes up to 10 times per vendor.

Daily questions. Daily answers. Guest gifts. Emergency contacts. Guest dietary restrictions.

I could go on, but don’t underestimate what a planner actually handles, it’s A LOT.

So, this is why it’s important you engage someone who actually has on the ground experience, not just someone who can put together an invoice and send it off.

It takes dedication, patience and creativity. – the longer they’ve been doing it? The better hands you’ll be in.

How many weddings have you personally planned?

Linked to the question above, it’s great to know how many have actually been planned by the person you’re speaking to.

They may have had 10 years of experience under their belt, but how many have they actually planned and executed their 10 years? 10? 50? 1000?

If it’s a low number, find out why? Is it because they purposely only take a couple a year? Or is it that perhaps they’re just not that popular or incompetent for some reason?

If they’ve done a large amount, how have they managed to do that? Will you get palmed off to a team member? How will they ensure they have time for you?

All of this matters.

Do you plan them yourself or will I be passed between multiple people?

This question is important because weddings can get pretty hectic – especially the larger ones or ones requiring various forms of transport to get to.

Is it just the one person who handles everything? Or do they have a styling team, a guest relations team and more that you need to deal with?

This is neither good or bad. It really depends on your preference which is also important to know from the get go. Do you want to work with just the one person for all information? Or do you want different experts in their fields handling specific tasks?

You have the final say in this, remember that.

Will I be working with you or do you just handle the sales?

Who are you even talking with? Are you talking with the planner who’s looking after your big day? Or are you talking to a sales rep who isn’t actually going to plan your day?

While getting information from a representative is definitely helpful, it’s just adding another step to your planning process which is already lengthy. Another person to pass before you get to meet your planner.

When things are already complicated, you want to declutter as much as possible. Once you get past the rep, what happens if you don’t actually like your planner? What if they don’t understand your vision?

It’s important to know who you’re getting into bed with from the get go.

Photography: Flipmax

How large is your team? And how many would be with me on my day?

Some clients love planners that have a big team, with multiple members present on the day.

Some feel too many coordinators on the day add to the clutter and it quickly becomes packed with just as many workers as there are guests.

Its definitely important for your planner to have a support team of coordinators on the day.With so many moving parts it’s impossible to be in five places at once ensuring every element is on point at any given moment.

Be wary of anyone insisting they can do it all alone – there could be delays, items forgotten or just general chaos.

Just as much as you should be wary of too many on site – did the planner even do any of the work or has it been thrown off to their underlings to handle while they use your day as a time out to reply to emails.

You want someone present – not preoccupied with running a one man show, and not someone who’s so disconnected and not focused on your day at all.

Are you legally registered and do you have the right permits?

There are more “planners” popping up than mushrooms after a rainy night.

How on earth do you sift through the ones taking you for a ride and get to the legitimate ones?

How do you know if the planner you’re choosing isn’t just an assistant or coordinator who bailed a company thinking they could do it on their own without any real planning experience?

How do you know they have their work permits and are actually legal to work? That your wedding won’t have authorities crashing and shutting it down?

This is your day. Your money. You have a right to ask for and see all relevant paperwork and permits your planner has. That they’ve been kept up to date and the people who are planning your day are actually planners – not rogue offsiders or coordinators trying to do something they’ve only seen on the Big Day when it rolls out, not the months or years it’s taken to get there.

Do you work with fixed vendors of your own choosing or can I choose my own?

Again, it’s your day, shouldn’t you be able to engage who you want for your wedding?

Provided the vendors you want are legally allowed to work, then yes! You should!

You should be able to choose your florist, your photographer, your makeup artist...these are such personal choices!

Unless you’re marrying at a resort, where items like in-house food and beverage are mandatory, be wary of anyone who MAKES you use the vendors they put forward. If there’s no clear break down of costs, or valid reasons why they don’t use the vendors you like, they probably have alternate motives as to why they want to keep everything “in house”.

Photography: Motionhouse Weddings

What is your communication style? How will we stay in contact and how often can I expect to hear from you?

Huge question that needs to be clearly answered both verbally and in writing to save you heartache down the track.The number of brides and grooms who complain about always having to follow up with their planner, about not hearing a peep for weeks, about planners who were amazing when they were selling them the dream, then dropped the communications as soon as a deposit went through. Be vigilant.

Planning a wedding, particularly a destination wedding, relies on effective communication.

If you’re someone who needs constant communication, likes to be highly organized, don’t want to feel bad for asking a million questions, then make sure the planner you choose has let you know that they can accommodate that.

How do they communicate? Email? WhatsApp? Instagram?

And how often? Once a day? Do they take weekends off? How about evening calls?

How available are they?

Do you do full planning or do you also offer on-the-day/coordination only services?

Finally – what is that you actually need?

Full planning planners will always come with higher price tags – there’s just so much more to do.

And asking them to reduce the fee because you only need day-of coordination won’t cut it with most.

However, there are planners out there who offer this service, and those who only do this.

So, figure out how much you want to be involved with the planning then choose your planner based on that.

If you want to engage all the vendors, create the timeline of events, solidify the floor plans yourself, and really just need someone on the day to facilitate the set up and make sure you’re running to the schedule, then a day-of coordinater is for you.

Have too much on your plate? Find the whole thing overwhelming? Or simply just want to give your ideas to a professional and let them create the magic? Then you’ll be wanting a full planning service company to handle your day.

What not to do? Say you want a coordinator only, then throw them a bunch of half-paid for vendors and expect them to tie up all the loose ends, make the final payments, do the run sheet and more…that’s no longer a day of coordinator.

Photography: Flipmax

It can seem like a tedious task, but once you get through it you'll see it's worth it.

There's nothing worse than being locked into an unfulfilling and disappointing relationship with your planner when the planning journey is supposed to be fun, exciting and something you count down for!

xxx