Wedding Planner Questions & Answers
From “how much does a wedding planner cost” to “what’s off-limits?” here are the answers to FAQs straight from an expert wedding planner.
The KaseStyles Team
Q: How much does a wedding planner cost?
It really depends. Wedding planning can be anywhere from $1500 to $5000 depending on where you live and which kind of package you choose. Most wedding planners offer different levels of services. We have Event Management, Design & Coordination, and Full Service.
Q: What’s the difference between your packages?
We get this question a lot. Hiring an Event Planner is an investment and people want to make sure they are getting the best bang for their buck! What package they choose really comes down to what kind of person they are. If they are the type that doesn’t want to deal with the planning process at all, that’s full service. We still get their input of course, but we handle the brunt of the work.
The difference between Full Service and Design & Coordination is basically vendor research and booking. With Full Service we do all the research, compile it, and you choose your vendor team. With Design & Coordination, the client does the research, compiles it, and we are available for questions along the way. Design & Coordination was created for the bride that wants Event Management and then some. We had a lot of clients book Event Management, where we help the weekend of, but they wanted us to be available to them during the entire planning process, so that’s what Design & Coordination is.
Q: Unlike most planners, you also offer florals. Is that an advantage? Do you recommend everyone do both planning and florals?
If you talk to any of our clients they will tell you we are very passionate about what we do. We started doing florals because we would plan these amazing events and we wanted the outcome to be the vision the bride wanted and we knew we could make that happen. Having fewer vendors means things aren’t getting lost in translation. We speak to you and get your vision and make sure we make it happen.
We HIGHLY recommend those who plan with us book us for florals. It makes for a much more seamless experience and they get a discount!
Q: How much should I have ready coming into hiring you? Should I have an idea of what I want?
Everyone comes to us at different stages. When they first get engaged, after they pick a date, after they pick a venue, after they have hired their caterer... It all depends on where the couple started, but we are happy to jump in at any point in the planning process! If you have an idea of what you want, that's great! If not, we are happy to help with suggestions and ideas.
Q: What are the things I’m totally responsible for if I hire you for Full Service?
The guest list
Hotel room blocks (we can do the research for hotels, but you know your guests better than we do :) )
Invitations (Again we can help find a good one, but you will be the one to send them to your guests)
Creating a wedding website
Attire for the bride, groom, and bridal party
Registering for gifts
Getting the wedding license
The rehearsal dinner (Unless you book us for this add on)
Any gifts for the bridal party or hotel guests
The seating chart
Payments
Q: How often do planners and the couples talk to one another?
This depends on the package. Typically:
Full Service: Biweekly phone calls and unlimited Slack messaging.
Design + Coordination: Bimonthly phone calls and unlimited Slack messaging.
Event Management: Emails during the planning process as needed, an initial meeting, and a meeting 2-3 months out to finish the design and review timelines.
Q: How do I know that I’m on track in the planning process?
We have a to-do list that we update along the way!
Q: Is there such a thing as too many questions?
I would love to say NO! However, when it comes to the Event Management package we struggle to limit communication. We tend to answer all questions that come our way, but sometimes it blurs the line between Event Management and Design & Coordination. If the bride feels like they are going to have a lot of questions along the way we give them that opportunity by offering the Design & Coordination package.
Q: What are the things you’ll do for the couple on the day of?
What we won't do day-of would be easier to answer! We are there the entire day and we do what needs to be done. Typically we:
Communicate with the bridal party to make sure that everything is on time.
We make sure the space is completely set up and we answer any questions along the way.
We time the ceremony and let your bridal party know when to walk.
We hide the bride and groom after the wedding so they can sign their license and don’t get stuck talking to their guests before pictures are taken.
We fix the bride's train and the groom’s boutinnere when it’s needed.
We flip the room from the ceremony to the reception if it’s needed.
We bring the bride and groom drinks while pictures are being taken.
We make sure the DJ has all the information they need for announcements….
The list goes on and on! We’ve even cleaned up dog poop before during an outdoor wedding, we’ve taken out garbages, we’ve cleaned up vomit, and we’ve handed a drunken uncle a much-needed glass of water.
Q: What are the things that are off-limits to ask for?
If there is something a guest is doing that you don’t want them to do or your aunt is bothering you we are happy to step in, but if an argument arises we will step away if the guest escalates. We also ask that during the planning process our personal time is considered. We will take the occasional weekend meeting if that is what works for the couple, but don’t want to be on call 24/7 if we are with our families or on vacation.
Q: Can a client hire you to also do the engagement dinner or bridal showers or any wedding-related events?
Yep!
Q: Do your clients ever annoy you with their requests or questions?
As a bride who knew exactly what she wanted and had never been married before I completely understand what you are going through. Most times no, we don’t get annoyed, we are happy to help! We would rather be annoyed with questions over having the client stress over anything!
Q: What are some of the favorite things you’ve ever done?
My favorite things to do are floral installs, hanging pieces, installs in unique places, etc. We did a wedding where we hung 50 string lights to give the illusion of a tent in an indoor space. It took 15 hours to hang all the lights, we were delirious at the end of that and completely spent. Once the lights were hung and were on while everything else was pitch black, it made it completely worth it. It felt magical.
Q: What things are you excited to do or try that you haven’t done yet?
I love trying anything new! I would LOVE to travel somewhere remote for a wedding. Or anywhere really. We would love to get more destination weddings :)
We would love to do anything we haven’t done. We get really excited to have a challenge and really transform a space. I love flowers. I want to try all different floral combinations. A lot of people know the normal flowers, Roses, Peonies, Hydrangea, Eucalyptus, etc. but the flower choices are endless and the color selection and coordination is so important to me. There are certain bouquets I really want to try.
Q: Would you be willing to plan a wedding virtually?
Absolutely!
Q: If you planned virtually, would you be there the day of?
Yes, I think the planner being their day-of is so important.
Q: What if we really disagree about the vision or direction of the wedding?
This has yet to happen! I will say there have been a few clients that really wanted something and we shared our opinions and they chose not to take them. I get it. I’m stubborn too. However, we have a lot of experience and usually, if we have an opinion it’s for good reasoning. Ultimately the decision is up to the client and we support that and make it happen!
Q: As an extreme what-if, what if I hate the way everything turns out? Do you do refunds? What ends up happening?
It would almost be impossible for the client to hate everything. We have a very thorough design plan so the client knows what they are getting before the day of their wedding. If a bride hated her bouquet or something at her wedding we would hope she would share that and we would absolutely fix it. We would offer refunds for something like a corsage that broke, but typically we would fix it.
Q: Do you get close to the brides you help? Are you still in touch with any of them?
We tend to create close relationships with the couples we work with. We have had some clients become our dear friends. We are very fortunate to work with such amazing people.