What Does a Wedding Planner Do? Common Duties

A wedding planner, also known as a wedding consultant, helps arrange the details of your wedding day. The best wedding planners have years of experience in event planning and a thorough understanding of the wedding industry. A wedding planner helps you prepare for your big day by handling logistics, tracking your wedding budget, and ensuring a successful wedding day.

Every wedding planner is unique. Before hiring a wedding planner, ask for a complete list of their services. Here are some of the most common wedding planner duties:

• Provide referrals for wedding and reception venues.
• Negotiate vendor contracts and help secure wedding vendors, such as the caterer, florist, DJ, photographer, and rentals.
• Create a detailed timeline leading up to the wedding day and for the day itself.
• Provide a sketch of the floor plan for the wedding venue and reception.
• Keep track of your wedding budget and makes suggestions to help you stay on target.
• Attend menu and wedding cake tastings.
• Supervise printing and delivery of wedding invitations, programs, and place cards.
• Schedule and attend wedding dress shopping and ensure timely alterations.
• Keep track of RSVPs.
• Help set up your wedding website.
• Arrange hotel room blocks and transportation for your family members and wedding party.
• Book reservations for the rehearsal dinner.
• Oversee every detail on the day of the wedding.

Here are some of the most common types of wedding planners:

1. 1. Full-service planner: Full-service planning involves handling the entire wedding-planning process from start to finish, typically months before the wedding. A full-service planner will find and book wedding vendors, rentals, and venues. A full-service planner is with you at every step and will typically operate as a supportive figure throughout the planning process.
2. 2. Partial-service planners: According to wedding planner Mindy Weiss, “You don’t have to hire a wedding planner for the whole process.” Partial-service wedding planners, also called “month-of” planners, will keep track of vendor contracts and ensure that everything goes according to plan in the weeks leading up to your wedding, and can help you put together a day-of schedule.
3. 3. Day-of planners: A day-of wedding coordinator is an on-site point-person available on your wedding day to ensure everything goes smoothly. Although they don’t handle the logistics leading up to the wedding date, a day-of planner is an excellent resource for couples on their wedding day. “This is something that I highly recommend so that you can enjoy your day without worrying,” Mindy says. “And it will be a minimal part of your budget.”
4. 4. Wedding designer: Wedding designers help curate the aesthetic elements of your wedding. From furniture to attire to décor, a wedding designer ensures your wedding has a cohesive, stylish look.

The most significant differences between a wedding planner and a wedding coordinator are the cost, duration, and extent of their services. Wedding planners oversee the planning, management, and logistics from beginning to end. When you hire a wedding planner, they start the planning process, typically months before the wedding date, and conclude their services once the wedding is over.

On the other hand, a wedding coordinator only works on the day of the wedding. Wedding coordinators do not handle logistics leading up to the wedding but ensure the timeline of the wedding day goes according to schedule. Wedding planners typically cost more than day-of wedding coordinators.

It is possible to plan your wedding on your own. However, as Mindy Weiss points out, “Many venues are requiring that you have a wedding planner.” Some venues require you to hire a wedding planner for the entire process or the month of, and especially for the day. “I highly recommend having a wedding planner on the day of,” Mindy says. “It’s not fair to have your mom running around or a family member.”

If a full-service wedding planner isn’t in your budget, consider hiring a day-of coordinator so that you and your loved ones can enjoy the event you worked so hard to put together.

Have a wedding to plan? Learn how to take on the process strategically. Discover Mindy Weiss’s approach to setting a budget, choosing a theme, and sending invitations when you sign up for the MasterClass Annual Membership.