Do I Need a Wedding Planner? Married Editors at The Knot Keep It Real
You're getting married—congrats! As you start deciding what vendors you need, you may ask yourself, "Do I need a wedding planner?" The answer depends on several different factors. However, we'll always recommend working with a wedding planner for your big day, as they're experts in event production. So if "Should I hire a wedding planner?" is one of the first questions you ask your married friends, read below to find out what you might miss out on without one, according to a planning professional. Plus, get five real testimonies from The Knot editors about why they each hired a wedding planner for their celebration.
If you decide planning a wedding with a pro is the right decision for you, hop onto The Knot Vendor Marketplace. There you can enter your wedding location and filter through numerous planning services to find the vendor that'll fit your needs.
In this article: Do You Need a Planner? | What's Missing Without a Planner | How Our Editors Knew They Need a Planner
Do You Really Need a Wedding Planner?
Is it important to have a wedding planner? The short answer is yes. As a rule of thumb, it is important for all couples to have some sort of wedding planner or coordinator for their special day if their wedding budget allows.
There are a lot of opinions swirling around the question, "Is it worth using a wedding planner?" The reality is that everyone can benefit from a planner in some form, but there isn't a one-size-fits-all approach. Lucky for you, there are different types of wedding planners to fit every style, timeline and budget. For example, a coordinator helps the to-be-weds two months or less before the wedding day, while a full-service planner usually assists the couple throughout the entire planning process. Still need more convincing? Check out the many benefits of hiring a planner before making a commitment.
What You're Missing Without a Wedding Planner
For those who wondered, "Do I need to hire a wedding planner?," we have some news for you. There are five crucial things you'll miss out on if you don't book a planner for your affair. Keep reading to find out what they are.
You won't have someone who devotes all their time to weddings.
Here's the deal: Planning a wedding is a lot of work. Even if you're the planner of your friend group or have a Type A personality, wedding planning is a big undertaking—and one you might not actually have the time for. "Until someone plans a wedding, they don't have any idea how much work and time it takes," Jove Meyer, expert event planner and owner of Jove Meyer Events, says. "It's easy to think, 'I can do this quickly and easily,' but the reality is nothing good is done quickly or without work." That's where a wedding planner can help. They do this for a living, which means a wedding planner's responsibilities are to devote all of their effort and energy to helping you. Plus, they'll be able to bring their expertise to the table (read: getting more things done in a timely fashion).
Why is wedding planning so much work? "One wedding can have up to 20 vendors and take over a year to plan, which means thousands of emails, hundreds of phone calls, countless venue visits and meetings," Meyer explains. "If couples have time, they can totally plan a wedding on their own, but if time is limited, finding a planner would be the best way to go."
You won't have wedding budget and vendor selection help.
The pros you spend your wedding budget on may seem like a small detail, but it can make a big difference. "By working with planners and the vendors we partner with, you're putting your money towards uplifting others who have historically been ignored or mistreated," Meyer explains. "Hiring vendors with intention can make your wedding a more meaningful and powerful experience for those beyond your guests and yourself; you can change the life of others by hiring with a purpose."
Curious about how much a wedding planner takes out of your wedding budget? According to The Knot 2023 Real Weddings Study, couples' average wedding planner costs were $2,131.
You won't have a mediator.
Do you need a wedding planner? If you and your partner are dealing with outside opinions (think: family members, your wedding party and other loved ones), the answer is yes. "I always tell couples there are three things I can't control: weather, traffic and other people's feelings," Meyer says. "Opinions come out of the woodwork when couples get engaged. Friends, coworkers and family members think they're being helpful, so they share their ideas without being asked."
While this doesn't seem like a big deal, it can end up being overwhelming. It can also get awkward if the person is contributing financially to the wedding. A wedding planner is the best resource in this scenario, as they can help diffuse any tension. "Having a wedding planner can help couples navigate these opinions and sometimes serve as a scapegoat to swat these ideas away from the couple," Meyer says.
You'll forgo destination wedding expertise.
If you're hosting a destination wedding, you should definitely consider enlisting a planning professional for help. Not only is it difficult to coordinate calls with your caterer, florist and more, but different destinations also have varying marriage laws, sound ordinances and customs. A destination wedding planner is already up to date on all of this information and can help you navigate it easily.
You won't have someone to give you peace of mind.
Last-minute emergencies happen, like centerpieces arriving late, rentals not looking right or guests bringing unapproved plus ones. "A wedding planner will ensure you don't work on your wedding day," Meyer says. "You can show up and enjoy every minute while a professional wedding planner produces it all behind the scenes."
Finding the best wedding planner involves important research since you'll be trusting this pro to take care of the entire wedding day. Scroll through their social platforms and websites, talk to them on the phone and have plenty of questions to ask your potential planner. "Wedding planning is a lot of work and takes a lot of time, so be sure to hire the planner who matches your style, vibe and personality, as you'll be spending a lot of time with them," Meyer advises.
How The Knot Editors Knew They Need a Wedding Planner
Still wondering, "Is a wedding planner worth it?" I've interviewed married editors from The Knot that explain why they hired a wedding planner and when they knew they needed one. Who can you trust more than people who've been there and done that?
We wanted destination wedding help.
Lauren Kay is the executive editor of The Knot. When she's not giving the best wedding advice to to-be-weds, she's writing beautiful pieces for The Knot Magazine. Kay married her husband Adam in 2013, but before the two said "I do" at a breathtaking ceremony, they had to choose a wedding planner.
"We got engaged in November and relished in betrothed life—until March. When it came time to plan (so we could finally give people an answer to the question: when are you getting married), we were overwhelmed with choices. We couldn't find a venue in New York City that could take us, and we didn't want to wait another year, so we decided to get married in Florida, where we both grew up," Kay says.
"As soon as we knew we'd be planning a wedding in Florida while living in NYC, we knew we needed help. Hiring our wedding planner was the best decision we ever made, hands down. She knew stellar vendors in the area and maximized our time in town with back-to-back decisions. Lisa Lyons brought our wedding day to life in the most wonderful way," Kay raves.
We wanted a month-of wedding coordinator.
MaryKate Callahan is the director of content strategy at The Knot, where she helps editors write the best wedding-related articles on the internet. When it came time to decide which vendors she and her fiancé needed to hire, her many years in the wedding industry put them on the right path.
"I'm keenly aware of how much goes into planning a wedding and how incredible it is to have a team of all-star pros on board to help you do it. I always knew that I would be hiring a wedding planning professional of some kind. Once we determined our wedding budget and overall perspective on what we needed help with, we decided to work with Shannon Wellington Weddings for month-of wedding coordination to help us finesse the final details," Callahan says.
"My [now] husband and I felt comfortable handling most of the early planning responsibilities (defining our budget, finding our vendors and securing my hotel room block). But I knew that as it got closer to game day, we would appreciate the structure and organization that comes along with having a month-of wedding coordinator on board. From developing our day-of timeline to ensuring our vendors were briefed on the latest info, Michelle (our lovely point person on Shannon's team) made sure everything was on track," Callahan adds.
We wanted someone to keep us on track while planning.
Emily Wise is a content strategy lead at The Knot. She's an expert on all things dating trends, celebrity news, engagement statistics and more. For her and her partner's wedding journey, they knew they needed a planner before they even got engaged.
"I knew we needed a wedding planner before we even got engaged! We had a very clear vision of what we wanted, but we needed an expert to help us execute it. Creating the vision board and handing it off to someone who knew what they were doing was such a relief. I'm also a total overthinker and needed someone who had actually planned a wedding before to keep me grounded and focused so that I could enjoy the planning process and wedding day with my (now) husband," Wise says.
For their September 2024 wedding, Wise and her fiancé hired a planner, Larami Van Ness of Sunnybrook Venue, to ensure their ideas were feasible based on their budget and venue. For example, their library lounge area with its accompanying espresso martini bar was a hit on the big day and was exactly what the pair wanted. The couple even spontaneously moved to a different city halfway into planning their wedding and still got everything they dreamed of. "It was reassuring to know that our planner was local and had great relationships with our other local vendors," Wise says.
We wanted organizational assistance.
Arielle Balot is the senior manager of the affiliate and revenue operations at The Knot, which means she has her finger on the pulse of what readers want to buy for their prewedding events and special day. For her wedding, Balot and her partner wanted a planner that could keep them on track during the entire process.
"We decided we needed a full-time planner when we planned our wedding amid Covid. We kept pushing our date back, and we needed someone to help move all our vendors to our new date, make sure they were still available, coordinate with our venue and much more. We got lost with all the moving parts, and having someone keep us organized was extremely helpful," Balot explains.
"We hired our planner about halfway through our process, which looking back, we regret a little bit. We should have hired someone from the start because it would've been helpful to have someone come with us to all of our initial meetings and ask the right questions. Sara Greenberg of Forever Young Parties helped us streamline the entire process, even though she wasn't there from the beginning," Balot says.
We wanted help making our dream wedding a reality.
Emily Platt is the senior manager of content strategy at The Knot, where she thinks about couples' needs day in and day out. She got married in October 2024 and was set on enlisting the help of a wedding planner to make her dream wedding a reality.
"Having worked in the wedding editorial world since college, I learned the importance of wedding planners well before my wedding day," says Platt. "With so much exposure to all the incredible work planners do and knowing how impactful a smooth wedding experience is to couples and guests, I always imagined myself hiring a planner."
"Some might wonder, 'Do I really need a wedding planner for a small wedding?' But my fiancé and I knew we would want help brainstorming the details and pulling all the pieces together for our nontraditional celebration. Plus, our wedding was a destination wedding, so we really wanted the invaluable advice and insight of someone local," Platt says. After booking someone for their destination affair, Platt said it immediately paid off. "Our planner introduced us to the people and places that made our events absolutely unforgettable."