Hiring a planner can be both great and a horrible experience, depending on both you and the planner themselves. Depending on you (the bride/groom), your needs, the size of your wedding and wedding party, and the attitude and assistance of the planner/coordinator they can sometimes offer countless hours of advice, tips on etiquette and offer relief from various planning stressors. There are planners who offer help from your early beginning stages of planning, month of, and some who offer assistance on just your day. For many couples, cost is sometimes an issue, and some planners are in fact very costly. Some planners charge a standard flat fee, some charge a percentage of your overall budget, and others charge by the hour. If you can afford it and find yourself in a planning bind, they can truly be a Godsend - Planners are necessary if you perhaps fit certain criteria:

1. Very busy lifestyle/workload and cannot commit to hours of endless internet searching for ideas and advice.

2. No assistance from family or distance-based and/or no bridal party.

3. Planners help to locate vendors that they have worked with countless times and recommend these vendors to their couples in that they fit within the couple's budget(s). This helps to allievate the stress of searching the internet for reccommendations from previous brides on the vendors they used for the wedding services. In some cases, planners help to negotiate rates with various vendors which customers would not normally receive if they secured them on their own.

4. Helping to ensure that all your plans have been properly executed on your big day! No one wants to run around after the DJ or photographer because they need a particular song played at a certain time, or the photographer hasn't taken a particular picture yet.

5. Particularly important! Brides and Grooms who are planning a destination wedding are definitely in need of a planner. Planning from a distance is stressful enough, but not knowing the city/town of your wedding events and not being familar with the area and/or its vendors can be very tricky. Planners on site at the location or in your hometown will do all of the research for you and help put together the day you envisioned. If they have worked in the country/city/town of your destination wedding they can save plenty of money for you and help you to avoid any wedding-day mishaps.

As a wedding planner in a place like NYC, among the many other hats I hang, if I feel a bride and groom aren't in need of a planner, during our interview process, I would encourage them to review their needs and wants and make sure they understand how their budget is being spent - sometimes planners are additional fees as opposed to worked into the already existing budget. If the couple is absolutely sure they still want to secure a planner and need this type of assistance to pull together their event, we work to make sure that their day is exactly what they planned for. Planners should never dominate a wedding, but rather offer options and sound, if not, expert advice on any wedding area.

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