The cost of a wedding planner

Myself and my team specialise in planning and delivering incredible weddings and events across Gloucestershire the Cotswolds, using a percentage based pricing model for our planning services.

How does percentage based planning work?

Starting with one of the biggest concerns around percentage pricing for wedding planning. I carefully considered when deciding on this pricing model myself as I know many people prefer a fixed price. I’m sure there is the worry that a planner may push for more costly suppliers to benefit them, but I promise that is very rarely a cause for concern in the industry.

The reality is, most clients don’t know exactly how their plans will develop when they first begin their planning journey. Ideas grow, guest lists change and priorities shift. All of this changes the scale and scope of the event. A percentage-based approach allows for flexibility and transparency as the vision becomes clearer and helps to cover the extra hours of admin and staffing for the event.

I treat your budget as if it were my own, always offering thoughtful and realistic guidance on where to allocate your budget for the greatest impact, while keeping spending sensible and focused. It’s always about making the most of what you have, regardless of the budget.

Most importantly, you remain in full control. Our role is to put forward a range of carefully selected suppliers based on availability, style and budget, and you then choose how we proceed. Always.

So, why do some charge flat rates and other percentages?

You may find that planners new into the industry offer fairly low flat rates to build their portfolios, but most established UK based wedding planners tend to work on a percentage basis ranging from 10-15% of your overall budget with minimum spends in place.

The minimum spend is reflective of the time required for the hundreds of unseen hours spent planning, site meetings, team wages, and the general costs of running a successful business. In reality planners can only take on a small number of full plan events each year and this should also be considered.

Lisa Jade Photography

A planner might not cost as much as your think…

On occasion we benefit from discounts due to our established relationships with suppliers, and we pass these directly onto you, therefore a planner might not be costing as much as you think. You also cannot put a price on the value of having an expert with you along the way, you only plan to do this once and it’s so important that you can enjoy it and feel reassured that everything is taken care of.

Further savings are made by using our knowledge to spend only on what is necessary; I have many times taken over plans when I have brought in later in the journey and needed to remove items that were absolutely not required, or over-ordered in a panic mindset.

What to ask a wedding planner before booking

Ask what experience they have in planning and executing a wedding similar to yours, and check reviews.

You deserve the very best wedding planner and team around you. Aside from buying a property your wedding is is likely to be the single biggest investment you make.

How to find out more

As a luxury wedding planner, and your main point of contact throughout I take on a very small number of full planning clients a year to ensure I have the dedicated time required to planning your incredible celebration.

If you would love to know more about how it all works, and check availability and catch up over a video call for a chat, please get in touch via the contact page .

Loads of love,

Rach x