DIY or wedding planners?

It was not until recently that I have started having pity on wedding planners.  As a former bride, well I guess I still am in the “bridal phase” being less than a year married, I often wondered at why anyone would ever choose to have a wedding planner do their wedding.  I figured it must cost a lot, and they probably take a huge mark up!  I couldn’t have been more wrong.  I have been researching wedding trends, most importantly candy buffet trends for the past year now and most of these women (and men) that plan weddings for a living do not make much more off the top than it would cost you to do it yourself.  One wedding planner in the Cincinnati area, who wishes to remain nameless, told me when I spoke with her 2 days ago that “Brides cannot do it cheaper, which is why they come to us”.  A couple years ago I would have scoffed at that statement, and told her I could totally DIM (Do it myself :) ) for way cheaper.  Now I know better.  Let me explain.

1.       Wedding planners get things at “wholesale price”.  Well, really those of us in the wedding industry know that we get items discounted but not as dirt cheap as you would think.  Since we buy in bulk, we are able to save money here and there, however since all weddings are unique it sometimes is difficult to get things at a discount.

2.       Wedding planners search for deals and typically pass them along to their consumers.  These deals take a lot of time and effort to find, and a lot of gas money driving around town negotiating prices for you (the bride).  This expense is usually not calculated into the price they quote you.

3.       The details take time and money!  How many of you have seen fancy little ribbons tied to baggies, or personalized stamp cards attached to each name tag?  If you did it yourself,  you know how many countless hours you can spend making those.  How much is your time worth? 

4.        Wedding planners typically do not charge excessively more than the product would cost you.

Many brides do not realize that sometimes doing it themselves can be more costly, in total time and money spent, than having a wedding planner do it.