Weddings have always been a gala event in the Indian and Pakistani community. In recent years, the inflow of income has increased in many families, result of which is visible lavishness in the way they conduct their ceremonies, functions, festivals and weddings. Many wedding sites offer the services of wedding planners to ease off the burden of wedding on you.

Wedding planning has become a big industry in itself which caters to the requirements of people from every section of the society. Some wedding planners are experts in organizing outdoor weddings while others have a talent for indoor weddings. If you are planning to get wed soon, following are few tips that can help you in finding the right wedding planner for you.

1. Go By The Experience

Remember the days when you used to go for job interviews and everybody asked what kind about the kind of experience you had. Finding wedding planners also start the same way where you begin short listing potential candidates based on the kind weddings that they have done, type of families they have handled and wedding venues they have decorated in the past.

2. Ask For Recommendations

No one can guide you better than your friends or family members who had hired wedding planners for their big event. You may start by asking for recommendations and contacting the ones who had worked with them.

3. Set Your Budget

As the foremost important rule, your budget decides the kind of wedding planner you can hire. As you increase your spending power, you can introduce more sophistication in your wedding.

4. Choosing The Theme

Wedding planners like to work around certain theme. Have an idea about how you would like to have your wedding and then let the wedding planner come up with wedding songs and other home work.

5. Discuss Openly

You must share your expectation your dreams and expectations for the big day with the wedding consultant so that they know the basics on which they have to start working on. Many wedding sites offer valuable tips on such matter.

6. Negotiating The Rates

Some wedding planners charge by hour and others have a fixed or a flat fee service rate. The hourly rate includes charges for specific activities and also depends on whether the wedding planner has been hired by bride or the groom.

7. Packaged Deal

Owners of a few wedding venues cover the fee of wedding consultant and charge a flat rate for every wedding that happens in their premises.

8. Signing The Contract

Once you have selected the wedding planner and have negotiated the terms, never forget to take it in writing by signing the final contract. This will safeguard your interest and hold the consultant responsible if something does not go according to the plan.

9. Consult Your Partner

Hiring a marriage planner is as big as wedding itself, so ensure that your partner is involved completely in the process of selection and budgeting.

10. Family Introductions

Introduce the wedding planner to your family as he or she will be working closely with them to ensure that you wedding goes off as smoothly as you have planned. Since most of the time you would be busy either in the ceremony or with guests, the near and dear ones automatically become the first point of contact for the planner. Wedding is a beautiful event in everybody’s life and hiring a professional to take care of every minute detail can ensure that you live and enjoy it completely.

Advice:

As with all “day of” vendors, tips are not required, but are of course appreciated. Ten percent of your planner’s bill would be an appropriate amount to tip a wedding planner who had gone above and beyond the call of duty. If the planner brings an assistant for the day of the wedding, you may want to split the tip between them or tip the assistant separately.