wedding planners can charge anywhere from around £300 to £2500 dependant on type of package chosen. On the day packages are generally the cheapest option in terms of money as you do all the leg work, then they help with timings and set ups etc, but then mainly ensure that everyone is comfortable and the day runs smoothly. However if you can afford it the more expensive options are sometimes the best in terms of work load dependant on how well you interact with the planner. The more expensive options basically the planner would get to know you, and create your day with as little or as much input from the clients. This can be good because the bride and groom could be very busy, want to get married but dont really have the time to plan, they could in form the planner of the sorts of things they like the idea of, and the planner could suggest various things during the planning that they think the couple would like. However it could be not so good because certain planners could take advantage and say "oh well ive booked it now you need to pay for it".... once again this would be dependant on how well you interact with the planner before booking.

My advice.... ALWAYS speak to more than one planner! check out different price ranges, see what you get for the money, see how well you get on with that planner, how well you feel you could trust them on first impressions, never sign there and then! always go away and think about it first!

One planner I spoke with, didnt try to get to know me, not at all, didnt ask what sorts of things i liked, or h2b liked, didnt ask what sorts of people we are, what music we listen to, if we had kids or any of that, just sprouted off a fairytale princess wedding with horse drawn carriages, a really modern venue, 4 course sit down meal etc.... but thats just not us!

Another planner i spoke to asked the stupidest of questions, like the above including what our favourite foods, flavours, colours were, what catagory we would put ourselves in, what we believed in, our family situation, fav music, hobbies, prized possessions everything you wouldnt have thought would matter then she suggested the perfect wedding for us.... a castle, an f40 for h2b, a 67 chevy impala for me, a bbq/buffet, fireworks, pagan hand-tying ceremony, and a honeymoon for 2 in cornwall visiting places such as stone henge, silbury hill, avebury stone circles, all in a camper van! & a holiday for the kids at the same time to a family members. she even suggested a lemon sponge cake with black decor all over. she decribed the dress i had already bought without telling her what dress i had bought!

so always shop around!

My advice woudl be to try and get a consultation with at least 2 wedding consultants and then see what you are happy with. Every consultant offers a different package at different rates. The differnec between an independant wedding consultant and an in-huse wedding co-ordinator are quite different.

In house will try to convince you to use their reccomended suppliers. They will also be more concerned about timeline and keepoing a schedule on your day to maintain the reputation of the venue as somewhere that keeps things runnign smoothly and also wantign to keep suppliers happy by giving them business. Often you will find that many of these relationships are dealt with in a way that if, for example, you book the photographer that your venue reccomends then the photographer might give the hotel a cash payment as a thank you.

An independant consultant however will have knowledge of venues and build up a rapport with many different suppliers to be able to best advise you towards a supplier who is most suitable for your needs. There would be no point in sending you to venue that only caters for a wedding party of more than 100 if you only have 40 guests even if it is your dream venue. It is their job to find somethign equivilant that is more suitable. If for example you spend £2000.00 on your wedding co-ordinator you expect them to try to save that amount minimum for you. Of course this can only happen if the couple they are hired by are looking to save cash.

The wedding consultants role is to streamline the planning process and to try and minimise the stress felt by the bride and groom and offer support and knowledge in areas they may not know alot about. They will also help to create timelines and checklists for you and their ultimate aim is to keep you within the budget which you set at the consulation.

The way a wedding consultant charges their fees vaires also. Some may charge by the hour, others may ask for a percentage of your total budget and others (like I plan to) will charge a flat fee for package price. The reasoning behind this is that as much planning goes into a weddign with a £2000.00 budget as there is in a wedding with a budget of £100,000.00.

Hope that helps a little xx

EDIT - SORRY THIS HAS BEEN EDITED TO REMOVE ANY REFERENCE TO HAVING OR STARTING A BUSINESS - IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTION IN REGARDS TO THIS PLEASE CONTACT ONE OF THE MODERATORS .

Cathryn:.. researching my fair share of other planners (which was one of my assignments) its nice to see you are like me, we differ from the majority..... what i noticed when researching other planners is that the larger the budget the less work the other planners actually do.... they will obviously have a list of various suppliers but can just offer their favourites to the higher budget couples!
I actually had a photographer last year (not worked with him before) state that if i get him that customer he will give me a cash payment.... suffice to say i decided NOT to suggest him to the customer after all as i couldnt trust he would be interested in the photography on the day and rather more concerned about the money he was making!

So this is another thing to look out for.... making sure that lone-planner do not have business interests in certain suppliers, its not just the in-house co-ordinators you need to think of in that respect!

EDIT - THIS POST HAS BEEN EDITED TO REMOVE ANY REFERENCE TO A BUSINESS AS THIS IS DEEMED TO BE ADVERTISING