Wedding planners are a bit like fairy godmothers in heels (for our male wedding planners, please excuse this comparison). Unfortunately, a wedding planner cannot wave a magic wand and instantly plan a couple’s dream wedding or sprinkle glitter in the air to make everyone smile, but they do have the insight and experience necessary to take the stress out of wedding planning for couples and stop them from breaking the bank.

Many people have heard of wedding planners and what they do, but there are also many myths that circulate around the job of a wedding planner.

Let’s debunk these wedding planner myths once and for all! 

1) A wedding planner doesn’t really care about keeping people happy, as long as they get paid.

Whoever believes this obviously has never had a conversation with a professional wedding planner.  This business is all about relationships and the number one priority for us is making our couples happy and keeping their friends and family happy as well. It would be impossible for us to stay in business if we didn’t genuinely care about making our clients happy.

2) Wedding planners are expensive and only work with couples who have large wedding budgets.

Yes, there are wedding planners who work exclusively with the rich and famous, but the majority of wedding planners will work with a variety of wedding budgets and offer various wedding planning packages and services for engaged couples to choose from. 

Not all couples want or need someone to help with the entire planning process, so they hire a wedding coordinator for wedding day management services only. Maybe they only need recommendations on wedding vendors in their area which many wedding planners will provide for a small fee as well. 

If a couple has heard good things about a wedding planner, they will want to ask what are all the types of services offered and what types of budgets the wedding planner works with.

3) If I hire a planner, they are going to take over my wedding and make it all about them.

As professional wedding planners, our intention is to bring all of the couple’s wedding plans to reality. We want our clients to enjoy the planning process, the wedding day, and all of the events leading up to it.

A wedding planner listens to her clients, gets to know their style and personality, then pulls all of the details together to make the event reflect the couple. We are there to fix any problems that may arise without the guests, couple, or wedding party ever knowing something happened.

4) Between Pinterest ideas, my DIY skills, and family and friends to help me, I don’t need to hire anyone.

Pinterest, the Internet, and help from family and friends is wonderful; however, a wedding planner is able to focus solely on the wedding planning and not have to juggle DIY projects on top of all of the other stresses of being newly engaged.

The wedding couple needs someone who is going to be okay missing a toast on the wedding day to make sure the food is being served on time and doesn’t mind keeping track of hundreds of miscellaneous details.

Friends and family are going to offer assistance and there is no harm in taking it, but having a professional wedding planner allows for someone to step in if there are too many opinions, or if things aren’t getting done on time or in the way the couple wants.

Some planners also offer help with DIY projects which can take a load of stress off the couple and their family. 

Experienced wedding planners may have planned more than a hundred weddings. Their expertise is extremely valuable to engaged couples, who have likely never planned a wedding.

5) My venue has its own onsite coordinator so I do not need to hire a professional planner.

It is helpful to work with a good onsite venue coordinator who has dealt with many events at that venue. The benefit, though, of working with a professional wedding planner is that he or she will be with you throughout the entire planning process and will make sure that you have more than a few choices for vendors.

Professional wedding planners also offer budget projections, budget management, design guidance, creation of detailed wedding day schedules, constant communication with the vendor team, and he or she will also attend most vendor consultations with their clients. Most venue coordinators will provide only vendor recommendations and a general outline of the wedding day timing. Professional planners love working with great onsite coordinators but their job and our job is very different. Read more about the differences between a professional wedding planner and a venue coordinator.

This is a guest post from Christine Pirkle.

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