I Do?

Do I hire a wedding planner or do I not, is the real question. The wedding industry is huge in the USA, especially in terms of dollars ($90billion). The UK is slowly following suit and people are looking more in to hiring a wedding planner. However, I have to say if my wedding was in my own country I wouldn’t even consider hiring anyone, as I feel that I could do just as good a job as them, and I know many of us look forward to the wedding planning process and take extreme joy and pride in planning every detail. But when we are talking about a wedding in a foreign country, where I don’t really speak the language, suddenly it sounds like it might be a good idea.

• They can help set up visits to potential venues
• They can save you money as they get trade rates
• They can deal in the local language
• They can make sure on the day everything goes to plan whilst you just relax and enjoy

But a deciding factor might also be about the cost. Some examples of how they charge their fees

• 10% - 15% of the overall budget
• Flat rate for day of services plus 15% of vendor contract costs
• Fee based on number of guests
• Flat rate based on amount of work needed
• Hourly Rate

So if you decide that hiring a Wedding Planner is for you make sure you:

1. Establish what their fees are and get them in writing, along with a list of the tasks that they are to be responsible for.
2. Ask the names of at least two couples whom the wedding planner has recently worked for and contact them for a reference.
3. Let your wedding planner know what your total budget is. You may wish his or her guidance at establishing how to distribute the total budget over all the items needed for the wedding.

Some local wedding planners:
http://www.eventsandhome.com/
http://www.alchimieoriginelle.com/
http://www.riviera-runners.com/
http://www.seaviewwedding.com/

However, if you feel you can find a venue you on your own in France, then great, as most of the venues have an events planner and their service is in included in to your booking, and they can do everything a wedding planner would do at no extra cost!!