Planning a wedding is without a doubt one of the most exciting tasks you could have! You get to choose each detail of the long-awaited big day and make it as grandiose or as private as you’ve always wanted.

From table decorations to flowers and color themes, there are countless little aspects that you need to think about. And while this might sound amazing to you right now, wait until you get to the planning. We don’t mean to scare you off, but just keep in mind that according to a survey by Zola Weddings (a company that offers free tools for planning a wedding) 96% of the participating 500 engaged and newlywed couples admitted that the planning process was stressful. Furthermore, according to the same survey, 47% of couples were so shaken up by the process that they contemplated eloping (spontaneously getting married in Las Vegas, for example) and 8% even thought about calling the big day off altogether. Given those statistics, it’s no wonder why many brides and grooms outsource their wedding planning to a professional. Before making this decision, however, it’s a good idea to consider the pros and cons of both options –  hiring a wedding planner or planning the big day yourself. 

Should you hire a professional or not 

The first and most obvious difference between the two options is the amount of time each one will require from you. If you hire a wedding planner, then you’ll save up some of your precious time and transfer all tasks to this person. This means that you will have more time to focus on the pleasant emotions that come along with every engagement, rather than investing it in browsing through online catalogs or physically visiting stores, bakeries, and flower shops. Just as obvious is the fact that outsourcing means losing control over the decision-making process.  Not entirely, of course. We agree that most wedding planners out there have the best intentions and always consult with you before committing to a specific color theme for your wedding, for example. However, in most cases, the planner has already gone through a huge amount of options and he/she is only presenting a snippet of them to you (the ones that he/she thinks will be best for the specific occasion). Thus, the professionals, in this case, intentionally or not, may influence your decision, because they are letting you choose out of pre-selected options that they chose in the first place. Another crucial point to consider is the budget. It’s not a secret that weddings are expensive as a whole. That’s why you should make sure that your expectations are realistic when it comes to how much money the wedding planning service will be. According to shutterfly.com, hiring a mid-class wedding planner will cost you around $1,800, but if you opt-in for a more experienced high-end professional, then you must be ready to pay over $4,000 for the planning of your wedding alone. 

DIY wedding – arranging the transportation, renting a venue, and organizing the schedule

Know that if you decide to save some money, roll up your sleeves and organize your wedding yourself, you’ll have your hands full for sure. And while there are countless details that you need to go through, you should first and foremost take care of the three main pillars of your wedding day – the transportation, the venue, and the (rough) schedule. We already gave you some tips and tricks for planning your wedding transportation, but we cannot stress enough how important it is to book your desired vehicle early in the planning process. The same goes for renting a venue and creating a schedule for the whole day. Once you get those tasks done, you’ll have the “frame” of the event, so to speak, all planned out. This will make it easier for you to imagine the flow of the day and arrange everything else according to the rough schedule you have created. If you’re worried about getting everything right, a great idea is to host a rehearsal dinner before the actual wedding. You get to practice everything before the actual event. This will undoubtedly ease your concerns and anxiety so that you can enjoy every second of this magical experience. This brings us to our final, but most important tip: don’t forget to have fun. Usually, people only plan one wedding, so make sure to enjoy every second of it, because this is your special moment.