Wedding Planner or Not?

[QuintanaV]

I am in the beginning stages of planning a wedding in the Riviera Maya for May 2013. I will be having a private affair for 30 guests and am really tempted to plan it all myself and not hire a wedding planner. Has anyone done this before?

 

I have already booked my location and my photographer. I will be booking my DJ next and have already been looking into pricing for wedding ceremony and reception from some event places.

 

A little undecided if a wedding planner will be much of any help for me as I am doing very well on my own in advance.

[LCBride2007]

eek, if you think you can do it i'm sure you could save some $$.  but for me it wasn't about the $$ but more that the WC already has contacts down there, could possibly work out some deals because of these relationships, is local so they know the language and can get a hold of people easier, etc.  But also, who is going to run the show on the day of the wedding?  you don't want people to be bothering you with the details, ya know?

[QuintanaV]

I know, I have been tossing the idea back and forth as well only because of the events on the day of the wedding. I know Spanish myself and can negotiate. I, along with my parents and siblings, will be arriving a week before the wedding and my sister offered to be my wedding coordinator the day of as I was hers when she got married.

 

I am still undecided on this matter and have honestly not priced any wedding planners. Thanks for your input, you are making me lean towards contacting a wedding planner

[marilili]

I think it depends.  If you are going to do a resort..I would say no! But you might consider if you are doing it outside of a resort.

[QuintanaV]

Thanks marilili! I will be having a non-resort wedding, so we'll see what I decide. I will start out by getting pricing on wedding planners this week.

[saraluvsmikey]

If you can speak the language, that's half the battle! The wedding planner I am using has a 100% money-back guarantee on all the services I book through her- She says she trusts all the photographers she recommends, all the djs, etc. That provides me with some much comfort! I would be terrified that someone I found & booked on my own wasn't totally trustworthy on the big day... Ya know? Just something to think about... You're already doing so well without, and if your sister is willing to coordinate the day of, you're quite lucky! (:

[QuintanaV]

Wow, that's a pretty impressive deal. Always good to be backed up with a 100% money-back guarantee. I have thus far only booked people and things that have been highly recommended by many people on this site. I will definitely keep in mind that wedding planners do in fact, back their referalls up.

 

Does this mean you are limited in who you hire for services? I like to go with what I've read on this site as far as DJ, photographer, etc.

[saraluvsmikey]

No, you're not limited to her people. She just won't give you the money-back guarantee of course! 

[LeanneMarie]

Since you are planning everything yourself you can just hire a wedding planner for the day of coordination.  This way you and your sister can both just enjoy the day and party and you'll reduce WC costs by only requiring day of services!