The cost of a wedding planner buys one person who owns the plan. That covers the supplier contracts, the budget, the run sheet and the call when the day goes off plan. Planners quote it in two main ways, a flat fee for a written scope or a percentage of your wedding budget, usually with a minimum fee underneath.
Full or partial planning earns its fee when you marry away from home, or host several events with guests flying in from different countries. An on-the-day manager is enough when your venue team is strong and one of you has time to spare in the final months. If you sit in between, talk it through with your Wedded Advisor from the Wedded Wonderland team at Wedded Concierge before you sign anything.
A flat fee is a fixed amount for a written scope, and it stays fixed only while the scope is precise. Price what is billed outside it, such as extra hours on the day or a second site visit, before you compare a short scope with a fuller one.
Planners who price this way commonly quote 10 to 15% of your total wedding budget, the range given by Monica Browne Weddings in the US and Busy Brides in the UK. Luxury rates sit higher, and Hyderabad's Velvet Knot gives 15 to 20% for luxury planning in India. Before you compare, ask four things in writing:
Is it a percentage of everything you spend, only the suppliers the planner books, or a budget fixed at signing?
Does the fee rise if your budget rises after you sign?
Is there a cap? At a high spend, a few points of percentage is a large sum.
Do the planner's travel and their own fee count inside the budget the percentage is taken from?
A minimum fee sits under most percentages, and for a smaller wedding the minimum is the real price. Busy Brides sets out how it works, and if 12% of your budget comes to less than the planner's minimum, the minimum applies.
The names on two quotes can hide different jobs, so judge each level by what you hand over and what you keep.
Full planning starts before the venue is chosen and runs past the last dance. Airtasker's cost guide describes it as start to finish, including the creative work and supplier coordination after the event. Ask for the scope to name design direction, the supplier selection, contract review, the budget, guest travel, the run sheet and the lead on the day.
Partial planning has no fixed meaning, so define it line by line. Airtasker describes it as starting partway through, with supplier contracts and the scheduling of fittings and rehearsals. You might keep the guest list, the menu and the music, and hand over the parts that carry risk.
An on-the-day manager runs a plan you have already made, starting, in Airtasker's version, with a meeting a few days before. Ask how many hours the fee covers, and what they will not do, such as chasing a late supplier in the final week.
For who does what between a planner, a stylist and a coordinator, read wedding planner vs wedding stylist and the difference between a stylist, planner and coordinator.
Airtasker puts planning one wedding at 200 to 300 hours, for a single event. Busy Brides puts the suppliers a planner coordinates at 15 to 30, each a contract, a deposit, a final payment and a confirmation near the date. You also write the run sheet, which lists each supplier's arrival, set-up and pack-down time, phone number and who they answer to.
A venue coordinator works for the venue, and scope varies from one venue to the next. Ask in writing whether it covers suppliers from outside the venue, guest transport, the run sheet before the day, or anyone who checks the band against the timings. Anything the venue says no to is yours or a planner's.
When rain moves the ceremony indoors or a supplier is stuck in transit, someone has to decide on the spot. From another country you cannot be that person. Choose them early, give them the run sheet and every supplier's number, and tell your suppliers they answer to them.
Plan it yourself, with an on-the-day manager, when all of these are true:
Your venue has a strong in-house team that runs most of the day.
Your supplier list is short.
You live near the venue and can get to suppliers easily.
One of you has time to spare in the last two months.
If any of those is false, or the wedding runs over several days with family and guests flying in, price full or partial planning before you decide.
You can hire a planner based at the destination, a planner from home who travels, or both, with the home planner leading and a local team on the ground. A local planner knows the venues, the suppliers and the registry. A planner from home knows your family and your guests, and bills travel on top of the fee. For the wider picture, read how to plan your destination wedding and use the destination wedding location guide to choose where.
Local rates follow the destination, not your home market, and weddings in Italy are the clearest published example. Federconsumatori figures reported by ItaliaOggi put full planning across the whole Italian market at about €2,500 to €15,000, and planners who charge a percentage average about 10% of the budget. Giorgia Fantin Borghi Studio's Tuscany guide puts full service in Tuscany alone at €12,000 to €35,000 or more, plus Italy's 22% VAT on planning, so for Tuscany, budget from that second range. At 10%, a €150,000 budget means a €15,000 fee, or €18,300 with VAT.
In India, Udaipur planner Decor Destination puts full-service destination planning at ₹4 to 5 lakh, and Velvet Knot puts per-event fees at about ₹30,000 to ₹2 lakh. For a multi-day palace wedding, ask whether the fee is per event or for the whole programme, whether GST is included, and who bills the décor build, artists, sound, permits and ground transport.
Your planning cost abroad is the sum of several lines, so ask each planner to itemise these before you pay a deposit:
The home planner's fee and the local team's fee, with where one's work stops and the other's starts set down in writing.
The planner's flights, nights and days on site, and whether a team member travels too. Few planners publish travel costs, so have each quoted as its own line.
A fee per event, such as a welcome dinner, the wedding and a farewell lunch, with the team at each.
Who books guest transfers, tracks flights and looks after guests landing on different days, and whether that sits with the planner or a travel advisor.
Faith and dietary needs, such as halal catering, prayer space or alcohol-free events, and who briefs each supplier.
Local tax, the currency of each contract, who carries the exchange rate and your bank's transfer charge.
Whether the planner handles the civil paperwork, or only the ceremony on the day. If you marry legally at home first, the ceremony abroad is symbolic and the paperwork leaves the scope.
Exclusive Italy Weddings recommends starting at least 12 months ahead, and says it has planned weddings in as little as three months. Under a year out, ask about availability on your date before anything else, and whether a short lead time or the destination's peak season changes the fee.
The fee pays for the planner, and the wedding is billed separately. Monica Browne Weddings lists design and décor, premium rentals, transport, permits, overtime, travel and extra assistants as costs that may not appear in the first quote.
Ask for the overtime rate per hour and the time it starts, because late finishes are where an invoice grows. Confirm whether each quote includes GST, VAT or sales tax, since a quote without tax can't be set beside one that includes it.
Get each answer in writing before you pay a deposit:
Scope: Every task, line by line, with the number of meetings, site visits and hours on the day.
Who turns up: Whether the person at your first meeting runs your wedding, or a named team member does.
Who signs and pays: If parents or family hold the budget, who signs, who approves changes, who pays from which account and in which currency, and whose instruction the planner follows when family and couple disagree.
Payments and mark-ups: Ask, "Do you receive any payment, discount or fee from suppliers you recommend, and do you mark up décor, production, entertainment or sound you supply?"
Supplier contracts: Whether you contract and pay each supplier directly, or the planner does and invoices you. This decides who holds your deposits and who you claim against if a supplier fails.
Payment schedule and refunds: The planner's own deposit, instalments and refund terms. Question any schedule that puts most of the fee at signing, and any request to pay into a personal account.
Cover on the day: Who runs your wedding if the planner is ill, and whether they already know your file.
Guests: Whether the scope covers guest hotels and arrival transfers, and a named team member who looks after elders and children.
Each figure is in the market's own currency, and prices change, so confirm when you book.
Airtasker's cost guide puts planners at AUD 1,000 to 20,000 nationally, with a median of AUD 8,000, and on-the-day coordinators at AUD 1,000 to 5,000. For full planning, Sydney planner Managing Matrimony publishes fees from AUD 9,900 including GST, with 10 hours on the day. Luxury Sydney planners rarely publish fees, so expect a quote on enquiry.
Browse wedding vendors in Sydney to compare options before you ask anyone to quote.
The ACCC lists terms that penalise only one side for ending a contract as possibly unfair, so read the planner's cancellation clause with that in mind.
If your planner handles the paperwork for Italy, the Italian consulate in Brisbane sets out an Atto Notorio sworn with four unrelated witnesses, valid six months, then a nulla osta from the Australian Embassy in Rome. For other countries, see Smartraveller.
Monica Browne Weddings puts planners in DC, Maryland and Virginia at USD 3,000 to 7,000 for day-of coordination and USD 7,000 to 25,000 or more for full planning. In New York, Irene + Co starts full planning at USD 13,000. BLB Events, which plans in New York, the Hamptons and Umbria, charges 18% of the budget with a minimum of USD 19,995 for one day and USD 29,995 for a multi-day wedding. At 18%, that multi-day minimum is the price on any budget under about USD 167,000.
For a weekend in Italy, set a New York planner who works there, such as BLB, against a Tuscan studio's €12,000 to €35,000 or more. Convert the Italian quote with its 22% VAT included, because that VAT is part of what you pay, and ask who covers the wire charge. Then add the New York planner's flights and nights as their own lines.
The Italian consulate in San Francisco sets out the Italy route for US citizens, with an Atto Notorio valid 90 days, a sworn statement at a US consulate in Italy and a town hall declaration.
In Awe Weddings says luxury planners' minimums usually start from £8,000 to £20,000, and sets its own fee at 12 to 15% of the budget. Emma Reeve sets her minimum planning fee for 2026/27 at £8,000. Busy Brides puts full planning across the market at £4,000 to £15,000 or more, higher in London and the South East, and on-the-day coordination at £1,200 to £3,500.
For a wedding abroad, ask a UK planner whether they have worked in your destination and who converts rupee or euro quotes, and read GOV.UK on what the country may require.
Olga Events puts partial planning in Dubai at AED 7,000 to 15,000, full planning at AED 15,000 to 40,000 and luxury planning above AED 40,000. MoreLess Events says full luxury planning starts around AED 30,000, can pass AED 100,000 for multi-day celebrations, and is sometimes a percentage of total spend.
Olga Events puts hotel minimum spends at AED 60,000 to 150,000, so ask whether any percentage is taken on that minimum or on actual spend. The hotel's events team works for the hotel, while an independent planner runs the henna night, wedding and reception, so ask for the fee per event and whether it rises with guest numbers. If elders approve suppliers, put the sign-off order in the contract, and ask for an all-female team for women's events. If your Dubai planner travels with you to Greece or Italy, ask for the same itemised lines as any planner from home.
Muslim marriages go through the UAE's Sharia courts or an authorised marriage official. The Abu Dhabi Judicial Department lets non-Muslim couples living abroad apply online for a civil marriage.
Through Wedded Concierge, send your Wedded Advisor from the Wedded Wonderland team your date, destination, guest numbers, events and where your guests fly from. You'll see which level of help the wedding needs, including when an on-the-day manager is enough and when a home planner needs a local team beside them. Then compare planners and other suppliers on the Wedded Marketplace before you ask anyone to quote.
Written by
Content and Creative Manager
Joseph Joshua is the SEO & Content Manager at Wedded Wonderland, bringing an editorial and search strategy perspective to the publication’s coverage of luxury weddings, destination celebrations and bridal lifestyle. His approach to content centres on helping readers move from inspiration to informed decisions, with attention to the design, craftsmanship and personal details that give a celebration its character.
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