If you are lucky, you have a committed and talented family member that is eager and chomping at the bit to plan your wedding for you. Most people are not that lucky and will have to get out there and find one. Choosing a wedding planner is not as easy as opening the phone book and calling the first number listed although you could go that route and you might even get lucky enough to like that individual. The odds, I am sorry to say, are against it. A good wedding planner knows that you and he or she will have to form and emotional bond in the short time you will be together and you both will need to feel that bond on your first meeting.

This is a person who will come into your life and make help you make some of the most important decisions you will ever make. The wedding planner will be the maker or breaker of a wedding and a good one embraces this responsibility. They look forward to the challenge and they understand the gravity of the commitment.

Interview, interview, interview, and you cannot go wrong. A good rule of thumb is to meet with at least five event planners before you make a decision. If you find that it is a tough decision to make then you are doing something right. Let your heart help you make the decision or even better, let your heart make the final choice. That is usually the right thing to do.

Do not be afraid to ask for references and even quiz the wedding planner to test their knowledge. You do not want a planner that does not know the difference between beach wedding favors and summer wedding favors. You also want your planner to know the vendors you may hire by name. If, when it is time to talk about caterers, the planner pulls out the yellow pages and asks you if that would be under food or catering, you probably made a bad choice.

Wedding planners should come highly recommended. When they supply references, check to make sure that the references are actually married couples who used the planner and not just friend earning a few quick reference bucks. (It happens) One good way to tell if you have a reputable wedding planner is the way they interact with the vendors you will involve in your wedding. Call around in advance and get over the phone quotes to see if your planner is getting you better deals in person.

Once you have a good wedding planner, trust their instincts as well as your own. If they have been in the business for any length of time, they will know the tricks that will save you money and make your wedding an affair to remember. A good wedding planner makes between two and three thousand dollars per wedding and to many people they are well worth the money. Of course, the least expensive way to go is to plan your wedding yourself but only if your negotiating skills are very sharp. Part of a wedding planner's job is to get you the best service at the best price possible. This is how they make a living and most of them are very good at what they do. The most important thing is to find one that you like and with whom you are comfortable.