Wedding consultants or wedding planners are professionals specializing in wedding planning. Your wedding planner can be an organizer, an event planner, a vendor specialist, a project manager, a shrink, or a friend. A wedding planner can work with you to plan your wedding day part-time or full-time. How much time a wedding consultant spends on your wedding is only limited by your budget. A good rule of thumb is not to spend more than 7 to 10 percent of your total wedding budget on a wedding planner. If your wedding budget is $20,000, you should not spend more than $2000 on your wedding planner. The savings gained from hiring an experienced wedding planner may justify paying for one. Even if you can't afford a wedding planner to plan your entire wedding, you may consider meeting one for an hour or two just to get help with the most important things.

One of the most important reasons for hiring a wedding planner it to reduce your stress level. Even if you might be able to organize everything from the wedding cake, your reception site, the wedding band, and the list goes on, you might be better off with the help of seasoned wedding professional.

Your wedding consultant can handle the less glamorous aspects of organizing your wedding such as setting appointments with vendors. When you meet with your wedding planner for the first time come with a plan. The more prepared you are the more your wedding consultant can help. Good preparation will not only save you time, but it will save you money. The less time your wedding consultant needs to spend on organizing your wedding, the less it will cost.

Just because you are working with a consultant, it doesn't mean that all you need to do is show up on your wedding day. You should setup a timeline and make sure your goals are met according to schedule.
If you enjoy planning events, you might plan your entire event without any help from a professional wedding planner. If you are unsure of what needs to be done to organize your special day, you might at the very least setup an appointment with a professional wedding planner. You should always ask for references prior to hiring a wedding planner.