Why You Should Hire a Professional Event Planner – Part 3 – Cost Savings

Working with a professional event planner will allow you to spend more time doing what you love and will guarantee cost savings. They will also bring the right knowledge and experience to the planning and coordinating process.

If this is your first time tuning in, check out the previous two blog posts for the whole story: part 1 on time savings and part 2 on knowledge and experience. To recap, my point here is not to “sell” you on always hiring a professional event planner. I want to share when it could make sense.

Why should you hire a professional event planner?  There are three main reasons:

1. Time
2. Knowledge and Experience
3. Cost Savings

I have a lot to cover on this topic so I broke it down into three parts to make it easier to digest.  If you missed the other two, I recommend that you hop over to those first for the complete picture (part 1 on time savings and part 2 on knowledge and experience). Today, I’ll cover part 3, reason 3, COST SAVINGS.

Reason #3:  Cost Savings

Professional event planners really are worth their weight in gold.  You may be thinking “um, no, I have to pay a planner so how on earth does this save me money?”  Good question, and let me explain:

Budget

First, a full service planner will effectively manage your budget.  They will help you create a budget if you don’t already know it, monitor it throughout the planning process, and ensure that you don’t go over your planned budget OR make sure you are on board with a budget increase before committing so nothing sneaks up on you.  When you’re managing it on your own, it’s easy to leave out expenses when you build your budget and majorly underestimate how much your event will cost. That can cause either sticker shock or buyer’s remorse. You may have envisioned something completely unrealistic, and then will be disappointed with what your budget can actually get you.  A planner will help you set realistic expectations while also finding creative and clever ways to deliver the vision within your budget.

Vendors & Discounts

Next, a planner will connect you with the right vendors and often has access to special vendor discounts and industry pricing that you cannot access on your own. For example, I have access to wholesale floral pricing and stationery discounts, among other perks.  Planners know when seasonality and other factors could play a role in vendor pricing and guide you correctly towards the best deal. An experienced event planner knows how to effectively negotiate rates and what is fair for the various services and items. You could spend hours upon hours collecting quotes and communicating back and forth with the vendors yourself. Conversely, you can let your planner handle that headache.  Your planner will also know when someone is trying to gouge you or when they truly are quoting market pricing or even a great deal.

Avoid Costly Mistakes

Finally, planners will help prevent you from making costly mistakes.  This is where I really think a wedding planner or event planner will more than pay for themselves and what many people don’t realize.  Planners keep you on schedule and know when tasks need to be completed and items need to be ordered. This helps you to avoid rush delivery fees (like for invitations or your wedding dress). Or late add-on fees from your caterer or rental company because you realized at the last minute that you miscounted your RSVPs. Event planners read the fine print and know about contract terms that could impact your bottom line and address them. They are also onsite at your event ensuring that it runs smoothly, on time, and load out is completed. This generally will give you a higher likelihood of having security deposits returned.

So, are you convinced that an event planner will save you time, stress, and money?  It is an investment upfront, but if you hire the right planner I can guarantee you won’t regret it.

The three main reasons to hire a professional event planner are:

1. You will save yourself time to do more of what you love
2. They have the knowledge and experience
3. They will SAVE you more than what you probably spend on them

Please comment and let me know if you agree, disagree, or think I left out anything important.  Each event and circumstance is unique, but I hope the next time you need to plan an event you’ll consider hiring a professional event planner. They will lighten your load and deliver an exceptional experience for you and your guests.

If you’re in the Greater Seattle area, I would love to connect with you and help plan your next event!  Please contact me!