With the average wedding taking anywhere from 200 - 300 hours to plan there is a rise in couples looking for professional wedding planning services to help support them with their research, logistics, planning and delivery.

But how much does it cost to hire a UK Wedding Planner?

Wedding Planners fees vary on their experience, geography, niche and personal pricing preferences and the scope of work they undertaken on behalf of clients. All research and information below is meant as a guide and is correct as of February 2023.

Balcombe Place a West Sussex country house wedding venue

Being a Wedding Planner may seem like a distant, far off ‘dream’ job created in movies. However it’s often a very unglamorous role, and whilst most Weddings Planners love their job they will also have spent many years gaining valuable experience and contacts whilst working tirelessly to build profitable businesses.

UK Wedding Planners fees are reflective of more than just the amount of administrative time it takes to plan a wedding but also reflects;

The professional experience a wedding planner has
Their ability to manage a clients budget
Their creativity and ability to curate a design led, experiential event
The ability to run a successful, sustainable, professional and profitable business
The additional support clients receive from planners assistants in the lead up and on the day of a wedding
A clients access to a wedding planners trusted network of recommended suppliers
The exclusive experience of being part of a small calendar of up to 8 clients ensuring that you receive all the support and attention that a high end luxury wedding deserves.

Wedding Planning

Many wedding planners offer a variety of services, and although we all charge slightly differently their are some general guidelines for Full Service Wedding Planning:

For full service wedding planning the industry average planner fee is 10-15% of your wedding budget and a minimum fee usually applies.
Minimum fees for reputable, experienced wedding planners are likely to begin at £5,000 up to £10,000 - you may be able to fix this fee with your planner.

At Emma Reeve Weddings our minimum fee is £7,000 and this covers a detailed and comprehensive full wedding planning service. Each wedding is quoted bespoke on your wedding plans taking into consideration guest numbers over 100, multi day events, very large budgets to manage and the complexity of plans. Our fees reflect our experience of expertly planning bespoke weddings at exclusive use of English country house estates, purpose built marquee structures and French chateaus.

Surrey Marquee at Home Wedding in Green and White

On the Day Coordination;

also called On the Day Management is a service which assists couples who have planned their own weddings and would like a professional to assist them in the weeks before and on the day of their wedding. This is usually quoted from £1,000 from reputable wedding planners.

Emma Reeve Weddings quotes start from £1,500 for weddings at exclusive use venues and £1,800 for marquee weddings.

Other services:

Some UK Wedding Planners will also offer a partial planning, styling and virtual services.

Partial Planning and Styling Services can vary wildly depending on the size of your wedding, scope of work that needs to be undertaken, and the results you would like to achieve. This means that quotes from Wedding Planners for these services will vary however are likely to be based upon an hourly rate for the sum of hours the Wedding Planner feels is necessary.

Virtual services gives clients the opportunity to access 1:1 expert planning services from a UK Wedding Planner. The scope of services that Wedding Planners offer varies under this category however you may be able to receive support with your design, budget, scheduling, logistics, supplier research and more for a fixed hourly rate.

Additional Fees:

There are usually few, if any additional fees when it comes to hiring a Wedding Planner, especially if you are hiring a professional full service wedding planner. However, remember to check your contract and ask about any expenses like travel.