Explaining the price gaps in wedding planner pricing.

Undercutting or Pricing Appropriately?

There are a lot of people with wedding planning businesses all over the world. And with that, we see a lot of different wedding planner pricing. What we find more difficult is to determine why there are such wide price gaps between service providers. When a couple is quoted a price by a wedding planning team, and then quoted a significantly lower price by another team – logically speaking, there are only a few reasons this may be happening. It is not always “undercutting,” either.

Less Experience

This may be the most common reason why one planner may be significantly lower priced than another planner. Less experience in business, in the industry, in their current market, with their vendors, with their specialty, with large weddings or destination wedding, etc. All of these could be reasons for that wedding planner’s pricing. Experience is generally the number one element that factors into pricing. Aside from man hours and, some would say that it is the most important. If a client chooses to go with a lesser experienced professional they may receive a lesser price. And there is nothing wrong with that just so long as they realize that they will get what they are paying for.

Less Involvement

As explained previously, next to experience, the second element that tends to factor into wedding planner pricing is man hours. One planner might only take 6 weddings a year but they put 1000 hours into those weddings and charge $75K. While another planner might take on 30 weddings a year, only putting in 300 hours into each and then charge $20K. Again neither is wrong. At the end of the day, a client must decide what type of service they want to receive and what they are willing to pay for it.

Poor Business Management

Here is the shocker…

A lot of the time, when one planner charges an amount and another planner charges half as much, it is not because they are just “cheaper,” it is because they are not pricing their business for profit. We are not talking an extravagant profit, here, either. I’m talking about basic needs. Covering costs and being able to pay bills. Build a small retirement type of profit. It is poor business management. It is trying to “just book” job instead of building a sustainable business that turns a profit. This is not always the case with a lower price, but it is often the case with higher prices. For example, a professional who knows their worth and understands how much need to be charged in order to run a successful small business.

Different Needs

And then there is profit. Which yes, can vary significantly for each business owner depending on their own life goals and needs. I will say that most likely, this also circles back to experience. For the most part, an individual’s profit margins are not what will increase a price by double. But it might increase a price slightly. I would say this is the least common reason for increased/decreased wedding planner pricing. But for some reason is what clients assume is the reason for higher or lower price points when really, significant price difference usually points to these few factors:

Experience. Involvement. Business Management.

It is up to you, as the client, to decide how important each of these factors are to you and what you are willing to pay for them. As you interview professional wedding planners, ask them to explain their value in relations to each of these factors and how it plays into their pricing to make the most well informed decision for your upcoming event. Keep in mind, however, it is not wrong to charge less and it is not wrong to charge more. As long as they are charging based on THEIR professional experience, involvement, management and profit.

Still not sure how to select the best planning team for you?

Here is some Advice From Your Wedding Planner explaining why You Need A Wedding Planner. And if these blog posts don’t help you determine who may be best for you, perhaps you need to know What Questions To Ask Your Wedding Planner so you know How To Choose A Wedding Planner!