A couple's wedding is one of the most memorable days of their life, an experience that should be held dear forever. Planning a wedding, even a small wedding, can be difficult, considering the vast number of details to be handled. Before handing over the reigns to someone else to plan the most important day of your life, here are a few things you must consider.

Although one option of planning a wedding is to muddle through the process alone, or even ask friends and family to assist with some of the details, another possibility is to hire a professional wedding planner. Interestingly, while many brides and grooms love the idea of having professional help, it is also common to feel hesitant in turning the responsibility over to another person, usually a complete stranger!

For this reason, it is imperative that you do your homework when hiring a wedding planner, choosing someone with experience but also someone who is willing to listen to your specific wants and needs. By doing this, you can enjoy the fairytale wedding of a lifetime without nearly as much stress.

One of the main complaints heard by brides and grooms is the level of sheer exhaustion by the time the ceremony has ended. After all, the perfect wedding does not just happen by itself but is the result of time, hard work, and finances. Now, if you could have a gorgeous wedding but feel relaxed and energetic at the conclusion of the ceremony, going on to enjoy the honeymoon, would you be interested in knowing how? The right wedding planner can provide services so you have that peace of mind.

The perfect wedding planner would be someone who has coordinated hundreds of weddings. Okay, so you might find someone quite capable who has planned just a few weddings, but in general, the more experience the better. Obviously, this wedding planner would have already gone through many of the challenges and pitfalls associated with weddings, thus having learned quick solutions.

The wedding planner you hire should be able to take your dream wedding and make it a reality through good planning, streamlining, and modification. This professional would have preferred caterers, florists, cake decorators, limo services, DJ's, live bands, tailors, and other professionals who also have the required experience. If you were going to plan each aspect of your wedding, you would have to go through tremendous research and tons of interviews to select someone for each aspect of the wedding. Using a wedding planner eliminates most of this because they already have established relationships with those contacts!

We recommend you begin your search with references from friends, family members, co-workers, or neighbors recently married who used a wedding planner. If you do not know of anyone, then you can start by calling professionals in your area found in the local yellow pages or online. Choose a minimum of six wedding planners, scheduling time with each for an in-person interview.

The wedding planner should come prepared with a portfolio of the services provided, photographs of other weddings planned, and a list of references. Information discussed during the interview process would include the type of wedding, budget, preferred location, menu items, number of guests, taste in music, photography needs, and so on. As the interview progresses, the wedding planner should listen and take notes, after which questions are asked. Once each professional has been interviewed, you can then choose the one that meets specific standards, but also the person with whom you feel comfortable.

In summary, remember, hiring a wedding planner is not a foolproof solution to an error free wedding, but if the right person is hired, you certainly eliminate significant stress from your wedding preparations. To some couples, hiring a wedding planner may seem like an extravagant expense, but once you realize the magnitude of services being provided, you will see the cost as an investment that quickly pays for itself. Most importantly, get everything agreed upon in a signed contract. Chances are, the experience will flow smoothly, but remember, this is a business transaction and therefore, it should be treated as such.