What a wedding planner actually costs in 2026 (and what you get)

“How much does a wedding planner cost?” is the most common question I get and the one most planners answer with “it depends.” It does depend. But you deserve real numbers, so here they are, along with what each tier actually includes and how to pick the one you need.

The three tiers, in plain English

Almost every planner sells some version of the same three things, under different names:

• Month-of (or “day-of”) coordination. You plan everything. About six weeks before the wedding, a coordinator takes over the vendor conversations, builds the minute-by-minute timeline, runs the rehearsal and runs the day. Despite the name, nobody can coordinate a wedding they first heard about that morning; the good ones start weeks out.
• Partial planning. You lead the vision and make the decisions, but a planner sources and books some of your vendors, reviews contracts, helps with design, and then coordinates the wedding day. This is the tier most couples end up in.
• Full-service planning. The planner does essentially everything from budget to send-off: venue search, every vendor, complete design, guest logistics, and a full team on the day.

What people are paying in 2026

Pulling together the major 2026 pricing surveys, the national picture looks like this:

• Month-of coordination: roughly $1,200 to $3,500, averaging around $1,800.
• Partial planning: roughly $2,000 to $6,000, averaging around $3,200.
• Full-service planning: roughly $3,500 to $15,000+, with a national average near $5,500. Many full-service planners instead charge 10 to 15 percent of the total wedding budget.

Big coastal cities run higher: full-service planners in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco commonly charge $7,000 to $12,000, and luxury planners clear $15,000 easily.

Utah runs lower than the national average. Month-of coordination here clusters around $1,500, and full-service planners typically fall between $3,000 and $4,000 at the accessible end, with established luxury planners well above that.

The tier you need is set by how much of the decision-making you want to keep, not by how big your wedding is.

How to choose

Choose month-of coordination if…

You genuinely enjoy planning, you have the time, and you mostly want to be a guest at your own wedding. Be honest about the time part: a 150-person wedding is a few hundred hours of work. See what Hazel’s month-of coordination includes.

Choose partial planning if…

You know what you want but not how to get it, you don’t know which vendors to trust, or you’re planning from out of state. Partial planning is also the sweet spot if you want a designer’s eye without handing over the whole thing. These five real-world scenarios can help you decide.

Choose full service if…

Your time is worth more than the fee, you’re planning a destination or multi-day wedding, or the thought of a 40-tab spreadsheet makes you want to elope. (Eloping is also great. I plan those too.) Read the month-by-month full-service guide.

Questions to ask any planner

1. How many weddings do you take a year, and how many on the same weekend?
2. Who will actually be there on my wedding day?
3. How many vendor categories does “partial” include?
4. Do you take commissions from vendors? (The honest answer is fine; the evasive one isn’t.)
5. What happens if you’re sick?

Where I land

My own collections are on the planning page: a planning intensive for couples who want an expert plan to carry out themselves, partial planning with day-of coordination, and full service. I publish the pricing because I think you should be able to find out whether we fit before you ever have to book a call.