Wedding Planner Cost in the South
If you’re researching the cost of a wedding planning in North Carolina, or anywhere in the southeast, you’re likely trying to understand what is a realistic balance for your desired investment and your idea. wedding. The truth is, there is a wide range. Not all wedding planners offer the same level of service, creativity, or involvement. Once you understand how wedding planner pricing works, you’ll be able to determine what level of service is right for your wedding.
What is the average cost of a wedding planner in the South?
The cost of a full service wedding planner in North Carolina typically starts around $8,500.
From there, pricing increases based on the planner’s experience and expertise, size of your event, the level of customization, and the complexity of the overall experience. Some planners charge flat fees, while more seasoned planners typically use a percentage-based model.
At Significant Events, we price our services at 15% of the total managed investment, with a minimum planner’s fee of $10,000. This structure allows us to scale alongside your event. As your needs evolve and the event comes to fruition, we are able to scale with you. That means we are able to effectively allocate our resources alongside you, rather than feeling stretched thin and limited on resources to properly support the complexity of your event.
Why Wedding Planner Costs Varies So Much
The wedding industry is unregulated, which means pricing varies significantly across the board.
Some planners operate on a high-volume model with repeatable processes. These planners often offer flat fee packages and a more standardized approach. For couples that are seeking a “repeatable” wedding, that works well. They will have a smooth planning process, but unique elements may be sacrificed as higher volume planners may not be able to provide the creative problem solving and energy to scale more unique details.
Other planners take a fully customized approach. This means building each event from the ground up rather than following a templated process. While the term “luxury” is often overused in the industry. A true luxury wedding planner is one that intentionally limits their clientele and scales their pricing according to their unique client needs. For example, at Significant Events, we limit the number of full service weddings we take on each year so we can allocate the proper level of time and attention to each creative, unique event.
That difference in this approach is what drives the difference in wedding planner cost in North Carolina. Neither method is right or wrong. It all depends on the level of intricate detail and creativity you are seeking.
What you are actually paying for.
While it’s true that wedding planners make the process easier while you plan your wedding… they also do so much more “hidden work.”
A wedding planner shapes the entire experience. This includes managing logistics, guiding design, coordinating vendors, and solving problems before they ever reach you.
More importantly, a planner shows you what is possible. When working with a luxury wedding planner, you are paying for the brains behind your wedding day. You hire your wedding planner as the true visionary that is irreplaceable to make your dream event come together. We invest time and energy to get to know you, and we get creative to very intentionally design an event that is wholly yours.
Without that intentional eye for detail, couples often default to ideas they have seen before. The result is a wedding that looks beautiful but feels familiar. You’ve seen it before, over and over. The same structure, the same songs played, the same seating chart style. No shade, but that’s not how we do things at SE. And that’s how we create something that’s different.
We create weddings that feel personal, intentional, and unlike anything your guests have experienced before. Our goal is for our guests to walk into an event and immediately tie every detail back to your personal story.
Our approach at Significant Events
As a Raleigh wedding planner serving couples across North Carolina, we focus on full-service wedding planning and design for a limited number of clients to provide a truly personal hands on experience.
Our clients are typically hosting full wedding weekends at private homes or estate-style venues, from Highlands to Beaufort. They are planning medium to large-scale events and are willing to invest in a meaningful guest experience. Most are working with a budget that starts around $1,000 per guest.
They are not interested in recreating something they have seen on Pinterest. They want to create something original. Something that reflects who they are with intention and good taste. That is where we do our best work.
Is a wedding planner worth it?
If you are planning a smaller or more straightforward event, you may not need full-service planning. But if you are hosting a multi-day wedding, managing a larger guest count, or want a highly personalized experience, a planner becomes one of the most valuable investments you can make.
The wedding planner cost in North Carolina varies because the level of service varies. The better question to ask is not just what it costs, but what kind of experience you want to create.
Your North Carolina Wedding Planner
Hey there! I’m Haines, the owner and lead planner behind Significant Events. With over 10 years of experience in the events industry, I take a unique approach to creating a streamlined experience for my clients. With an eye for creativity and a background in Industrial Engineering, our team brings the perfect balance of design and logistics to your wedding day.
I love the weddings and events industry so much that I left my reliable corporate job in favor of long weekends filled with 24,000 steps and collaborating with vendors on unique designs that tell my clients’ stories.
When I’m not behind my laptop dreaming up my client’s next wedding design, you may find me on a yoga mat, or hanging out with my besties at our favorite local coffee shop. When the husband gets home from work, we are usually spending time with our beautiful daughter, and loving on our pets (2 kitties and a beautiful long haired German Shepherd!) If it’s time to get out of the house, we’re calling the babysitter to head to the movies
Looking for a wedding planning experience that feels like a breath of fresh air and totally you? We’d love to meet you!
