If you’ve ever tried to understand wedding planner cost in New England, you already know it can feel like decoding a secret language. Some planners list nothing, others list everything, and many use pricing structures that make it nearly impossible to compare your options. At Contagious Events, we love a little mystery in design — not in pricing — so we’re breaking down exactly how much a wedding planner costs and the real math behind our package fees.
At Contagious Events, we love a little mystery in design — not in pricing.
So let’s talk openly about how much a wedding planner actually costs in New England, and more important, how we determine our pricing.
This is not an industry-average article, because the truth is,averages in the wedding industry are misleading at best, and an outright lie at worst.
This is a transparent breakdown of our real numbers, our packages, and the logic behind our fees — the same way we’d explain it if you were sitting across from us with a coffee.
Understanding Wedding Planner Cost: Why Pricing Feels Confusing (and why we keep it simple)
Wedding planners don’t have a standardized pricing structure. In the same market, you might see:
- Flat-fee pricing
- Percentage-based pricing
- Commission-based pricing
- Tiered pricing
- Mix-and-match custom quotes
This inconsistency creates confusion for couples, especially those in the early planning stages. When couples first begin researching wedding planner cost, they’re often surprised at how widely fees vary. Our approach is the opposite: clear, flat fees that don’t change based on your spending. No surprises. No markups. No quiet commissions.
Just transparent pricing that reflects the real work involved.
Our Packages + Flat Fees:
We’ve designed our packages around the three points when couples most often realize they need professional help. Below is our current pricing, with a quick note that additional fees may apply for weddings outside our typical travel area or for large guest counts requiring expanded staffing.
Shindig – Our Full Service Wedding Planning Package is Priced at $16,500 (split into 3-4 payments)
Shindig is the “start-to-finish, answer-every-question, handle-every-detail” experience. It’s also our only package that includes venue scouting and securing, which is one of the most time-intensive phases of planning.
This package averages over 400 labor hours of work and includes:
- Venue research, touring, and contracting
- Budget oversight and advising
- Full design concepting
- Vendor sourcing and coordination
- Collaboration tools (timelines, layouts, design decks)
- Unlimited communication (yes… 1,500+ emails between clients and vendors is totally normal!)
- Ceremony rehearsal
- Full wedding day production with a lead planner + additional planner
- Additional staff for large or complex weddings
This is ideal for couples who want a professional team from day one: especially for events with layered design, multiple moving parts, or a three-day wedding weekend.
Hootenanny – Our Design + Management Package is Priced at $14,500 (split into 3 payments) and is our most popular package
Hootenanny is our most popular package for a reason: it’s essentially full-service planning for couples who have already chosen their venue (and maybe secured a vendor or two) but want expert design development and professional project management.
It averages 350 hours of billable time and includes:
- Comprehensive design direction
- Full vendor sourcing + communication
- Timeline creation and execution
- Access to our collaborative planning tools
- Unlimited communication
- Rehearsal management
- Lead planner + additional planner on wedding day
- Additional staff as needed for guest count or complexity
Perfect for couples who love being involved but want a partner who can pull the vision together cohesively, and keep everything moving.
Primetime – Our Version of Month of Coordination is Priced at $4,500 (split into 2 payments)
Think of this as an elevated, more robust version of month-of coordination. A wedding with dozens of vendors, hundreds of guests, and thousands of dollars invested needs more than someone showing up with a clipboard.
Primetime averages 100 hours of work and includes:
- Vendor communication + confirmation
- Final timeline creation
- Venue walkthrough
- Rehearsal management
- Lead planner + additional planner on wedding day
This is ideal for couples who planned their wedding themselves but want professional oversight to ensure everything runs smoothly – and to avoid handing the timeline to Aunt Linda.
Why Does Wedding Planning Cost This Much?
Let’s talk about hours.
A huge part of understanding wedding planner cost is understanding the hours involved. We know the price tags may seem high at first glance. But the hours tell the real story.
A typical Shindig or Hootenanny wedding involves:
- 1,500+ emails between us, the couple, and the vendor team
- Dozens of phone calls and Zoom meetings
- Site visits + walkthroughs
- Timeline development that often includes 20+ contributors
- Vendor sourcing + services curation + coordination
- Design plan creation (color palettes, floor plans, mockups, rentals sourcing)
- Packing, staffing, day-of production
- And a wedding day that easily surpasses 25,000 steps for our team
It’s also why none of our planners are allowed to work more than one wedding per weekend. A planner who worked until midnight on Saturday should not be responsible for someone else’s once-in-a-lifetime event on Sunday.
We know you’re curious, so here’s the math: when you break our flat fees down by total hours invested, they average roughly $40–$45 per hour — for highly trained planners with years of experience.
The math checks out. In fact, we’re told time and time again by clients that we should charge more.
Where Your Investment Actually Goes
This is the part most couples never think about, and understandably so. But if we’re talking transparency, let’s put it all out there.
Running a reputable planning firm requires:
- Liability insurance (required by many New England venues)
- Licensed business operations + taxes to stay in legal good standing
- Payroll for experienced planners who bring years of expertise
- Software for timelines, layouts, design plans, collaboration, and contracts
- Continuing education and training (industry standards evolve constantly)
- Emergency kit supplies (everything from steamers to glue guns to stain remover)
- Travel expenses for site visits and vendor meetings
- Printed materials + detailed production documents
- Administrative support + internal systems
Some people call this “overhead.”
We call it the infrastructure that keeps your wedding safe, insured, and flawlessly executed.
And, importantly:
A planner with proper overhead is a planner who will still be in business on your wedding day.
Flat Fee vs. Percentage-Based Pricing:
Another factor that influences wedding planner cost industry-wide is whether a planner uses a flat fee or percentage-based model. Percentage-based pricing is extremely common among luxury planners, and it makes a lot of sense.
Percentage-Based Pricing Has Legitimate Strengths:
- It protects the planner from scope creep
- It maintains fair compensation as complexity grows
- It keeps budgets proportionate to total investment
- It allows a planner to resource your wedding properly
There is nothing wrong with this model. So why don’t we use it?
For us, it comes down to one thing:
We want our couples to trust that every recommendation we make is 100% in their best interest.
With percentage-based pricing, there’s always a tiny question in the back of a client’s mind:
“Do they want me to upgrade because it’s better… or because they’ll earn more?”
We never want you to wonder.
Our flat-fee model + no-commission policy keeps the relationship clean, clear, and fully aligned.
A positive side effect of the no-commission policy is a strong vendor network. There is truth to the saying your network is your net worth – because we never ask vendors for commissions, they’re often excited to work with us, offering competitive quotes and flexibility to our clients. And if something unusual arises (like needing an extra planner to manage a DJ who likes to improvise, for example…), we simply discuss options openly. Flat-fee pricing doesn’t mean inflexible – it means transparent.
A Gentle Note for Those Looking for Cheap Wedding Vendors
Not every couple needs luxury vendors, and luxury weddings don’t necessarily have to have a vendor list of only luxury vendors. We get that most couples have to be reasonable when it comes to wedding budgets. Here’s what we want you to know:
A planner charging a few hundred dollars cannot sustainably deliver 100–400 hours of professional work, carry proper insurance, maintain a trained staff, invest in planning software, or show up well-rested and properly supported.
And if they become overwhelmed, burned out, or need to cancel, the risk transfers directly to you.
Your wedding is too meaningful, and too expensive, to gamble on.
Professional oversight is not just about design. It’s about protecting your investment and ensuring your day is executed with precision.
Your Investment, Protected. Your Wedding, Elevated.
We take your investment seriously. We charge enough to:
- Pay our team what they’re worth
- Stay insured, trained, and legally compliant
- Maintain tools that streamline your experience
- Show up fully present, never burned out
- Deliver consistently exceptional, high-touch events
Most importantly:
We price our services transparently so you always understand your wedding planner cost and exactly what you receive in return. This allows us to work alongisde you in a way that allows us to be in your corner. Always.
No commissions. No markups. No hidden motives.
Just honest, transparent planning that puts you first.
Let’s create something unforgettable, and do it the right way, with intention.
