How we chose
We started from the ten wedding planners on the Telford candidate list. Industry memberships were sourced from the UK Wedding Association member directory alongside each firm's own website [1]. Each business must first meet our basic checks: it is who it says it is, it is trading today and can be reached, and anything it must hold by law is in place. Four planners met all three. We looked first at what customers say, then qualifications, then trading history, stated cover, pricing clarity and website detail. All evidence is dated early September 2026.
How to hire
Decide which professional your wedding is missing. A full planner owns the whole brief, from budget and venue search through suppliers, design and the day itself. An on-the-day coordinator runs a day you have largely planned, usually joining in the final weeks to build the timeline and manage suppliers. A venue coordinator works for the venue rather than for you, and a stylist dresses rooms without running logistics. Name the empty seat before you enquire, and hire for that gap.
Check standing before you book. Wedding planning has no statutory register or licence, so there is no official number to look up. Voluntary membership bodies are the nearest equivalent: search the business name in the UK Wedding Association member directory and filter by Wedding Planners to see if it appears [1]. Training and academy claims live on firms' own websites, so ask where each one can be checked rather than taking a badge at face value. Also match the firm at Companies House: a limited company leaves a record you can read, while a sole trader simply has none to show [5].
Start the legal side at the council. A civil ceremony in the borough happens either at the Register Office or the Wrekin Suite in Wellington or at an approved venue with a council registrar present to make it legal, and the council publishes a directory of approved venues stretching from Blists Hill Victorian Town to Wrekin College and several hotels [6] [7]. Notice must be given in person in the district where each partner lives, it is venue-specific, and it runs out after a year, so the council recommends booking the appointment around six months before the ceremony [8]. A planner who knows this routine will fold the registrar booking and the notice timing into the master timeline as a matter of course.
Ask about cover and backup. Request proof of public liability insurance and read whose mistakes it covers and to what amount, then ask what happens if the planner falls ill: who steps in, and is that person named anywhere. A planner who works alone should still be able to describe the backup plan. File the insurance detail with your contract rather than trusting a line on a website.
Walk the venues with Telford eyes. The borough runs from town-centre hotels and golf resorts to Gorge venues inside a World Heritage Site where most streets sit in a conservation area with its own planning policies, so loading, parking and late-night noise need settling early rather than on the day [7] [10]. Prep addresses vary just as much, from Wellington's Victorian streets and the old terraces of Dawley, Madeley and Ironbridge to the newer estates of Lawley Village, so tell each planner where the morning starts [11] [12] [13]. Parking for supplier vans, stairs and lifts for kit, and the distance between the prep address and the ceremony room all change the staffing a day needs. Where any part of the day touches council land or closes a road, permission sits with the council, so settle in writing who applies [9].
Get the quote itemised in writing. It should separate planning hours from day-rate cover, name the lead planner and say how many staff attend, spell out setup and clear-down duties, travel and overnight costs, the deposit and each payment stage, cancellation and postponement terms, and whether VAT sits inside or on top of every figure. Compare two or three quotes on the same written scope, and treat an outlier far above or below the rest as a question rather than a bargain.
Meet before you pay anything. Send your date, venue, guest numbers and what is already booked, then judge the response: a strong planner asks about suppliers, timings and risks, not just colours and themes. Guides advise hiring a full planner before you book anything else, so the budget and venue choices benefit from professional eyes from the start [2]. Confirm the named person attending your wedding, agree how often you will hear from them, and get the date held in writing.
At the end, keep a small file: the signed contract with your date, services, hours and fees, every payment receipt, the final timeline and supplier list, and the name and number of the person running your day. Read the cancellation and postponement clauses before you sign, agree the final balance date in writing, and query anything promised at the meeting that is missing from the contract. If a dispute follows, Citizens Advice consumer help sets out your rights and next steps [4].
Expect the job to run in a clear order. First contact is about fit and availability: the planner checks the date against their diary and tests whether the brief matches what they do, often through the free consultation the top of the table offers. Planning proper means venue shortlists, supplier bookings and a budget the planner guards month by month; the final weeks turn all of it into a timeline naming who does what and when. After the day, sign-off means final invoices checked against the quote, deposits accounted for, and the supplier list filed with your receipts.
Pricing
As of summer 2026, national guides put the average UK spend on a wedding planner at £1,543, with full planning often charged at ten to fifteen per cent of the total budget and the average wedding itself running to £21,990 [2] [3]. Against that, Telford starting prices look modest: full planning from £2,500 and on-the-day coordination from £850 at the top of our table, with styled packages from £500 and a deposit to secure the date at the runner-up.
Service depth moves the price most: a coordinator who joins in the final weeks costs less than a planner who owns the brief from engagement to last dance. Guest numbers, venue complexity and staffing come next — a dry-hire hall or marquee with many suppliers needs more hours and more hands than a hotel with an events team. Travel, overnight stays and peak Saturdays each add their own line, and Telford usually sits below London prices [2].
Styled packages price differently from planning. The runner-up's fixed packages show the shape: a set styling brief with a deposit securing the date, where guest numbers, room count and the distance the kit travels move the final figure. Fresh flowers, chair dressing and statement pieces each add their line, and hire-only props price by the item and the hire period. Get the setup and clear-down window in writing, since an overrunning clear-down can cost extra.
Hire-only pieces are the smallest brief and the simplest quote: each item listed, delivery, setup and collection priced separately, plus breakage terms and the deposit. Full planning sits at the other end, where the planner's hours across the months, the size of the supplier team and the complexity of the venue set the fee. In both cases the question that protects you is the same: what exactly is included, and what happens to money already paid if plans change.
Ask whether VAT sits inside or on top of every figure, and get the answer in writing. Two firms in this table publish no prices at all, so their written quotes do all the talking: scope, date, hours, staff, deposit, payment stages and cancellation terms, itemised on the same basis you gave every other planner. Agree what happens to the deposit if you postpone, and keep every quote, invoice and receipt together.
Red flags
Quotes full planning without asking your date, venue or guest numbers.
Cannot name the person who will run your wedding on the day itself.
Shows no past weddings, testimonials or reviews you can check anywhere.
Names an association or academy you cannot find in any member directory when you search it [1].
Asks for a large non-refundable deposit before putting anything in writing.
Gives one fixed price with no breakdown of hours, staff, travel and VAT.
Will not put the date, services, hours and cancellation terms in writing.
Brushes off questions on insurance or backup if the planner falls ill.
Reaches the final fortnight with no written timeline for the day in sight.
Adds suppliers or upgrades you never agreed, then bills them afterwards.
Corrections and business responses
Tell us what needs checking, or ask to claim a listing and reply to an assessment.