Should Wedding Planners Put Prices on Their Website?
By Alexey Chasin · Updated October 17, 2026 · 8 min read
Show a starting price for each package. Full price menus make sense only when a service is standardized, such as day-of coordination at a flat fee. 'Starting at' numbers cut the inquiries that were never going to book, build trust with the couples who fit, and give Google and AI search engines a number to quote. Planners who hide prices get more inquiries and spend more of their week on the wrong ones.
Every planner has had the call that ends two minutes in when the budget comes up. The pricing question on your website is really a question about who you want to spend that time with. Here is the case on both sides, the middle path most experienced planners use, and how to write the page.
The case for showing prices
- Fewer dead inquiries. A couple with a $4,000 total budget does not fill out the form of a planner whose full service starts at $8,000. You lose nothing you would have booked.
- Trust. Hidden prices read as either expensive or evasive. A number, even a floor, reads as confident.
- Speed. Couples compare planners in one sitting. A site with a starting price gets shortlisted; a site that says 'inquire for pricing' gets a tab closed.
- Search. Google and AI engines surface pages that answer 'how much does a wedding planner cost in Austin'. A page with a number can be that answer. A page without one cannot.
- Your own clarity. Writing the package page forces decisions about what is included that otherwise get made on the phone, differently each time.
The case against, taken seriously
The best-known argument against comes from Aisle Planner's article on the question. It makes three points that deserve a fair hearing. First, couples often do not know what planning costs, and a conversation lets you educate them; a listed price can scare off someone who would have stretched for you. Second, even a call with a poor-fit couple is practice and a chance at a referral. Third, a planner's quote depends on guest count, location, event length and the vendor team, so a published number can differ from the real quote and disappoint.
All three are true for full-service planning at the top of a market, where the fee is a percentage of a budget that varies by a factor of ten. They are much weaker for day-of and month-of coordination, which most planners sell at a flat or near-flat rate, and they are weakest for a new planner who needs inquiries from people who can actually pay.
The middle path: starting prices with structure
Publish a starting price for each package and one sentence on how the final number moves. 'Full planning starts at $7,500, or 12 percent of the total budget above $60,000' tells a couple everything they need to decide whether to inquire, and nothing that binds you. Aisle Planner's article lands in the same place: a 'starting at' figure with an explanation of how pricing is structured helps couples find what fits their budget.
| Package | Starting at | What it includes | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Day-of coordination | $1,800 | Timeline, vendor confirmations, rehearsal, 10 hours on the day with an assistant | Couples who planned it themselves and want to enjoy it |
| Month-of coordination | $2,800 | Everything in day-of, plus vendor handoff and logistics from six weeks out | Couples with vendors booked who need the last stretch managed |
| Partial planning | $4,500 | Design direction, vendor sourcing for up to four categories, budget tracking, month-of coordination | Couples who have a venue and want help with the rest |
| Full planning | $8,500 or 12 percent of the budget | Venue search through send-off, design, every vendor, budget, guest logistics | Couples with a budget above $60,000 or a destination wedding |
How to write the packages page
- Three or four packages, named plainly. 'Day-of', 'Month-of', 'Partial', 'Full'. Clever names cost you the search for 'day of coordinator'.
- A starting price on each, in the same font size as the name. Burying it in a paragraph defeats the purpose.
- Five to eight bullets of what is included. Hours on the day, number of assistants, number of vendor categories, meetings.
- One line on what moves the price: guest count above 150, multiple venues, multi-day cultural weddings, travel.
- One 'best for' sentence per package. It lets couples self-select and it is the sentence AI engines quote.
- A single button to the inquiry form under the table, and nothing else competing with it.
- A dated note: 'Prices current for 2027 weddings.' Update it every January and the page stays honest.
The five pricing patterns you will see on planner sites
- One starting line. 'Coordination from $2,000, planning from $6,000.' The least you can publish that still works.
- Tiered packages with starting prices. The pattern above and the one we build by default.
- An 'investment' page with ranges. 'Most of our couples invest $9,000 to $15,000 in planning.' Fine for established planners with a tight niche.
- Percentage of budget with a minimum. 'Full planning is 15 percent of your total budget, with a $10,000 minimum.' Honest, and it filters hard.
- Inquiry only with a stated minimum budget. 'We work with weddings from $150,000.' The luxury version of showing a price, and it still shows one.
How visible prices change your inquiries
Expect fewer inquiries in the first month after you publish prices, and expect the ones that arrive to already know your range. Calls get shorter and more of them end in a proposal. The planners who regret publishing prices are almost always the ones who published a full menu for a bespoke service; they fix it by moving to starting prices, not by hiding them again.
How AI search uses visible prices
ChatGPT, Gemini and Google's AI Overviews answer 'how much does a wedding planner cost' and 'wedding planner in Denver under $5,000' with numbers they found on pages. A planner site with a packages table and starting prices is a candidate source for those answers; a site that says 'contact us for pricing' is skipped because there is nothing to quote. The same table also makes the FAQ answer 'How much does day-of coordination cost with you?' possible, and that question is one couples type almost verbatim.
Event planners
Social and party planners should publish starting prices for the same reasons, and the budget filter matters even more when the buyer is a parent planning a sweet sixteen. Corporate planners are the exception: company events are quoted on scope, and the page should state a minimum engagement and a typical range instead of a package price.
Every planner site we build has the packages page with starting prices, written with you on the call. Velour Web builds the same site free: it is included with hosting at $50 a month, billed $600 for the first year and month to month after that, and the code is handed over after the first paid year or on a $999 buyout.
Sources
- Aisle Planner: Should You Put Your Pricing on Your Website?: The case against full published prices and the 'starting at' middle ground, paraphrased above.