How to Choose a Wedding Planner in Delhi NCR

Search for a wedding planner in Delhi and you will get hundreds of results, most of them showing the same style of photograph. The websites rarely tell you what you actually need to know: what the company will be responsible for, who will be on the ground on the day, and how they make their money.

Here is what to ask, in the order that will save you the most time.

First, work out what you are actually hiring

In Delhi NCR the word "planner" gets used for three quite different businesses, and confusing them is the single most common mistake families make.

• Decorators design and build the mandap, stage and florals. Many are excellent at exactly that and will not manage your guest list, caterer or timeline.
• Wedding planners manage the whole event — budget, vendors, timeline, guest logistics, and the run of the day — and either design in-house or brief a décor partner.
• Venue coordinators work for the hotel or farmhouse, not for you. They will make sure the venue delivers what the venue sold. Nothing beyond that.

If you already have a venue, a caterer and an aunt who genuinely enjoys running things, you may only need décor. If you have four functions across three days and two hundred outstation guests, you need a planner. Be honest about which situation you are in before you start taking meetings.

Ask how they are paid — and about commissions

There are three common models: a percentage of total wedding spend, a flat management fee, or a bundled package. We have written a full breakdown of what wedding planners cost and what sits inside the fee.

The question people forget to ask is about vendor commissions. In this market it is normal for planners to receive a percentage from caterers, décor suppliers, photographers and venues. That is not automatically wrong — but it changes whose interest is being served when a planner strongly recommends one particular caterer.

Ask directly: do you take a commission from vendors, and will you disclose it? A planner who answers cleanly either way is easier to trust than one who gets vague.

You are not looking for a planner who takes no commission. You are looking for one who will tell you when they do.

Check they know your specific venue

Delhi NCR venues vary enormously in what they permit, and a planner who has worked at your venue before will already know the answers to questions you have not thought to ask yet.

• What is the setup window? A farmhouse that releases the lawn the previous evening allows a completely different build to a banquet hall handing over four hours before guests arrive.
• Are outside caterers permitted, or is the kitchen exclusive? Most five-star properties in Aerocity and the Golf Course Road belt are exclusive; most farmhouses are not.
• Is there an empanelled décor list you must use, and is there a charge for bringing your own?
• What is the noise cut-off, and does the venue enforce it or leave it to you? This one decides your sangeet running order.
• What is the actual power load, and who supplies the backup?

For more on this, see our guide to choosing a wedding venue and our overview of the Delhi NCR venue landscape.

Find out who is actually on the ground

This is where the difference between companies shows. The person who pitches you is often not the person who runs your wedding. Ask, in plain terms:

1. 01Who is my point of contact from today until the wedding — and is that the same person on the day?
2. 02How many of your team will be on site during each function?
3. 03How many other weddings is your company handling that same weekend?
4. 04If something goes wrong at 11 pm during the sangeet, who do I call, and who has authority to spend money to fix it?

That last question is more revealing than it sounds. A team that has thought about it will have an answer ready.

Look past the portfolio

Every planner in Delhi shows their best three weddings. Two things are more useful than the highlight reel:

Ask to see a wedding at roughly your budget, not their largest. A company that only shows work at three times your number may be a poor fit — or may be about to design something you cannot afford.

Ask for a reference from a family whose wedding had a problem. Every wedding has one. How the planner handled it tells you more than a portfolio ever will.

Get the scope in writing, function by function

"Full planning" means different things to different companies. Before any money moves, you want a document that lists, per function: what is included, what is at actuals, what is excluded, and who is responsible.

Watch for the items that are routinely left out and later invoiced: crew travel and stay for destination weddings, overtime past agreed hours, generator and power backup, and last-minute design additions.

A note on "luxury"

Almost every wedding planner in Delhi describes themselves as luxury. The word tells you nothing about whether the timeline will hold or whether your guests will be looked after. Judge instead on the specificity of the questions the planner asks you. A planner who wants to know your guest split between Delhi and outstation, your elderly guest count and your realistic budget ceiling in the first meeting is doing the job. One who leads with a moodboard is selling.

A short shortlist beats a long one

Three planners, one honest budget number given to all three, the same brief, and a written scope from each. That comparison will tell you more in a week than a month of Instagram research.

If you would like ours, tell us about your wedding — dates, venue if you have one, guest count and the budget you are actually working to. We will come back with a written scope and a realistic cost shape before you commit to anything.