What does a wedding decorator do?
A wedding decorator brings your wedding’s theme and style vision to life. They work with you and your fiance to plan your perfect wedding according to your chosen color schemes, motif, and overall theme.
They help source all of the decorations you will require, such as furniture, lighting, centerpieces, and drapes, among other items; schedule and attend meetings with decor vendors; and execute your vision on your special day to meet your exact needs and specifications. Their work is to transform your event space into the wedding venue of your dreams.
Are you feeling stressed ahead of your wedding?
Do you need extra help with decorations?
Worry not. I’m here to help you find the perfect wedding decorator who will take the heavy weight off of your shoulders and bring to life the perfect wedding of your dreams.
But before we get into where to find the perfect wedding decorator, let’s explore all you need to know before hiring a wedding decorator, including their responsibilities, how much they cost, and questions to ask them at the interview.
What Does a Wedding Decorator Do?
A wedding decorator works with couples to bring their wedding theme and style to life. They usually meet with couples several months before the wedding to plan out the styling of the wedding venue. Most couples have a vision and style in mind that they describe to the wedding decorator.
However, if you don’t have a specific vision in mind, you could still communicate your chosen color scheme and overall theme with the wedding decorator, and they will develop creative ideas for your wedding using mock-ups to see which ones you like.
Once you’re both on the same page regarding how the wedding venue should look and feel, wedding decorators source the decorative items you need to style your event. These include flowers, centerpieces, drapes, lighting, furniture, wall hangings, linens, and more.
The wedding decorator may provide these items within their service package, find decor vendors within your budget, or you may decide to provide the decorative items yourself.
The wedding decorator’s job is to ensure that their design planning process aligns with your vision and that every item matches your exact taste. To avoid any issues down the road, you’ll want to describe exactly what you want at your wedding to the wedding decorator.
You can even use inspirational photos, wedding attire, venue, or floral inspiration to be sure you’re on the same page.
On the day of, most wedding decorators provide set-up and tear-down services for your wedding. That way, they ensure that every piece of decor is in the exact place it’s meant to be and the motif flows perfectly.
What’s the Difference Between a Wedding Planner and a Wedding Decorator?
Perhaps you wonder if you hire a wedding planner, if they will do the same job as a wedding decorator? Well, not exactly.
A wedding planner is responsible for planning, managing, organizing, and executing all aspects of a wedding event, from beginning to end.
From the design process to managing the budget, vendors and client meetings, to the planning of the guests, accommodation, seating arrangements, food, drinks and music, to executing the wedding itself so that everything runs smoothly on your wedding day.
On the other hand, a wedding decorator is responsible for planning, managing, and executing the design and styling of your wedding day.
So, while a wedding planner is responsible for the logistics of planning and managing a wedding, a wedding decorator’s role is specific to the visual aspect of the wedding, making sure that everything is pleasing to the eye.
Wedding Decorator Responsibilities
So, what exactly is the role of a wedding decorator? Here is a non-exhaustive list of everything the wedding decorator is responsible for when planning your perfect wedding.
- Scheduling and meeting with decor vendors
- Managing the decor budget and vendors
- Provides creative guidance on the look and feel of your wedding venue
- Plans indoor and outdoor decor consistent with the color scheme and theme of your wedding
- Creating potential mock-ups for your approval
- Sourcing all of the decorative items you’ll need for your wedding, like linens, flowers, centerpieces, lighting, furniture, etc
- Setting up, decorating, and tearing down the wedding decor at the night’s end.
What Should I Consider Before Hiring a Wedding Decorator
Before hiring a wedding decorator, you may want to dust off all the nitty-gritty that saves you time, money, and headaches down the road. Here are the top things to consider before hiring a wedding decorator.
Wedding Venue
By now, you may already have the perfect venue in mind or have booked it already. Before taking a step further with decorations, it’s crucial to tell your wedding decorator about your chosen venue. You can even show them pictures or have them take a live tour.
The wedding venue plays a key role in a wedding decorator’s job, as it determines the choice of theme, aesthetic, and decorations to use.
Not all decorations sync perfectly with all venues, so having your wedding decorator consider whether they can work with what you’ve got is important.
You could even ask your wedding decorator during your consultation meeting if they have an alternative venue in mind that will sync perfectly with the styling you wish for.
Budget
Next up is the budget. Working within a budget is important to avoid spending more than you had hoped. Before hiring a wedding decorator, make sure to tell them how much you’re willing to spend.
That way, they can tell you about the decor vendors and types of decorations that will best bring your vision to life while sticking to what you can afford. Luckily, wedding decorators are trained to give you the best wedding experience, all while sticking to your budget.
Theme
In your first meeting with a wedding decorator, you’ll want to describe your perfect wedding theme. You could carry inspirational photos like pictures of your wedding attire and clearly depict the exact decor you’re looking for.
That way, you’re all on the same page regarding which decorations are most cohesive with your theme and how the wedding decorator will create a venue matching your exact needs and taste.
Service Package
Not all wedding decorators are the same. Some may provide decor rentals, while others don’t. Some may offer set-up services on the day of and clean-up at night’s end, while others don’t.
Sometimes, some wedding decorators prefer to do everything on their own, bringing everything together as they see fit.
Oftentimes, wedding decorators who take on everything themselves have plenty of confidence and experience in their field and know exactly what they’re doing. Of course, they still have to have mock-ups and get your approval before implementing anything on the wedding day.
You also want to ensure early on that the wedding decorator who takes charge of everything is exactly what you want. If you’d like something entirely unique to you, then it’s best to hire a flexible wedding decorator who’s willing to collaborate with you and execute your every task.
How Much Does a Wedding Decorator Cost?
A wedding decorator’s fee differs largely from the services they provide.
If the wedding decorator provides decor rentals for your wedding, they’ll cost a lot more than if they don’t, keeping in mind that you may make up the cost when renting decor someplace else.
You may also consider any unforeseeable costs, like if the wedding decorator adds additional fees if they stipulated a specific time to clean up and the wedding ran late, or in the case of any damage to the decor rentals.
On average, though, a wedding decorator costs roughly $600 to $1,000 (or more) in total fees if they offer you a package deal. If they charge an hourly rate, then you may spend an average of $25 to $100 (or more) per hour.
Wedding decorations of flowers, centerpieces, lighting, and more, however, rack up a separate cost that can range from $2,000 to $10,000 (or more).
Should You Tip Your Wedding Decorator?
While it’s not always necessary to tip a wedding decorator for their services, it’s always a nice gesture, especially when they do a great job. How much you tip depends largely on you, though the standard practice is to tip 10% to 25%.
But tipping doesn’t always have to be in cash. You could send your wedding decorator a meaningful gift of appreciation, an outstanding review, or a referral that they’ll be happy you took the time to do.
Sometimes, if you read through a contract, you may find that a gratuity fee is included. In that case, you don’t have to tip your wedding decorator since it’s already included in the package deal.
Where Do You Find a Wedding Decorator?
These days, couples no longer look through phone books to find a wedding decorator in their area. Instead, you can always search online for “wedding decorator in my area.”
In your search, you should do extensive research to find out exactly what you’re looking for.
There are so many wedding decorators that it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. So, to help narrow your search, search for wedding decorators within your budget. Then, read through the reviews they have online, good or bad.
Perhaps they have posted previous projects or their portfolio on their website. Examine them to see if they correspond to your preferences. You may even take a step further and reach out to any of their previous customers to find out how they feel about working with them.
Once you have narrowed down your search, it’s time to place a call to set up the first consultation meeting.
23 Questions To Ask Your Wedding Decorator
Before meeting with any potential wedding decorator for your wedding, you’ll need to ask prompting questions to learn as much as you can about their service package, experience, and whether they are a good fit for you.
To help you prepare, I’ve compiled a list of 23 questions to ask your wedding decorator.
Basics
- Are you available for my wedding date?
- Do you have a rescheduling policy?
- Can you work within my budget?
- Do you need a deposit?
- Do you have any additional fees?
- What is your payment policy?
- What is your cancellation policy?
Packages and Services
- If I have more than one venue, will you decorate all of them?
- Do you advise clients on styling?
- Do you create mock-ups for me to approve before the wedding?
- Do you provide decor rentals?
- Can we go over all the items you will provide?
- Do you set up on the day of the wedding?
- Do you also offer clean-up services at the end of the night?
- What happens if I provide some or all of my decor? Will you also set it up and take it down?
- How many people will be assigned to my wedding?
- How much time will you need to plan, set up, and take down the decor for my wedding?
- What is your service package fee? Are the decor rentals inclusive?
Experience
- How long have you been a wedding decorator?
- How many weddings do you do in a year?
- Have you done other kinds of design work?
- Are you licensed?
- Do you have a portfolio of past projects I can look through?
Conclusion
Wedding decorators come in handy when executing your perfect wedding. If you have a color scheme and a theme in mind but don’t know where to start putting together your wedding decor, you may need wedding decorators to help save the day.
They are creative experts trained to have exquisite attention to detail and a knack for finding aesthetics most pleasing to the eye.
So, if you’d like something uniquely creative to add that spark to your wedding venue, all while saving time and energy, wedding decorators are the sure fix that will help bring your theme, motif, and wedding design elements to life.
FAQs
How much does it cost to decorate a wedding?
Wedding decorations like flowers, centerpieces, lighting, and more usually rack up costs ranging from $2,000 to $10,000 (or more). If you hire a wedding decorator, their fee varies depending on the services they offer. On average, wedding decorators cost approximately $700 to $1,000 (or more) for a package deal or $25 to $100 (or more) per hour for hourly rates.
Should I hire a wedding decorator?
Though not an absolute necessity, you should hire a wedding decorator if you want professional experience in putting together the decorations for your wedding.
Also, if you’re feeling overwhelmed doing everything by yourself, a wedding decorator will help save you time and money by sourcing decor and even helping set up and take down the wedding decorations for you.
Other reasons for hiring a wedding decorator include if you want a specific, custom-made decor that is uniquely you. Wedding decorators are creative experts with attention to detail and an eye for aesthetics pleasing to the eye who’ll help bring your wedding vision to life.
What does it take to be a wedding decorator?
Becoming a wedding decorator requires training and experience. You may go different ways; either participate in a wedding planner’s apprenticeship or take decorating classes at a community college.
You could get optional professional certification through a certification program or online study and take it a step further by joining a professional organization in the wedding industry for credibility.
Experience is crucial, so you may want to take up some low-paying jobs to build a clientele. You’re on the right track if you’ve decorated for events like engagements or work parties. Then, build an online presence with samples of your previous work so couples can find you.
