The big day is on its way, and you find yourself drowning in a sea of crinoline and decoration options. Your husband-to-be doesn’t know the first thing about helping you organize.

It all seems to be falling apart before it starts. If only you’d hired a wedding planner to get you through this!

Thankfully, wedding planners are readily available to help you make sense of all the catalogs, cake decorations and venue options, but how do you pick the right person?

Before choosing your wedding planner, make sure you have your budget set and a vision for your wedding.

Leaving those details to the planner will probably overwhelm them, as they specialize in the details and not the overall picture. They simply make the overall picture happen while you relax and let the stress fade away. Once you’ve decided what you want for your wedding, there are a few questions to ask when interviewing a potential wedding planner that will help you decide which person is right for your and your fiance:

• Are you available for the day of our wedding? This one may seem obvious, but you want to make absolutely sure they’re available before you hire them. They might be already booked that day, so have your wedding date planned and check their availability. Inquire as to how many clients they take on at one time so you know for sure they’ll be able to dedicate the time needed to planning your wedding.
• Ask about experience. Ask for a resume if you want to. Have them tell you how they deal with any issues that arise and how they’ve handled these issues before. You want someone who won’t fall apart at the first sign of trouble. You can also ask them where they received their training and education to be a wedding planner. It never hurts to ask.
• How will you work with vendors? Communication between the wedding planner and vendors at your wedding is key. Will you be able to hire your own vendors, or do you have to hire vendors your planner approves of? Hiring approved vendors can be a requirement with some wedding planners. Find out how any vendor issues will be handled as well.
• How much of the planning are we responsible for? Each wedding planner is different. Some are purely logistical (making sure things run smoothly, floor plans, etc.) while others take a more hands-on approach. Decide your level of involvement so you can do the same for your wedding planner when choosing them. Have a clear payment plan and contract laid out before your wedding planner goes to work. You don’t want any surprises further down the line.

Although there are many details to work out with your wedding planner, these are the essentials to ensure a smooth run of your wedding ceremony. Any accomplished and experienced planner should be able to work off of these details and make your day a happy and stress-free one.