How Many Weddings Should a Wedding Planner Take Each Year?

When couples compare wedding planners, they naturally look at reviews, pricing, style and experience. But very few couples stop to ask one simple question:

How many weddings does this planner take on each year?

The truth is, the answer tells you far more about the planning experience than most people realize.

Every Planner Has the Same 24 Hours

Some planners proudly book 20, 30, or even 40 weddings each year. Others intentionally limit the number of weddings they accept. Neither approach is inherently wrong, but they are fundamentally different business models.

Every planner has the same 24 hours in a day. The difference is how those hours are divided.

When a planner chooses to build a high-volume business, their time has to be shared among more couples. Depending on how that business is structured, that may mean relying on associate or junior planners, creating streamlined systems, setting firmer communication boundaries, or offering planning services that ask couples to take on more responsibility themselves.

For many couples, that's exactly the right fit. But if personal attention matters to you, ask how many weddings your planner personally takes on each year. The answer says a lot about how much time they'll have to truly know your wedding inside and out.

Why I Limit the Number of Weddings I Take Each Year

I've intentionally built Elevation Weddings & Events around a different philosophy. Rather than filling my calendar, I intentionally accept just four - six weddings each year.

On average, I invest more than 400 hours into every wedding I plan. That isn't because planning has to take that long. It's because I believe extraordinary weddings deserve that level of care.

You'll never find me juggling multiple weddings in one weekend or stacking back-to-back wedding weekends. When I'm planning your wedding, I want my attention focused on your celebration, not divided between several couples.

Limiting the number of weddings I accept gives me the time to understand your priorities, advocate for you when you're not in the room, anticipate challenges before they arise, and thoughtfully refine every detail from beginning to end.

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  wedding ceremony wildflowers

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  Montana mountain outdoor ceremony

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  wedding chuppah decorated with wildflowers

What Do 400 Hours of Wedding Planning Actually Include?

People are often surprised when I tell them I spend more than 400 hours planning a single wedding.

Those hours aren't spent simply answering emails. They're spent getting to know you and your priorities. They're spent building realistic budgets, researching venues, curating your vendor team, reviewing contracts, creating design plans, refining timelines, coordinating logistics, solving problems before they happen, and communicating with every vendor involved.

They're spent thinking through guest experience, contingency plans, transportation, weather plans, accessibility, family dynamics, and the dozens of small decisions that create a wedding weekend that feels effortless.

Most of those hours are invisible. And that's exactly the point. The best wedding planning isn't something you notice—it's something you feel. When every detail has been thoughtfully considered, the entire experience feels effortless.

Choosing the Right Planning Experience

There isn't a universally "right" number of weddings for a planner to accept each year. The number depends on the experience you're looking for.

If working directly with your planner is important to you, if you want someone who knows your wedding inside and out, and has the time to thoughtfully guide every decision, then ask how many weddings they personally take on each year. It may be one of the most revealing questions you ask during your search.

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  outdoor wedding reception, neutral tones

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  bird's eye view of long outdoor wedding table

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  wedding tablescape details

How Many Weddings Should Your Planner Take?

Ultimately, this isn't about finding the planner who takes the fewest weddings. It's about finding a planner whose approach aligns with the experience you want to have.

As you interview planners, don't just ask about pricing, packages, or what's included.

Ask how many weddings they personally take on each year.

Ask who you'll actually be working with throughout the planning process.

Ask how they'll ensure your wedding receives the time and attention it deserves.

The answers to those questions will tell you far more about the experience you'll have than a pricing guide ever could.

Ready to ask? Let's talk.

photos: Oak + Fern