A wedding planner’s portfolio shows the finished room; the interview reveals how the room got finished when a supplier was late and the budget had opinions. Ask these seven questions before signing:

Ask how full planning, partial planning and actual-day coordination differ in tasks, start date, meetings, staffing and responsibility.

Confirm styling, sourcing, rehearsals, transport, assistants, overtime, overseas work, vendor commissions and expenses paid on your behalf.

Ask how estimates, deposits, payment deadlines, change approvals and overspending are tracked and reported.

Understand preferred-vendor relationships, referral fees, sourcing boundaries and what happens when you select someone outside the planner’s network.

Confirm the main contact, channel, response expectations, meeting frequency, decision log and who takes over if the lead planner is unavailable.

Request examples with a similar guest count, format, venue complexity or cultural requirements—not only the most visually elaborate production.

Discuss rain, illness, vendor failure, programme delays, guest-count changes and who has authority to approve extra costs on the day.

Choose the planner whose process makes responsibility boringly clear. Creativity is lovely; a documented budget, decision trail and rain plan are what keep that creativity from becoming an expensive live improvisation.