Has anyone hired a full-time planner? (not partial or day of)

I'm trying to plan my wedding in san francisco from Chicago and I'm wondering if it is worth it to get a full time planner. I heard that they can get discounts from vendors which you can't get and can ultimately wash out the cost of the planner. But i'm not sure if this is true and how can I find this out?

So far I've looked into rates and they run anywhere from 6k to 15k for a full time planner.

Do you guys think it's worth it?

Planners are more than just for discounts with vendors. They help you during the day of the wedding and worry about the details so you can enjoy your day.

When I planned our wedding in Cancun from San Francisco, I would have been lost if it were not for the planner out there. If you find the right one, it is definitely worth it if you ask me, especially if you are out of town.

-Tammy

I think if you're planning from out of town, a full time planner would be good.  But also, think about how much you want to do too. If you're the type to want to have full control as much as possible, a full time planner might be a hinderance.  Definitely shop around for planners. Have you met with anyone yet? And even if you don't hire a full time one, they can still help you with other vendors.  Most planners include vendor referrals in their basic packages.  I hired my planner for day of and she was able to get me a great deal on transportation between our venues.  HTH! Let me know if you need help finding coordinators.

That's definitely a pretty steep price! I'm thinking you must have contacted one of the top wedding planners in the area :)

If you enjoy wedding planning, I would say maybe hire a day of coordinator or month of coordinator so you can have control of the planning, but then have someone else take care of it for the wedding day or even the month of. But if you are really busy at work, and don't really have much time or want to plan much, then hiring a wedding coordinator would definitely be a big benefit.

The wedding coordinators do have connections to preffered vendors, so they might be able to negotiate better prices for you, but not sure if the total $ saved would basically pay for itself.