How Much Does a Professional Wedding Decorator Cost?

While you might have a dream vision for your wedding, not everyone knows exactly what it takes to make that vision come to life. That’s why many couples choose to hire a professional event decorator to make your wedding day as beautiful as possible. But how much does a wedding decorator cost? 

We’ll break down the average cost of a professional wedding decorator and the pros and cons to hiring a pro to decorate your wedding. 

A decor expert can do wonders, so one option is to hire someone to help you decorate. But what’s the cost of a wedding decorator?

According to Thumbtack, the average cost of a wedding decorator nationwide comes out to about $700 to $1000 in total. Some decorators charge for a package deal, while others change by the hour. Hourly rates for wedding decorators can range anywhere from $25 an hour to $100 or more. 

The Wedding Lady has a wedding package just for decor services, which comes out to $1,500. For this price, you have access to all their decor in addition to assistance with setting up and cleaning up for the wedding.

There are a few important factors that will affect the cost of a professional wedding decorator. Your location is one factor; decorators are typically more expensive in big cities or other high income areas. 

Another factor is how much work the decorator will put into your wedding, from design to decoration purchases to set up on the big day. An hourly rate will reflect the amount of work a professional puts into your wedding.

For those charging a flat rate, there may be other wedding decorator fees depending on what services you need from them. 

With these prices, is it worth it to hire a decorator? If you’ve already hired a wedding planner, you might want to take advantage of their decor services, but you don’t need to rely solely on a planner for your decor.

What Does a Wedding Decorator Do? 

A wedding decorator, simply put, helps decorate your wedding! Different event decorators work differently. Some may expect you to have a vision and to buy all the decorations for your wedding yourself, while others may help you come up with ideas and even provide decorations to be included in their final cost. 

Wedding designers tend to do more of the overall design ideas and concepts, but many wedding designers also work as decorators for the big day. 

On the day of your wedding, the decorator should be there to help set up the decorations at your venue and ensure that everything looks perfect. They may have a team with them to help set up all of the furniture and decor, but some decorators may expect help from the happy couple and members of the wedding party on the day of. 

If you need help setting up decor, you can usually hire help by the hour. Some venues may even offer services for this. However, there can be a minimum number of hours needed for the service. You should also ask your venue if outside decorators and set up help are allowed; some venues allow only in-house vendors. 

If you are considering hiring a wedding decorator, be sure to ask questions and discuss exactly what they offer up front. You wouldn’t want to hire a decorator expecting them to purchase all of your decorations for you and then learn that it’s your responsibility to procure the decorations. Transparent communication is important to ensure that you are on the same page and you get what you pay for.

Pros and Cons of Hiring a Wedding Decorator 

For some couples, the idea of planning a whole wedding down the the decorative details sounds exhausting. For others, decorating is the most fun part! If you’re on the fence about hiring a professional event decorator, consider these benefits and drawbacks. 

Pros

One major benefit of hiring a wedding decorator is that it takes some of the wedding planning efforts off of your plate. With so much to plan, from invitations to food to ceremony music and much more, passing the responsibility of decorating off to a professional can be a huge relief.

The other main pro to hiring a professional is that you can be confident that your wedding will look beautiful. Not everyone has the artistic touch for interior design and decor, so having a professional event decorator on your side ensures great results.

Ask to see a portfolio of a decorators work before you book them so you know they can deliver what you’re imagining. 

Cons 

The major drawback of hiring a wedding decorator is the cost. Depending on the factors we mention above, like location and what you’re looking for from a decorator, it can get expensive to have your wedding decorations done professionally. 

Many couples look for ways to decorate their wedding on a tight budget, and this tight budget doesn’t usually cover the cost of a decorator. When you factor in your time and effort, however, it may be worthwhile to hire a pro and check decorations off of your to-do list. 

The only other con to hiring a wedding decorator is that you might not like how they decorate your wedding. With good research and clear communication, however, your decorator should stick to the ideas and style that you ask for.