Wedding planners in Bengaluru: what they charge, and whether you need one

A planner on a share charges 10 to 15% of what the wedding costs, in planners' guides, so every upgrade you pick raises the fee too. One planner's own example: on a ₹60 lakh wedding, 10 to 12% is ₹6 lakh to ₹7.2 lakh, and it grows if the wedding ends up costing more. A flat fee stays where it was agreed. Either way, ask for the fee as one number with the scope written under it. On a small wedding, ask for their smallest fee: 10% of ₹10 lakh is only ₹1 lakh.

A decor firm prices the parts it brings. One firm's wedding decor, 300 veg plates and photos with video come to about ₹3.1 lakh at its starting prices, our sum. The hall, transport and GST are on top.

What one planner's fee covers: planning for a scope agreed in writing, its own portal where you and the vendors approve designs and budgets, a team for room blocks, transfers and a guest desk, and no travel charge for its team in Bengaluru. The hall, rooms, food and every other supplier are separate, paid by you. More functions are quoted on top.

A coordinator can charge for overtime. One planner's all-India guide lists ₹5,000 to ₹20,000 an hour after the agreed end time, and ₹8,000 to ₹25,000 a day for each extra coordinator. Get the end time in writing.

Ask the hall first. One Gandhi Bazaar hall lets you bring your own caterer and decorator to its main hall. One planner writes that some halls keep a list of three to six caterers or decorators and charge ₹10,000 to ₹50,000 to let in anyone else, and that hall rent carries 18% GST.

A decor firm's price leaves out transport, and some parts, like a DJ or video, come through its partners. Ask which lines are the firm's own.

Get every line in writing. "Decor as discussed" means nothing on the day. One family who wrote to us gave ₹4 to 5 lakh for everything and asked if there were service charges on top. Ask every firm the same before you pay.

Pay the hall, caterer and photographer yourself where you can. Then each vendor's bill comes to you. The planner that takes no commission says the answer to trust is "none", or an arrangement it tells you about in full.

With a decor firm, the decor and the food are its own, so ask for each part priced on its own line. Mirakle Events also takes single jobs, so you can book only the decor, or only the food.

What the extra buys. We found no clear gap at this size: the studio's ₹4 lakh sits inside the guides' range. Both say they coordinate your vendors, keep the budget and run the days. One guide counts theme and design ideas inside full planning, while this studio sells its design and decor apart, from ₹5 lakh plus GST. The studio's page adds its own online portal, where you approve designs and budgets, a desk at the venue that answers guests' questions, and a written promise that it takes no commission from vendors. The guides don't say whether other planners offer these, so ask the planners you meet.

On mytribe: neither side. No firm on mytribe charges a planner's fee on its own. Mirakle Events runs the day along with the decor, food and photos it brings (question 1). MM Eveents does decor, sound and effects.

More days, functions and guests. That studio charges ₹2 lakh a day for 150 to 200 guests and ₹3 lakh a day above 400. Its page puts four events over two days at ₹4 lakh to ₹6 lakh plus GST, depending on guests, and quotes more functions on top. Its page says the right fee depends on how complex the wedding is and what you need the planner to manage.

More guests, more people on the ground. Another planner's guide says the team grows with the guest count, and more coordinators cost more:

A share grows with what you spend (question 2). So ask each planner for its fee as one number, with the team and the scope written under it, and compare those.

The jobs that go wrong on the day are small ones. Find someone for each, from the firm's team or your family:

• Receiving the boy's side when they arrive
• Handing out the return gifts
• Keeping the cash envelopes safe
• Feeding the priest, the musicians and the crew
• Paying anyone who wants cash on the day
• Settling the last bills before the hall closes

Ask how many other events they run that day. Mirakle Events can run up to four a day, by its own count. Ask who deals with you before the day, and who runs it on the day.

Ask to see a wedding like yours that they ran: your size, your community's rituals, a family from it you can call, and photos from that day.

If you cancel with Mirakle Events, nothing comes back in the last week. About 20 to 30 days out, you get part of your money back, worked out from what it has spent. Money it has paid other vendors doesn't come back. You can move the date if it's free.

MM Eveents takes half to book, as our team noted on a call with it in August 2026. Ask it when the rest is due and what happens if you cancel.

Book the hall and the priest before anyone else (question 8). Book a firm late and more is due up front. How it usually goes: one planner's all-India guide says to book a planner six to nine months ahead for a city wedding of 100 to 300 guests, and that later than four months risks finding them taken in the October to February season.

Without a signed paper, a planner's terms are hard to hold. A Hyderabad father hired a wedding planner in October 2024 and paid a ₹13 lakh advance for the engagement, sangeet, haldi, mehendi and decor. Partway through, the planner asked for more money before it would run the rest, and he hired someone else at short notice. A consumer commission ordered a refund of ₹5.6 lakh, plus ₹1 lakh compensation, in July 2026. The planner had no signed paper showing he had agreed to its payment terms.

Smaller packages exist. Another Brahmin wedding firm's page starts a traditional package at ₹1 lakh, for the ritual setups, the pooja items and coordinators for the rituals, and a comprehensive one at ₹6 lakh. It doesn't say the priest or the main wedding meal is included. It lists a lunch for the couple. Ask any contractor for one number, with what it covers.

Your own priest is paid on his own. How it usually works: the family agrees the dakshina with the priest directly, apart from the hall and the food, and he may bring the samagri or give you a list. One planner's cost table puts a purohit and samagri at ₹15,000 to ₹25,000 at its lowest level and ₹30,000 to ₹50,000 as typical. We found no Bengaluru priest or temple that publishes its own wedding fee.

A planner and a contractor can work the same wedding. Give each a written list of what they own, so the cooks and the decor crew aren't waiting on each other.