Planning fees on Long Island run from $500 day-of to $50,000 full service, and almost none are in print
Emily Boziwick Events, working Sag Harbor to Montauk and the North Fork, publishes planning packages at $25,000 to $50,000 and up, with wedding budget tiers listed from $200,000 to $700,000 and more. Bleu Sparrow Events in Centereach shows $3,950 starting on WeddingWire. Rita Ellis Events and Leigh & Co. Events price on request. That is the whole published picture for the four planners we verified.
For context, WeddingWire's Long Island planner page runs $500 to $10,000. A 2026 Long Island breakdown, published by a local dance-floor rental company and therefore an interested party, gives day-of coordination at $1,500 to $2,500 and partial planning at $3,000 to $6,000. It puts full service at around $5,000 rising to $10,000 or more, and percentage-based fees at 10 to 15% of budget. Hourly consulting there is $75 to $200. The Knot's national planner average is $2,100 and Zola's planning figure is $4,047. One tri-state planner publishes a $7,500 minimum. None of these is a Long Island average, because none is published.
A real day-of coordinator starts 6 to 8 weeks out, and the tiers say so
The distinguishing question is what day-of means. A real day-of coordinator starts 6 to 8 weeks out, takes over vendor communication, builds and distributes the timeline, runs the rehearsal and manages load-in. A bad one arrives at 3pm having never spoken to your florist. The tiers on this page show the range. Rita Ellis offers a distinct 2-Month Management tier, where the planner steps in two months out, separate from Day-of Coordination. Leigh & Co.'s Wedding Day Management requires all planning to be complete before hand-off, and its Partial Planning does not begin until 3 months before the wedding, with vendors already booked. Bleu Sparrow's Month Of is for couples who planned themselves.
Count the hours and the people. Leigh & Co. caps day-of coverage at 10 hours on every tier below Full Service, which has unlimited day-of hours, as does its White Glove tier. Bleu Sparrow includes a lead planner plus an assistant on the wedding day in every package. Ask how many weddings the planner takes per weekend and whether the person you met will be the one on site. Ask for the last three venues worked. Long Island catering halls such as Leonard's or Fox Hollow run a captain-driven model where a planner adds less, while a tented raw-space or Hamptons wedding is where one is close to mandatory.
Flat fee or percentage, and whether the planner takes vendor commissions
Fee structure is the whole story. Percentage models, 10 to 15% of total budget on Long Island, pay the planner more when you spend more. A flat fee tied to a defined scope is cleaner, and both models exist locally. Emily Boziwick's published range is a flat package figure. Ask directly whether the planner takes a referral commission from vendors on their preferred list; it is common and almost never disclosed. Bleu Sparrow runs its own floral design and tent rental arms, which is convenient and also a reason to ask how those are priced against outside quotes.
Scope creep has known triggers: additional events such as a welcome party or brunch, guest-count increases, and design or rental sourcing are usually outside the base fee. Emily Boziwick sells the extra events as a separate Wedding Weekend Package that runs from welcome gatherings through the farewell brunch. Rita Ellis lists proposals, showers, rehearsal dinners, welcome parties and post-wedding brunches as separately handled. Hourly overage on the wedding day and travel to the East End are frequent add-ons; Leigh & Co.'s 10-hour cap is where the first one starts.
Vineyard and Hamptons weddings are where Long Island planners earn the fee
Rita Ellis Events works the North and South Fork and shows weddings from the Vineyards at Aquebogue and RGNY, and its owner holds a master's degree in hospitality from Johnson & Wales. Emily Boziwick books Sag Harbor, East Hampton, Southampton, Westhampton, Amagansett, Montauk, the North Fork and Shelter Island. Those are the properties where a planner has to manage permits, tents and parking plans. East Hampton Town's Chapter 151 makes it concrete: a residential gathering of 50 or more people needs a permit, filed 21 to 60 days ahead depending on headcount, with $2,000,000 per occurrence insurance naming the Town. No tent may stand on a property for more than 14 consecutive days, and a catered beach wedding there is capped at 50 attendees.
The calendar is the other pressure. Zola's 2026 survey puts the average engagement at 18 months and says 19% of couples start planning before the proposal. Leigh & Co. works NYC, Long Island and Montauk from a New York base. Bleu Sparrow will travel out of state, and Rita Ellis will discuss events beyond the Forks. Leigh & Co. also lists design consultations and subscription-based support, which is the closest thing on this page to hourly help for a couple planning alone.
How much does a wedding planner cost on Long Island?
Emily Boziwick Events is the only planner here that publishes fees: $25,000 to $50,000 and up for Hamptons weddings with budgets of $200,000 and above. Bleu Sparrow shows $3,950 starting on WeddingWire, whose Long Island page runs $500 to $10,000. A local 2026 breakdown puts day-of at $1,500 to $2,500 and partial planning at $3,000 to $6,000, though it comes from a rental company rather than a neutral source.
What is the difference between day-of and month-of coordination?
Mostly when the planner starts. Leigh & Co.'s Wedding Day Management requires your planning to be finished before hand-off and covers up to 10 hours on the day. Rita Ellis's 2-Month Management tier steps in two months out, and Bleu Sparrow's Month Of is for couples who planned themselves. A real coordinator on any tier should be running vendor communication 6 to 8 weeks out.
Do planners take commissions from vendors?
Some do, and it is almost never disclosed. Ask directly whether the planner receives a referral fee from anyone on their preferred list. Where a planner also sells florals or rentals, as Bleu Sparrow does, ask how those are priced against outside quotes.
Do we need a planner for a catering hall wedding?
Long Island halls such as Leonard's, Fox Hollow and Jericho Terrace run a captain-driven model where the venue staff manage the day, so a planner adds less there than at a tented one. Raw-space, vineyard and Hamptons weddings are where a planner is close to mandatory, since permits, tents, parking plans and noise rules all land on someone.
Facts read from each vendor’s own site and, where noted, its The Knot or WeddingWire listing, on 3 September 2026. Prices marked “on their site” are first party; anything marked “on The Knot” or “on WeddingWire” is marketplace sourced and may have changed. Run a Long Island planner business? Claim or correct a listing, free.
