Just like every other bride-to-be, I am absolutely addicted to the reality wedding shows all over cable television. While watching them over the past few months, there seems to be a common theme running through each show (other than absurd temper tantrums): All the brides have wedding planners. As an event planner by trade, I really felt no need to hire a wedding planner, because there’s no chance I’d ever let her do her job leading up to the big day.

I enjoy doing all the vendor research; it makes finding the right one that much more rewarding! I know how to plan large-scale events and have been relishing in the fact that planning this wedding is like working on a client event, except I’m my own client. So even if the brides on television need to hire someone to help them, I felt confident that I could do all this on my own.

My confidence was flying high until I spoke with a newlywed in my office who stopped me dead in my tracks. Also an event planner, she explained that she thought the same thing, but her mother hired her a wedding planner anyway. Although she begrudged it at first, it ended up being the best thing for her wedding. She was able to relax and enjoy her wedding, and the planner handled all the details, the schedules, and the on-site discussions with the vendors. She didn’t have to wear two hats and act as the bride and the event coordinator. She says now she wouldn’t have had it any other way.

So trudging back to my desk, I started thinking about the planner concept. On the one hand, I’ve already found most of my vendors and have created timelines, spreadsheets, and everything else a planner does in the beginning. But I am a perfectionist when it comes to my client events, so I know I’ll be even worse when it comes to our wedding. So maybe hiring a partial planner, which I’ve now discovered is called a day-of coordinator, is the way to go. That way I can set everything up to my personal taste, but someone else can worry about the last-minute logistics and problems that inevitably pop up when you gather a group together.

But with our budget stretching thinner by the day, was this really a cost that I wanted to incur when technically it was something that wasn’t a necessity? There are so many pros and cons on the subject, and frankly, I simply don’t know which way to go. The more brides I chat with, the more I realize that most folks hire a wedding planner; I actually haven’t found a single bride who hasn’t! Until I can find someone that has run her own wedding without professional help, I won’t know which choice is right for me. We’ll add this dilemma to the short list of questions I’ll admit to not being able to answer without input. Stay tuned!

Lisa Marie, a local bride-to-be, writes every Friday about planning her wedding, which will be in Washington in July. To follow her adventures from the beginning, click here.

If you like reading about Lisa Marie, make sure to check out our other blogging bride-to-be, Eleni, who writes every Wednesday. Follow her adventures here.