Wedding Planner Price Calculator

Wedding planner cost in New Orleans (2026)

Short answer: New Orleans is the only metro in our dataset where every tier prices above national, and the full-service premium (~55% above national) is the steepest we document outside the coastal-luxury markets. NOLA functions as a true destination-wedding market — a meaningful share of weddings involve out-of-town couples and guests, French Quarter venues come with logistics costs that don't exist elsewhere, and the planner market is unusually custom-quote-heavy with limited published pricing. Day-of runs ~1.33× national median, partial ~1.25×, and full-service ~1.55×. Day-of coordination: $1,200–$3,500 (median ~$2,000). Partial planning: $2,500–$6,000 (median ~$4,000). Full-service: $5,000–$15,000+ (median ~$8,500). Ranges come from VowLaunch's 2025 New Orleans planner guide (the strongest single NOLA-specific source) triangulated against Wedding.report's 2025 New Orleans budget allocation ($1,395–$1,705 for the coordinator slice — note: that's a budget allocation, not a planner fee) and Zola/Knot 2025–2026 national anchors — confidence is medium across tiers because most NOLA planners gate pricing behind inquiry forms. The calculator below is pre-set to New Orleans, LA; add your guest count and tier to get your personalized range. If you're traveling in for a destination wedding, also see destination wedding planner cost for how NOLA compares against other US destination markets.

Jump to calculator →

New Orleans pricing by tier

New Orleans's price curve is the only one in our 30+ metro dataset where every tier prices above national — even the entry-tier day-of floor at $1,200 is 50% above the cheapest US day-of floors in St. Louis, Indianapolis, and Detroit. Three structural drivers explain it: a destination-wedding share that loads each engagement with extra coordination scope, French Quarter venue logistics that genuinely consume more planner hours than equivalent venues elsewhere, and a planner market dominated by custom-quote engagements that mute price competition. If you're comparing a NOLA quote against Houston, expect ~30% higher full-service for comparable scope; against Atlanta, ~20% higher; against Charleston (a peer destination market), expect roughly comparable pricing.

1. Day-of coordination in New Orleans — $1,200–$3,500

NOLA day-of clusters around $1,800–$2,200 for a 100–150 guest peak-season wedding — roughly 1.33× the national median. VowLaunch's 2025 guide cites a $1,500–$3,500 working range and notes that NOLA day-of typically begins 4–6 weeks before the wedding (the same handoff window as elsewhere), but absorbs destination-wedding overhead — out-of-town vendor calls, hotel-block check-ins for arriving guests, French Quarter parking and load-in coordination, and a second-line walkthrough if applicable. French Quarter, Garden District, Uptown, and CBD/Warehouse District weddings price toward the top, $2,200–$3,500. Mid-City, Marigny/Bywater, Algiers Point, and Lakeview weddings cluster mid-tier at $1,800–$2,200. Metairie, Kenner, the Northshore (Mandeville, Covington, Madisonville), and Algiers price 20–35% below — Northshore weddings often land at $1,200–$1,500 outside peak. Scope on a typical engagement: plan handoff 4–6 weeks out, vendor confirmations, timeline, rehearsal, second-line basics if applicable, and 12–14 hours on the wedding day (longer than the national 10–12 because welcome-event spillover is common). See day-of coordinator cost for the full US metro comparison and month-of coordinator cost for a longer-handoff variant common in destination markets.

2. Partial planning in New Orleans — $2,500–$6,000

Partial in NOLA is structurally different from partial elsewhere because the destination-wedding pull pushes more couples into full-service, leaving partial as a smaller, more bespoke tier. VowLaunch cites $2,500–$6,000 with a working median around $4,000. Typical NOLA partial lands at $3,500–$4,500 for a 100–150 guest wedding with moderate design involvement and some destination-wedding scope (hotel block sourcing, one welcome event). Boutique-studio partial sits at the top of the range at $4,500–$6,000, often layering design, rentals, and second-line coordination into the quote; entry-tier partial sits at $2,500–$3,500 for couples who already have venue, catering, and photography booked. You get 4–6 months of active planning, remaining-vendor sourcing, timeline management, and wedding-day execution. Partial is often where a Garden District or Uptown couple lands after deciding the venue (Race & Religious, Latrobe's on Royal, Marigny Opera House) is handling some logistics and they only need vendor sourcing, hotel block management, and design — that's why the NOLA partial median tracks above the national median ($3,200) by 25%. See partial wedding planner cost for how partial compares to day-of and full-service nationally.

3. Full-service in New Orleans — $5,000–$15,000+

Full-service runs the steepest above-national premium in our tier-3 dataset outside coastal luxury markets. National full-service median is $5,500; NOLA median is $8,500 per VowLaunch's 2025 vendor guide — roughly 1.55× national. The published $5,000 floor anchors entry-tier full-service for a Northshore or Metairie wedding with limited design scope; the $15,000+ ceiling reflects French Quarter, Garden District, and destination-wedding engagements with bespoke design, second-line coordination, multi-day itineraries, and out-of-town concierge. Typical NOLA full-service for a 150-guest French Quarter or Garden District wedding with design involvement and destination-wedding scope lands at $9,000–$13,000. An Uptown, Mid-City, or CBD/Warehouse District wedding with moderate design runs $7,000–$9,000. A Northshore or Metairie wedding with limited destination scope can land at $5,000–$7,000. A truly bespoke French Quarter wedding at Latrobe's, Marigny Opera House, or The Cannery with multi-day events and a Frenchmen Street welcome second-line can run $13,000–$22,000 before add-ons. See full-service wedding planner price for the US-wide breakdown and destination wedding planner cost for the destination-market context.

Why every New Orleans tier runs above national

Three drivers compound to produce the steepest above-national tier-3 price curve we document.

Guest count still adds a multiplier. NOLA weddings over 150 guests typically add a second on-site assistant ($800–$1,500 add-on), and weddings on the Northshore or in Cajun Country (Lafayette, Houma, Thibodaux) commonly carry a 5–10% travel surcharge for vendors and planners based in Orleans Parish.

What shifts the price within a tier in New Orleans

If you're looking for signal on where in each NOLA range your wedding will land, the strongest levers are:

For a comparison against other metros and a deeper view of how planners structure fees, see wedding planner fees and how much is a wedding coordinator for help picking a tier before you start pricing. If you're considering a small-format wedding instead, see elopement planner cost for the under-20-guest format that's increasingly popular at French Quarter courthouses and City Park.

Your personalized New Orleans price

The calculator is pre-set to New Orleans, LA. Add your guest count and service tier to get a personalized flat-fee range built from NOLA-specific sources.

Pre-set to New Orleans, LA — change it if your venue is in a different metro.
Bucketed as <75 · 75–150 · 150–250 · 250+. NOLA weddings over 150 guests typically add a second assistant.
Service tier

The three planning tiers, side-by-side

Picking the right tier in New Orleans carries heavy cost weight — the gap between day-of ($2,000 median) and full-service ($8,500 median) is roughly 4×, one of the widest in our dataset because every tier's premium compounds. Use these definitions to anchor whichever NOLA proposal you're reading.

Day-of coordination

What's included

    What you still do yourself

      Partial planning

      What's included

        What you still do yourself

          Full-service

          What's included

            What's typically a separate add-on

              Frequently asked questions

              How much does a wedding planner cost in New Orleans?

              In Greater New Orleans (Orleans Parish + Jefferson Parish + St. Tammany Parish + St. Bernard Parish), day-of coordination typically runs $1,200–$3,500 (median ~$2,000), partial planning runs $2,500–$6,000 (median ~$4,000), and full-service wedding planning runs $5,000–$15,000+ (median ~$8,500 per VowLaunch's 2025 New Orleans planner guide). The French Quarter, Garden District, Uptown, and CBD/Warehouse District push the top of every range; Mid-City, Marigny/Bywater, and Algiers Point cluster mid-tier; Metairie, Kenner, and the Northshore (Mandeville, Covington) price below the metro median. Against the national median ($1,500 day-of, $3,200 partial, $5,500 full-service), New Orleans runs roughly 1.33×, 1.25×, and 1.55× — full-service carries the steepest premium because NOLA functions as a destination-wedding market where 30–50% of weddings involve out-of-town couples or guests, and bespoke custom-quote engagements dominate the top of the planner market.

              Why is full-service planning so expensive in New Orleans?

              New Orleans full-service runs $5,000–$15,000+ (median ~$8,500) — roughly 55% above the $5,500 national median. Three structural drivers explain it. First, NOLA is a true destination-wedding market: a meaningful share of couples are flying in from Texas, the Northeast, California, or international, and full-service scope inflates to include hotel block management, welcome-event coordination at a Frenchmen Street venue or a Bywater warehouse, second-line parade booking with a brass band and grand marshal, marriage-license logistics for non-Louisiana residents, and multi-day itinerary management across two or three days of events. Second, the planner market is unusually opaque — most New Orleans planners (Calligraphy & Co., Lovegood Wedding & Event Rentals' coordination arm, Get Polished Events, Eventfully Yours by Tara, OutFront Events, Aphrodite Sweets & Events) quote custom rather than publishing flat-fee tiers, which lifts the working middle because price competition is muted. Third, French Quarter venue logistics genuinely require more planner hours than equivalent venues elsewhere — narrow pedestrian streets, 18th-century buildings without freight elevators, mule-drawn carriage permits, and second-line police escorts add coordination labor that doesn't exist in St. Louis or Indianapolis. Practically, expect a NOLA full-service quote in the French Quarter or Garden District at $9,000–$13,000, in Uptown or Mid-City at $7,000–$9,000, and on the Northshore at $5,000–$7,000.

              What's the cheapest way to hire a wedding coordinator in New Orleans?

              Day-of coordination ($1,200–$3,500) is the realistic floor in New Orleans, but it still prices ~33% above the national day-of median because even entry-tier NOLA coordinators absorb destination-wedding overhead (out-of-town vendor calls, French Quarter logistics, second-line basics). Three levers help: (1) book in July, August, or January–early February (deep summer humidity and post-Mardi Gras lull are the real off-peak) — 15–25% discounts are realistic against the October–November and April–May peak; (2) stay under 75 guests (the 0.85× band) and pick a Friday or Sunday date for another 10–15% inside peak; (3) book on the Northshore (Mandeville, Covington, Madisonville), in Metairie or Kenner, or in Algiers Point where day-of often prices 25–35% below French Quarter / Garden District medians — a Northshore plantation-style or barn wedding with a boutique day-of coordinator can genuinely land at $1,000–$1,500 outside peak. Avoid Mardi Gras week (late January through Fat Tuesday), Jazz Fest weekends (last weekend of April + first weekend of May), French Quarter Fest (mid-April), and Essence Fest (early July) — venue and vendor availability collapses and surcharges spike.

              How much should I budget for a destination wedding in New Orleans with full-service planning?

              For a 100–150-guest destination wedding in New Orleans with full-service planning, budget $9,000–$13,000 for the planner fee alone — the median is $8,500 but destination scope reliably pushes quotes toward the upper half of the $5,000–$15,000+ range. A typical engagement covers 12–18 months of planning, hotel block sourcing (Hotel Monteleone, Ace Hotel New Orleans, The Eliza Jane, Hotel Peter & Paul), welcome-event coordination (often a Frenchmen Street second-line tour or a Magazine Street rooftop), the wedding day proper, and post-wedding brunch logistics. Add-ons billed separately: second-line parade with brass band and police escort ($1,500–$3,500), out-of-town guest concierge or transportation coordination ($800–$2,000), Plan B rain coordination for outdoor French Quarter or City Park weddings ($500–$1,500 retainer), and a second on-site assistant for 150+ guests ($800–$1,500). For comparison: see /destination-wedding-planner-cost for the full US-wide destination range — NOLA sits at the higher-mid end among US destinations, below Charleston and Napa but above Savannah, Asheville, and Sedona.

              How does the French Quarter venue ecosystem affect planner pricing?

              French Quarter, Garden District, and CBD/Warehouse District venues account for the majority of full-service NOLA weddings priced above the metro median, and they shift the planner-fee math in a specific way. Iconic venues — The Old No. 77 Hotel & Chandlery, Marigny Opera House, Latrobe's on Royal, The Cannery, Race & Religious, Felicity Church, The Chicory, Hotel Peter & Paul, Audubon Tea Room, Audubon Clubhouse, NOMA, the New Orleans Pharmacy Museum — typically come with strong in-house coordination but constrain the planner workflow with strict load-in windows, tight noise ordinances (especially in residential French Quarter blocks), and preferred-vendor lists that limit the planner's negotiating leverage. The result: planner fees in those venues run $9,000–$13,000 because hours-per-event are high, but the planner's ROI from vendor negotiation is lower than at neutral venues. By contrast, City Park (NOMA, the Pavilion of the Two Sisters, the Botanical Garden, Cafe Du Monde Riverview), Audubon Park, and Northshore destination venues (the Audubon Aquarium of the Americas extension, Solomon House, plantation-style venues) leave more of the workflow open and let high-end planners differentiate on vendor sourcing — which is how full-service quotes in those settings sometimes land in the $7,000–$9,000 working middle.