A wedding planner was once considered a necessity when planning your special day, but many brides now question if they really need to hire a wedding planner at all to pull together their dream nuptials.

Wedding planners do have stengths: They are a wealth of information, they have plenty of experience, they already have connections to wedding vendors and they can make your day run smoothly. But there is now so much information available that it is possible to save your money, do away with hiring a wedding planner altogether and plan the day yourselves.

Planners will usually charge you a flat fee or a percentage of your total budget for their services. You could easily end up paying $5000 for a full service wedding planner (or $1000 for just a day-of planner). That's a lot of money that could be filtered out into other areas of your wedding or put towards your honeymoon and future life together.

When you first get engaged and see the long list of things that need to be done in order to have your wedding day run smoothly, it's very easy to get overwhelmed. You might want to run out and hire the first wedding planner you can find. They will help you to choose vendors and negotiate contracts, give you ideas, run the rehearsals and set up the venue on the day of the wedding. But they are a significant cost that just isn’t necessary.

If you have so much going on that you can barely eat a meal, much less visit multiple florists, then maybe a wedding planner is the right choice for you. But for the majority of us with normal schedules, wedding planners don't do anything that you're not capable of doing yourself.

If you have decided to save the money and not hire a wedding planner, you need to be armed with the correct information to ensure your wedding goes smoothly.

One of the most valued services a wedding coordinator provides is having an "in" with area vendors and the ability to negotiate with them on their prices and services. Therefore, if you're doing this yourself, you need to research a variety of vendors before meeting with anyone. Compare prices throughout your region so you'll quickly know if they are trying to overcharge you. Find a local wedding planning message board online and ask for tips or reviews on various vendors. Once you do meet with a florist, photographer, caterer or other vendor, make sure he or she knows you have done your homework. This will make negotiating the best deal much easier for you.

If you are planning your own wedding, one of the most important tools you need is a checklist. There are so many little details that goes into a wedding that you don’t want to discover at the last minute that you have forgotten something important. Obviously, you are unlikely to forget to choose a wedding dress, but did you remember to order thank you notes with your invitations? Have you worked out how you are getting to your wedding? Do you know where Aunt Mary is sitting?

It’s all the little things that can become stressful if you don’t have a plan. Having a checklist by your side can save you a lot of pain and put the fun back in your planning as you will know what you have to do and when.

Here are just a handful of things you need to include in your checklist:

• Choose and book your officiant. Depending on the type of ceremony, this may be a religious figure like a priest or a celebrant.

• Write up a guest list and establish the size of your wedding.

• Choose your bridal shoes in time to take them to your final dress fitting. You need to make sure they match and your dress is the correct length.

• Select your florist and the flowers you want. Keep in mind that some flowers (particularly those out of season) need to be ordered well in advance.

• Order your wedding cake.

• Schedule fittings for your whole bridal party. You don’t want to discover on the day that one of the bridesmaid’s dresses doesn’t fit!

• Order and pick up the rings. You REALLY need these!

Of course, there is so much more that should be included in your checklist but you don’t have to come up with the whole thing yourself. There are plenty of checklists already done for you like the Free Essential Wedding Checklist available from WeddingDayDelights.com.

Wherever you get it from, make sure you have a checklist! It will save you from so many headaches and from any last minute shocks.

Wedding planners will often offer packages that vary based on the level of services. This ranges from planning the entire process to just being a "day-of" coordinator (DOC). DOCs are helpful because they allow the bride and groom to take a step back from the planning and making sure the day is going well and just have fun.

It is important that you and your partner aren’t worrying about why the flowers aren't in the right place or the if the DJ has shown up, but people other than wedding coordinators can do this for you. Designate a close friend or family member who's not in the wedding party as the "emergency contact" for the day. Make sure all the appropriate people know that they are to bother that person and not the bride and groom with any problems that might arise throughout the day. In addition, sometimes the venue or the caterer has a coordinator that can take charge of at least elements of your day. When choosing vendors, ask if this service is part of your package.

In the end, when you look back at your wedding, do you want to know that you and your special someone had a hand in the process? A wedding planner can make things a little easier, but hiring one also removes you and your partner from joys of planning your special day together. If that's all right with you, then a wedding planner is a good choice. But for motivated brides and grooms save the money you might spend on a wedding planner, stock up on the right information and create yourself some fabulous memories!