Ooooooooo! This is one of my favorite subjects (but I don't know much about it yet!!) :lol: Before I got Lucy, I decided that *I* want to do most of her grooming myself (or at least learn HOW to do it so I CAN do it if I WANT to!)
Lucy just turned 5 months old the end of January and I've been keeping her face, feet and tail (plus sanitary area) clipped since I got her at 8 weeks old (I did my first attempt at FFT clipping when she was about 10 weeks because she came so nicely groomed by her breeder I didn't need to do anything right away)
I haven't done any more than FFT yet, but I am itching to try... I will probably take her for a professional for her first "big girl" haircut but then try to keep it looking good by myself. We have the grooming table, clippers, shears, brushes, combs, velocity hair dryer, etc, etc, etc which will help with keeping her looking good!
She's great for me when I work with her grooming tasks - very patient on the table - so I'm hoping that when I graduate to "real" grooming, she'll stay just as patient for me. I also know that even if I mess something up, it'll grow back; so I'm not going to sweat it. She's used to being brushed and combed all the time, so we haven't ever had any matting issues (not sure about when her coat changes from puppy to her adult coat - I'm dreading "the change")
As far as finding someone to do your grooming for you, can you get any recommendations from any local friends, your vet, people you meet whose dogs look well groomed??

My daughter used to work at PetSmart and she knows exactly how she wants her spoo to look. Chalumeau has been to no less than 4 different groomers (she's 16 months old) and Katy finally found one that she loves and will continue to go to...
Good luck in your search (and don't discount learning to do a lot of it yourself - with the $$ you save in grooming costs you can buy decent equipment for yourself!)