We are going through one right now. We had a designed come into our home. He threw his ideas around but nothing very specific. When asked about something specific he would say things like, "Oh my guys work great together and we will schedule everything so don't you worry about anything". And , "this will be great". I felt very talked down to. I would have specific questions about who is coming and going in your home. Be sure you know exactly what you are paying for. The timeline is especially important. I would say 5 weeks is very generous. If you are having electrical, plumbing, drywall, etc, chances are things are going to take longer.
We ended up doing most of the work ourselves. But my husband comes from a construction background so he has a lot of knowledge. Also do not be afraid to go to the big box stores for cabinets. They do have some wonderful, quality products that are half of what a designer will show you. Just educate yourself on what things cost. And ask a lot of questions. Don't be afraid to do somethings yourself. You are smarter than you think.

Today our floors are being sanded-we opted to refinish rather than remove and start fresh but ours were in good shape.
Good luck and much success to you and your wife.

Hi. I am a kitchen designer and would love to answer any questions you have about your new kitchen. It can be a very daunting process if you don't know where to start, but if you have any questions I will try my best to answer them for you. After seeing your question here I added a new post to our blog with the top 5 things to consider when re-designing your kitchen. Hope they help! http://noeldempsey.com/blog/?p=53

An expert kitchen designer should be asking you as many questions as possible in order to gain a sense of your style.