Coordinator ? or No coordinator? Are you required by your venue to have a coordinator? What do they even do? Can’t my mom just set up?
Hey Beautiful Readers!
No, I’m not here to sell my services, I’m here to help all the couples that are considering hiring a wedding planner, or at minimum a Day Of Coordinator. Your answer to the above should be:
Coordinator, DUH!; It doesn’t matter if its required, it's necessary; More than you know; and, Absolutely not. Hopefully the remainder of this blog helps you understand why.
There are so many questions to ask all of your vendors to best understand the scope of their services and make sure you’ve covered all your wedding day bases. Let me first give you a very brief, yet important, breakdown of the difference between a wedding planner and a wedding day coordinator - because this will focus on coordination specifically .
Wedding Planner: Your partner throughout your engagement. This person helps you with vendor selection, timeline creation, checklists, and making sure you’ve considered planning for all aspects of your wedding day. This individual helps you personalize the wedding to your liking and create the dream team.
Wedding Day Coordinator: Your event producer and the person who executes the plan. This person is in charge of managing the event design and set up, the timeline, and all individuals involved in the wedding. This goes for everyone from the couple to the vendors, and extends to the guests.
Oftentimes wedding planners will also act as wedding day coordinators, some include it in their packages and some offer it as an addition. Some coordinators may not offer full planning services. It is crucial to understand what your vendors’ service offerings truly include to make sure you are selecting the right partner for your needs, and someone who can meet you no matter where you are in the planning process.
There are a few reasons a couple may be looking for a Day Of Coordinator. Some venues require you hire, at minimum, a coordinator to be onsite for the event. Whether that be the case or not, the majority of venues strongly recommend it, and most couples understand that without a coordinator, they themselves or someone from their party or family will be tasked with setting up the event and there may be no one responsible for overseeing the timeline and vendor execution in the later parts of the evening.
I find it important to quickly highlight the difference between venue and wedding coordinators. If your venue has a venue coordinator that is on-site for the wedding day and they do not explicitly tell you they also offer true wedding coordination on your wedding day, there is a 99.9% chance they do not do everything you may think they do. These individuals are tasked with overseeing kitchen and bar staff, security and property management, and potentially multiple events at one site. They are not the ones directly responsible for keeping up with the milestones on your timeline, sending your party down the aisle, directing guests from cocktail hour to reception, bringing you your dinner plate from the buffet, bustling your dress and lighting your candles. These are critical components that may seem menial, but can often make the difference in a seamless vs. stressful wedding day.
If you’re not yet convinced of the value of a Wedding Day Coordinator, here’s 10 things your Wedding Day Coordinator does on wedding day (some of which you probably don’t see):
1-Directing your guests between critical transition periods. If you recall back in June we discussed the transition periods of wedding day (which you can read HERE), the moments where people are traveling between cocktail hour and reception, or even when guests are arriving early to the ceremony. Your coordinator makes sure guests are aware of what is going on, where to be, and what to expect next to be fully prepared (usually with a fresh drink).
2-Bride / Groom Advocate. A wildly important component of wedding day is remembering the purpose of everyone being there - to celebrate the couple. Coordinators are there to be a pillar of support and advocate for all their desires (and that includes having potentially uncomfortable conversations). If the bride or groom is unhappy with something, it is their responsibility to attend to it, and ideally bring a solution. Family members, and party affiliates, and the couple especially, should not be tasked with escorting guests out of a room they shouldn’t be in, or kicking out drunk uncle Jerry who wasn’t invited in the first place. These. Things. Happen. As a coordinator, being a trusted individual and prioritizing the happiness and comfort of their couple through every single moment of the wedding day should always be front of mind.
3-Vendor direction. I say direction because it is NOT their job to tell others how to do what they were hired to, rather to make sure that they are doing so in a timely manner, and according to the master plan. Showing vendors where to park and where to set up, communicating critical timeline moments, and checking in throughout the evening to get their perspective of the event as well as anything they need to be set up for success. It is a TEAM effort.
4-Guest liaison & Customer Service. Don’t text the bride in the morning asking what time you’re supposed to be there because you left your invitation at home. I personally allow my brides to give all guests and family members my phone number so I can be the master point of contact for any and all questions and the bride can focus on herself and enjoy her day. A great coordinator provides exceptional customer service not only throughout the planning and booking process but also on wedding day. Offering to grab someone a fresh drink during dinner or cleaning up a dirty plate while you see the caterer with full hands goes a long way in keeping the day moving, as well as keeping everyone happy. If they are present throughout the day, guests think to come to them with any questions (as simple as where the bathroom is, or if they have time to step outside for a cigar and not miss the cake cutting). Sometimes we even take cute BTS photos :)
5-Overseeing the ceremony processional. Your rehearsal is a great time to practice with the bridal party and couple, and also show off their value as a coordinator. Come wedding day, your coordinator will line up the processional, send everyone down the aisle in a timely manner, signal the musician for song changes, and even fluff the bride's dress before she makes her final steps towards her groom. This is one the most anxiety inducing moments of the wedding day, and not only for the couple, but oftentimes for parents and party members too, having an expert next to them provides comfort and confidence.
6-Reception design. Some venues, especially those that offer catering and bar service will often go the extra mile in setting up your reception, which will include chairs & tables, folding napkins, setting chargers, plates, glass and silverware. As a coordinator however, the extra aspects are what make the true difference. This is one of the biggest areas where your coordinator will shine, and this will also ensure that not only the bride, but also mom and the bridesmaids don’t have to be bothered with any responsibilities on wedding day. Filling up vases with water, placing a vase for the bride's bouquet, lighting candles, placing name cards, setting up a welcome station, filling a seating chart or champagne wall. I could go on, and obviously each wedding will include different design elements, but your reception does not design itself, and your venue staff or coordinator will often not do all of those things. Make sure you know going into it how each and every element will be pieced together, and that your coordinator knows your exact vision.
7-Ceremony Design. “Isn’t this the same thing as reception design Alyssa”? In fact, it is not. As mentioned, it is common that venue staff (or the rental company that provided your chairs or arbor) will set up those elements, but what about petals sprinkled in the aisle, or reserved signs for VIP guests or family members. What if your design includes linens draped over the edge of the outer chairs? Is there a memorial table, a welcome sign, a card box? All of these things are typically stationed at the ceremony first, and during the change over time, they will be re-situated in the main reception area. But similarly to reception, these elements do not just appear, and a coordinator is the one who brings these elements to life, not only moving them, but having them in an accessible and ideal space upon guest arrival.
8-Ceremony to reception change over. This can be as extensive as a full room flip in the case of inclement weather, or just the venue's accommodations; however, this can also be as small as repurposing florals, and moving signage. Oftentimes couples will utilize arch bouquets or aisle enhancements as centerpieces or maybe to decorate the sweetheart table. Your aunt Carol in her beautiful dress and heels is in no position to climb a ladder, cut the zip ties, and reposition your arch florals onto the center of your table, she’s also not supposed to spend cocktail hour moving all the ceremony chairs to the tables for guests. This again is specific to each weddings needs, but where a coordinator will be operating behind the scenes while you’re enjoying this phase of the wedding day.
9-Timeline Management. While coordinators will be checking in with vendors to make sure things are on track, and also doing constant time checks, they manage the day's timeline from the minute you wake up, until you leave at the end of the evening. They will have 16 alarms that go off at minutes like 4:23, or 8:17 to signal that it's time to line up the party, take the bride for dress change, cut the cake, or sneak out for sunset photos before it’s too late. These little moments slip right past the couple as they’re wrapped up in celebrating, and oftentimes, venue managers and other vendors may not pay any attention to them because they are irrelevant to their services. Your day of coordinator is your event producer through and through, and keeping you on time down to the minute, makes for a successful event.
10-The Breakdown. If not the most crucial piece of your end of the night plan is what your coordinator does to help break down your reception. I talked about this element of wedding day in a previous blog that you can read HERE, but the coordinators role in this moment is so essential. Having a predetermined list of items you want to keep will help your coordinator breakdown with ease, and do so quickly. The last thing you want to be worried about is how your bouquet is getting home or who is taking your guestbook home - even if that person is you.Yyour coordinator will make sure everyone leaves with what they need, no items are left behind, and the space is left treated with respect.
I can confidently say that most people aren’t fully aware of what a Wedding Day Coordinator does until they see them in action. Having someone there to seamlessly oversee all of these elements allows you to remain focused on getting married, enjoy the day with family and friends who feel aware of what’s going on, and most importantly remain calm.
While coordinators are often one of the first budget cuts, or something people don’t even think to add because it is a “luxury” service, or because your “friends and family can do it”... this should hopefully provide insight into busting that myth and shining light on the extent to which these individuals bring insurmountable value to your events success.
Good luck to all the brides in their planning era, and reach out at thecalmbride.com to lock up your last minute fall season Day Of Coordination. I have a few open spots remaining for 2024 and am booking for 2025.
Xoxo,
Alyssa
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