One thing I hear all the time from clients and potential clients is, “my venue has a coordinator, so I do not need a day of coordinator”. This is a HUGE misconception and my job as a planner and designer is to educate you on your options

Venue Coordinator

Venue coordinators are paid employees of the venue. Their responsibilities include highlighting the venue, finalizing final catering needs, room layout, processing final invoices. Their focus is making sure that the contract with you and the venue is being executed. Often, the venue coordinator leaves once the meals are served. Most venue coordinators do not help with wedding rehearsals or your day of timeline. It is also rare for a venue coordinator to help with any set up or tear down of décor. When it comes down to it, the venue coordinators job is to represent the property but not necessarily the couple. Also, it is important to remember that larger venues have multiple coordinators so there is no guarantee that you will be working with the same person every time.

Wedding Coordinators & Planners

Now let’s look at the responsibilities of a coordinator and planner. To contrast the Venue Coordinator, the planner and coordinator are hired by the couples, therefore they work for you. Their number one priority always is YOU! This makes a huge difference because the coordinator/ planner is with you every step of the way. They will go above and beyond to make sure that your wants and needs are met. The planner/ coordinator makes sure that ALL your contracts are being met, not just the venues. They will make sure that your vendors are on time and know your timeline PRIOR to the day of your wedding. A planner/ coordinator is your mediator, main point of contact and shoulder to lean on, instead of questions being asked to you, they handle most of the tasks without even bothering you. On your wedding day there are so many moving pieces coming together to create this beautiful vision you had, you want it to be seamless and effortless, but truth is, it’s not so you need the planner/ coordinator to take care of it.

Sum it all up!

Truth is most venues tell couples that they can take care of it, and some might do that, but this is the MOST important day, why risk someone not showing up on time, or being pre-occupied completing job tasks that are required of them by their employer? This is not to say venue coordinators are not going to help you, I have worked with some amazing venue coordinators and they definitely bring value to the wedding planning process, but my job as a planner and coordinator is to make sure that your day is effortless and fun and I whole heartily believe you must have a professional planner and coordinator to do so. It is imperative that couples truly understand the process and the difference between the two that way there is no frustration or disappointment taking away from the most important day.

To see more services of a day of coordinator/ wedding planner check out: http://www.wanderingblooms.com