Why Hire a Coordinator or Planner?

This is my PSA for all of my couples, both future and present, to do yourself and your vendor team the biggest favor you can and hire a wedding day director. There are so many reasons you should seriously do this, but the most important one, in my opinion, is the peace of mind this choice will bring you so you can truly enjoy your wedding.

Planning & Details

So when I was planning my wedding I had already been in the industry for a few years, and was so "into" wedding planning both for my own TBD wedding, but also my clients, that I thought I had it all figured out. Linens? CHECK! Venue? CHECK! Photographer? DOUBLE CHECK! and even though one of my best friends and bridesmaids is an amazing coordinator I thought I had it more than covered.

But what about the extra stuff?? Platter rentals for the buffet, regulations on candles with flame versus LED, Contracts, the over-all cohesion of the vision, and when do I show up?

We ending up hiring the coordination team that my Bestie runs to help with all of the questions I wouldn't even begin to know to ask. I hadn't actually planned a wedding before and I needed someone who does this for a living to be responsible to ask these questions every step of the way.

Experience & Knowledge

As you plan your wedding, you know how you want everything to look, how you want your guests to feel, and ultimately what the pictures will reflect when you go back and re-live your (hopefully) once in a life-time day. But how do you create a comfortable easy conversation over dinner for your guests? Are round tables better for intimate cozy dinners or are long rectangles? - There are right answers here, and because the amount of experience in throwing these types of large scale dinner parties is usually nil for most couples, having a member on your team that has seen it done every different way will help you zero in on exactly the right set up for you.

Connections & Referrals

These planners are your best resource when it comes to finding the best vendors. Not only have they worked with SO many different vendors, they often will be able to make the best recommendation based on your personality, goals, budget, and of course will be able to vouch for their professionalism. Think of them as your Wedding Guru... or Genie... their job is to make your wishes come true - within reason obviously!- and if they don't have the immediate answer or resource, they know the right pro who will.

Timeline

As a florist who has worked with couples with and without a coordinator, I will tell you without hesitation that I prefer a detailed timeline that lets me know not only what I am doing, but what the other relevant wedding pros are also doing. I've seen so many different timelines, and a good coordinator will send one out to all of the vendors a few weeks before the event for review and comment. This allows all of the vendors to chime in and make sure that they will have enough time to execute their part of the puzzle flawlessly. Managing all of these varying needs from all of these pros is NOT SOMETHING you want to be burdened with before or during your wedding.

This roadmap is your vendor team's best friend, and also makes sure that everyone is accountable to getting their part complete in a timely manner... You don't want to be waiting to start your ceremony because your florist didn't have enough time to execute your gorgeous archway decor. Balancing the venue's contracted rental time, your guest arrival, and your walk down the aisle sounds like an easy enough thing to manage, but it's only one of several pieces that need to stitch together seamlessly for a event flow that your guests will not even realize they are appreciating.

They get to yell for you

I never like being the bad guy- so when the chairs for my wedding ceremony were set up facing the wrong direction by the venue staff, my coordinator assured me it would be handled and I could and should just focus on being pampered and getting dressed. I trusted her and of course it was handled. I was so happy that I could just let someone else execute our vision and I could just enjoy every single moment of getting married to my best friend.

I had a vision, I had SO MANY DETAILS, and my coordinator was in charge of making sure it all got set up just the way I wanted. I didn't have to set a single place-card, or set up my candy bar, or set out my props for the photo booth.

Between navigating sticky family dynamics, drunker than expected friends and family, and corralling & facilitating vendors, your planner, director, or coordinator will be the point person making sure your day goes just swimmingly. You can kiss the idea of being a bridezilla goodbye.

Keeping things moving

One of the things I appreciated the most about my coordinator was that she checked in with me and kept me on schedule so we have enough time to get all the pictures we wanted, spend time with our guests, and of course enough time on the dance floor. I didn't have to worry that we didn't get a particular picture taken, or that I didn't have time to eat. She made sure that my hubby and I were attended too and got to do everything we wanted to. It seems like this would be a relatively easy task to do, but you will be surprised with just how quickly everything starts going by.

Alright, so now you're sold on getting someone to help with all of these details... Check out two of my favorite coordinating teams on our vendor page and let them know we sent you!