I Planned My Own Wedding: Do I Need A Wedding Coordinator?

 By: Shenette Prevo

Teacup Planning & Events | Houston Wedding Planner

If you’re wondering if you need a Wedding Coordinator (also referred to as a Day of Coordinator) you’re not alone. I recently came across a thread in an engaged group on Facebook with a bride-to-be asking if she needed a Day of Coordinator. She wrote that she'd planned her own wedding and hadn't budgeted for any type of coordination service. She was hesitant to book because of the cost. I was quite pleased to read the 30+ responses from newly married group members explaining exactly why she needed a Wedding Coordinator.

I think It's important to understand the difference between planning and coordination to help explain why a coordinator would be needed when you plan your own wedding.

Planning is the process of outlining what is needed to create or design something. Planning usually takes place in advance of the wedding by a few months up to a couple of years. When you plan your own wedding, you outline who will be involved, how you want things to look, and how you want to feel on your wedding day.

Coordination brings the different elements together to ensure efficiency or harmony. Basically, execution of the plan. Coordination usually begins a couple of weeks to a couple of months before the wedding and is most labor intensive on the wedding day. A professional Wedding Coordinator is the person you hand off your plan to execute your wedding.

This blog post highlights the top 4 reasons why having a wedding coordinator is important.

1. Ensures The Design is Executed

You’ve picked out your décor and placed the orders. Check! Now who will ensure everything gets placed? You? Your family? You or a team of your friends could arrive early to get the décor placed if the venue allows OR you can hand off the details to your Wedding Coordinator. Your Wedding Coordinator will ensure your deliveries are received and that your personal items get placed as you envisioned. They can also help you find labor for complex décor installations.

2. Main Point of Contact for Your Vendors

As much as you’ve talked to your vendors during the planning process they still need guidance on your wedding day. The Wedding Coordinator knows who, what, when, and where your vendors need to be. This helps your vendors on your wedding day by saving them time trying to remember and understand where things are on the timeline and if everything is going according to the schedule.

2. Assists Your Party with the Timeline

On your wedding day, you will be focused on you…as you should. Your Coordinator ensures your wedding party has what they need and helps the program run smoothly by prompting your wedding party on the next steps as the day of events occur.

3. Main Point of Contact for You

Imagine trying to wrangle your entire wedding team on your wedding day while trying to keep yourself together. Let's Not! The Wedding Coordinator is not only a main point of contact for your wedding team (venue, vendors, and wedding party) they are the main point of contact for you.

A month or so before the wedding, you provide your Wedding Coordinator with your plan and your wishes and they communicate it to your wedding team on your behalf. This saves you from having to communicate the same information to 10+ people anytime the plan is updated or an announcement needs to be made. On your wedding day, you communicate what’s needed to your Coordinator and they ensure it gets handled keeping you stress free!

4. Mitigates Risks, Delays, and Course Corrects

Plans often don’t go as outlined. If your caterer is running a couple of hours behind schedule or your DJ forgot his copy of the playlist, Aunt Mary may do her best to help but would inevitably end of coming to you for guidance. A professional Wedding Coordinator knows how to pivot to handle these types of situations behind the scenes to ensure the day continues on without a hiccup.

As you can see, planning and coordination are not the same. While you can plan your own wedding, coordinating it requires assistance which is why a coordinator is important. Your Wedding Coordinator will ensure your design gets executed, your wedding team has what they need, and is where they need to be so you can focus on being in the moment and enjoying your day.

To have a stress free hand-off you should budget for a Wedding Coordinator and start interviewing when you begin planning your wedding.

‘Til Next Tea Time! ✨✨

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