Why Every Wedding Needs A Planner
Now that you are engaged and planning your special day, you are likely putting together your budget. There are a few things that you MUST have like a wedding license and a location, but a wedding planner is often one of those vendors in the “if we can fit it in our budget” category.
This blog post is designed to educate you, and help you understand why every bride needs a planner or a coordinator.
For the most part, there are three types of venues that can host your reception.
The Reception Hall This covers all hotels, golf clubs, banquet facilities and everything in between. Essentially these places are the year round, brick and mortar locations that provide you with chairs, tables, catering and staff. These are often the venues where youthink that you don’t need a coordinator. If you are hosting your wedding at one of these facilities, you will likely have the least amount of out-sourced vendors. Some of these places may even have an on-site coordinator. Bonus, right? An on-site venue coordinator is so very different than a wedding coordinator. The on-site coordinator is working for the venue, not for you as a couple. They will also likely be responsible for multiple events, staffing or working a scheduled shift. You can’t call them to come in 5 hours before your wedding for a crisis. Hiring your own wedding coordinator will ensure that your vendors are organized, your wedding is running smoothly and on time, and your room looks exactly the way you want it to.
Still not sold on the external wedding coordinator? Here is a scenario where a coordinator could save the day. (This scenario is not written to make you presume your florist will ruin your wedding day. It is simply a scenario that could happen with any vendor.) It’s 10:00am on your wedding day and you are relaxing doing hair and make up. Your florist delivers to the venue and has 15 extra centerpieces. He/She doesn’t know where you want them set up, so they line them on the floor and move on to the next wedding. Your photographer arrives and does some detailed shots of the room. You arrive just prior to the reception taking place and guests arriving to discover that the wrong order has been delivered to you by the florist. There is no time to fix this error and the colors are clashing with all of your other decor. Wipe your tears and move on with the day, with constant reminders of how upset you are throughout your reception. If you had a coordinator, they likely attended your floral meeting, and know exactly what you ordered. They also know who you have hired, how to contact them, and how to correct this prior to your arrival. I am not suggesting you have hired vendors that are not credible, I am only letting you know that errors are human nature. Organization and preparation are the best forms of prevention.
The Tent Venue
This covers all venues that require multiple back up plans due to inclement weather such as barns, tents and open concept venues. Generally these types of venues require you to hire your own caterers, provide your own liquor license and in some cases rent furniture, washrooms or even bring your own drinking water. Other than the fact that you will easily have twice as many vendors than the previous category, you will also need to have a back up plan for almost everything. What if it snows the morning of your tent wedding reception? Do you have someone working for you to source out fire pits, portable heaters, etc…?
More often than not, you will need to set up the morning of the wedding in these types of venues. Are you going to be rolling into the venue prior to hair and make up to set up? It’s also important to note that you may simply be paying a venue rental fee and not actually have staff on site throughout the event. Will your vendors have a main point of contact on the wedding day?
Once again, you can never be too prepared. A coordinator will have checklists, scenarios and work flows for things you might not have thought of.
The Private Property Reception
The ultimate DIY wedding. Combine all of the other items previously mentioned and add even more vendors since you are likely now renting a dance floor, a tent, discovering new places guests can park, and so much more. There are so many logistics to think of when essentially setting up a wedding venue in your own back yard including but not limited to insurance, washroom facilities, permits, neighbors, clean up, yard maintenance, guest liability and back up plans.
Hire a pro, you will thank me later.
No matter when or where you get married, be sure to hire someone to help you. The day will fly by so fast, it’s so important to sit back, relax and enjoy it with the ones who attended. Wedding coordinators are not meant to replace existing vendors, simply compliment them.
Happy Planning – Tricia xoxox
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