It is no secret that I am a huge advocate for hiring a Day of Coordinator. I have seen WAY too many horror stories of parents or wedding party getting stuck with all the grunt work or solving major issues that they weren't prepared to handle on your big day! Of course, they love you and will step up to the plate to make your day everything that you dreamed of... But wouldn't you rather enjoy your day with your closest people and leave the stressful parts up to a professional?
A wedding coordinator is an essential part of your day and handles all sort of things for you, including:
Point of contact for vendors on event date, ensures vendors follow venue rules, and provides direction to vendors.
Manage set-up and ensure all spaces are executed as designed.
Place and set-up guest book, place cards, programs, display tables, candles, etc.
Ensure ceremony space, officiant, readers, ushers, and wedding party are ready.
Runs and cues the ceremony timeline and processional.
Runs and cues the reception timeline including grand march, dinner, speeches, dances, etc.
Execute all client timelines.
Prepares all wedding gifts and decor to be loaded into vehicles.
Take down client decorations.
Ensure all guests leave the property on time.
Ensure special guest needs are met.
Troubleshoots all day of issues and adjusts as necessary to ensure a seamless day.
From start to finish, a wedding coordinator handles all sorts of behind the scenes things that you will hopefully never have to know about. However, any experienced coordinator will tell you that this needs to come with boundaries.
Now, boundaries do not mean that your coordinator is afraid of a little manual labor - but rather they are put in place to clearly communicate what we can and cannot do. Most coordinators have one person and maybe an assistant, so they clearly are not staffed to handle a whole wedding on their own. Below are a few common misconceptions of things people expect their coordinator to handle that are another vendors job!
Things a Day of Coordinator Does Not Handle For You:
Florals: Coordinators are not trained florists and do not arrange your florals or loose greens for you. However, placing arrangements on tables and moving them from the ceremony to reception are totally things your coordinator can tackle for you. Looking for a solution to this? Hire your florist to set them up, or ask your personal attendants to chip in!
Place Settings: While chargers, name cards, and party favors are totally expectable things to ask from your coordinator, things like plates, napkins, silverware, and water goblets are all things catering needs to set up. Your coordinator is not staffed to handle that kind of project. Here are two general "rules-of-thumb" when it comes to place settings.. First, if you touch your mouth to it - catering or bartending are the ones who need to handle it for licensing purposes. Second, if another vendor is providing it, they should also be the one to set it up.
Desserts: For food licensing purposes, your coordinator is not able to touch food or desserts. However, once the desserts are on a tray - most coordinators are happy to set these out for you! If you are looking for ways to get around this, chat with your caterer or baker about setting up your dessert table!
Loading vehicles: Some coordinators have different policies on this, however most will tell you that they will have everything packed up for you at the end of the night and then it is you (or perhaps some groomsmen's) responsibility to get it loaded into a vehicle. Speaking from personal experience, loading so much stuff into vehicles is a liability if decor or the vehicle is damaged.
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