Day of Wedding Coordinator vs. Wedding Planner
I started my event planning business in a middle of the pandemic with the intention to learn as I go. We all have to start somewhere, right? Right. In the spring of 2021 I was hired to be the day of coordinator for a wedding that summer.
Truthfully, I did not even know day of coordinators even existed. Before my client's consultation meeting, I did some hefty research on the difference between a wedding planner and a day of coordinator to prepare myself to be the best coordinator possible. With the season of engages coming up (and for those who are already wedding planning), I thought it would be great to share with you all the difference between a wedding planner verses a day of coordinator.
Let's start with the obvious, a wedding planning helps you from start to finish with the planning aspect. From day one they are your go to for finding vendors, helping with budgets, creating the vision of your dreams, setting up, making sure things run smoothly, etc. etc. Whereas a day of coordinator helps with set up, directing vendors where to go, making sure everyone in the bridal party sticks to schedule, handling every situation that gets thrown their way, tear down, and most importantly - making sure the bride/groom enjoys her special day with no stress.
The day of coordinator is only hired for a short period of time whereas the wedding planner is hired from start to finish. In lack of better words, it is financially beneficial to hire a day of coordinator rather than a full wedding planner. Some brides/grooms love the idea of planning their big day, they've been dreaming of it about it forever. They love the planning aspect of it but want to enjoy their special day without the stress of making sure everything is done on top of enjoying the moments of getting ready. That's when you look to a day of coordinator. But some brides/grooms hate planning and would much rather hire an event planner to handle all of the stress and organization of planning.
Another difference is when you meet with your planner verses a coordinator. The bride/groom meets with the wedding planner every few weeks for check-ins and updates. Whereas the day of coordinator works with you before your wedding to go over the venue, guests, the vendors you have hired, the vision you are trying to create, works with you to create a timeline for the day and oversees everything over the wedding day.
The coordinators are meant to be hired if you still want to play an active role in your wedding planning but want the day of pressures to be smoothed out by someone else.
However, there are a few things to keep in mind when deciding if you want to hire an event planner or a day of coordinator.
Hire ahead of time! I cannot stress this enough. The quicker you get quotes from either wedding planners or coordinators, the quicker you can hire someone to start relieving that stress from you
Consider the cost of a wedding planner and a coordinator. A wedding planner is a full-time hands on job, it will be more expensive to hire a wedding planner than a coordinator. However, the pro there is knowing you will get exactly what you paid for. Whereas a coordinator has less responsibilities than the actual wedding planner, so their pricing will be more flexible.
How involved do you want to be in your wedding planning? Before you even consider between hiring either a planner or a coordinator, ask yourself how involved you want to be in the process of planning your dream wedding. Do you want someone to handle all of the dirty work from start to finish? Or do you want to hire someone to coordinate the day of so you can have someone handle everything the day of to ensure you enjoy your day?
Regardless of which you decide to hire, making the choice to hire either or can help in the grand scheme of things. Which is truly beneficial. If you are interested in talking more about this, set up a consultation today to go over your options! I'd love to chat more about both of these roles so we can make sure your dream wedding comes true!
