Hey bride to be. Congratulations on your engagement, I just know how excited you are to start planning or maybe not so excited on the planning stages for several reasons, one being you just don’t know where to begin or you really have no spare time. I hear you.

Welcome to this exciting blog where I am so excited to talk about the difference between a wedding planner and a wedding coordinator and how many people can get confused on what each professional does and in the end kind of just roll them all into one! 

What Does a Wedding Planner Do?

Firstly, A WEDDING PLANNER, yes you have probably watched the film, the one with J-LO in (One of my fave films if I’m honest) and she looks amazing walking around with her clipboard and you think, wow is that it, that looks so easy and glamourous, far from it!  Planning maybe just your thing and I hug you on that because I love it too. If not or you may want to know more what goes into planning a wedding, here are just a few highlights that WE as wedding planners do to have a smooth planning wedding process. 

• Consultation at the beginning, getting to know you, your partner, your likes, dislikes, how you want your wedding to be, your ideas for your special day and a big one, YOUR WEDDING BUDGET, do you have one?
• If you wish to go ahead with the service, a contract is drawn up, both parties to sign and to make sure both parties have the same understanding and that you are happy with everything so far. 
• A deposit is required to secure your wedding date with your planner. This usually varies depending on the planner you hire (I usually ask for 20%.) and then you will receive a breakdown of when payments are due if they are spread across. This is also in your contract. 
• The work begins for the planner, and this starts with RESEARCH and more RESEARCH. A lot of time and effort goes into this, especially looking into the main elements of your wedding such as venue, ceremony, catering etc. Budgets, likes, dislikes, location etc must be taken into consideration. 
• Depending on what you have agreed with your planner in respect of communication between you both, is it via email, WhatsApp, phone calls etc to see if you want to know everything at every stage or to let the planner do a chunk of the work and then communicate to you.
• Booking show arounds can be done by the planner, communication with all vendors can go through the planner too.
• Communication, organisation, and time is key when planning a wedding, ensuring nothing is missed out.
• A wedding planner ensures all the admin (what we call is “wedmin”) is kept up to date and completed at each stage of the planning process.
• Communication between all parties that are included within the wedding if requested by the couple, i.e., to update the mother of the bride and groom, maid of honour etc.
• Communication with all suppliers and vendors included within the wedding, ensuring all parties have the same understanding as you and everyone is on the same page.
• Ensuring all deposits and payments are made on time from the couple to the suppliers.
• The planner needs to make sure everything on her/his checklist is ticked off in a timely manner.
• Everything the couple have asked the planner to do and to include needs to be done by the planner from the very beginning stages right through to the wedding day.
• Usually, couples will want the same wedding planner to coordinate on the day as this can be included within the package.

What Does a Wedding Coordinator Do?

What Which brings me to……. WEDDING DAY COORDINATOR. A wedding coordinator is usually hired just for the day of the wedding. Here are some highlights of what a coordinator does. 

• A phone call/consultation is done to get to know the couples needs and have a chat. 
• If the couple wish to hire the coordinator, a contract is drawn up by the coordinator and a deposit is usually requested to secure the date.

• Usually, a wedding coordinator will want to get to know your wedding and speak with your suppliers, venue etc to introduce themselves, just so everyone knows who the coordinator is and build a relationship. This is usually done at it’s earliest 8-10 weeks prior to the wedding but can be done no later than 4 weeks before the wedding. 
• Wedding coordinators then get to know your venue, have a look around and familiarise themselves.
• Couples will need to give an itinerary of what the wedding day looks like, times etc (they can help couples do this if needed)
• The coordinator will need to ensure all suppliers have a copy of this, so they know their time slot of where they need to be etc.
• On the wedding day, coordinators are the first to arrive at the venue and ensuring all suppliers, vendors etc are arriving on time and have everything they need. Coordinators need to make sure the correct items have arrived, i.e., the cake, florals etc.
• Wedding coordinators ensure the running of the wedding day goes smoothly, any hiccups or something doesn’t go right, the coordinator takes control of this and resolves it within minimum disruption.
• The coordinator ensures all guests are happy, the couple are happy, the wedding party are all happy, everything is running on time, food is coming out on time etc. 
• Coordinator to ensure everything is running on time or as close as to the itinerary that was set prior. 
• The coordinator will have an emergency kit day management on them which will include items such as hairspray, safety pins, deodorant, hair pins, comb etc. You never know when something is needed in an emergency. 
• The coordinator is the last to leave the venue, ensuring all guests have left safely, the couple are happy and nothing else they need or request from the coordinator. The coordinator needs to ensure all cleaning up is taken care of (they will know which staff will be doing this prior.)
• Any valuables, personal belongings left, the coordinator will make sure they are in a secure box and given to the married couple.
• The coordinator will leave the wedding venue when she/he is happy with everything, and all is good when they leave. 
• The coordinator will usually get in touch with the couple the next day (unless the couple are going straight on honeymoon, if so will be when they get back) to ensure they are happy with the service the coordinator gave. 
  

This is just a taster of what wedding planners do. If you would like further information or have questions about your wedding, feel free to get in Contact with myself at enquiries@timelessweddingsuk.co.uk I would love to hear from you.