The Truth Behind “Day of Coordination”

What exactly is “Day of Coordination”?

We get many requests a month from Brides looking for professional help with just the day of their wedding. They want a professional to come in for a few hours, and make sure that everything runs smoothly. What most brides don’t know, is that there is much more to just “coming in to make sure things run smoothly”. I want to share with everyone, what “Day of Coordination” is really all about!

Truth is, there is no such thing as “Day of Coordination”.

Here’s the reason why…. Day of Coordination involves work such as: contacting all of the vendors that the bride has previously booked, looking over each vendor’s contract with them to see what all is included, re-confirming the services they will provide to the bride that day, finalizing details such as: menu selections with catering, selecting the cake flavors, confirming the floral, selecting those specific songs for the DJ, and much more! It also includes: mock set-ups of decor to make sure the bride is OK with set up, confirming details for the Rehearsal, confirming pick-up and drop-off times with transportation, creating a timeline of events to make sure the wedding day flows smoothly, distributing this timeline to every vendor involved, and meeting with the bride at least one time in person to go over all of these details

Please Note that this is all work that is done starting about a month prior to the wedding date…You heard right….one MONTH!

Moving on to the actual day of the wedding, work involves: being the first to arrive to the venue or where the bride may be getting ready, checking on the bride to make sure she is where she should be, at the time she should be there, helping her with anything she may need during the process, managing all vendors to make sure they arrive on time and are prepared with everything they need, help with set-up, handling any last minute problems that come up, coordinating the ceremony, making sure everyone in the party gets down the aisle with no problems, help transferring items from the Ceremony to the Reception, making sure the reception sticks to the timeline, help with tear-down, bringing gifts and decor to the bride or bride’s family vehicle, THEN….even after the wedding, there are tasks that we must follow up on for the bride! That adds up to quite a bit of hours of work put in for just “Day of” right?!

The problem with the word “Day of”.

We as planners/coordinators can not just show up to a pre-planned wedding and work, without knowing every one of those tiny, important details! This means, we have to do our own planning and research, to make sure the Bride’s wedding day goes just as planned! So “Day of Coordination” really should be called “Month of Coordination”. Same goes for other vendors such as photographers! They spend the whole day with the bride, then go home and spend hours upon hours, editing those photos to make them picture perfect! I get requests from time to time from Brides wanting to pay $25/hr. for a day of coordinator. That adds up to $200 for an 8 hour day. However, the reality is that is $200 for AT LEAST 25-30 hours of work. So we’re really getting about $6-$8/hr. for that $200.

*See even wedding planners need to use math!!

Thinking you don’t need a coordinator, because the venue has one built in?

Think again! A venue coordinator is much different than a wedding coordinator. While both jobs are extremely important, they are very different. If you’re looking for someone to be by your side throughout the day to help with last minute issues, that will likely not be your venue coordinator. They will be busy setting up your beautiful reception, and making sure the venue is prepared for the event. The venue coordinator will likely not be able to assist you with your dress if it tears, or find out where your photographer is if he or she is late. If you’re unsure about what tasks your venue coordinator will include with your package, I highly recommend to ask! The wedding coordinator and venue coordinators love to team up; it’s just that much more assurance that everything will be handled to perfection!!

You’d really like a “Day of Coordinator” but the budget is too tight to squeeze anymore?

A wedding isn’t just a celebration, it is a choreographed event. Think of a wedding the same as a show you go see on Broadway! The show has a set, music, lighting, a cast (all of which have cues to take), and a producer that runs the show! The wedding coordinator is the “producer” of the wedding; without one, it could get chaotic and end in catastrophe!

I say, contact a coordinator that you like, and set up a consultation! Don’t let the price tag scare you away. Go over your vision, and expectations from a coordinator. Most coordinators will do their best to come up with a package that may accommodate you, and still makes sense for them!

Why would you spend all of this money on a special celebration that comes once in a lifetime, and not hire a professional to make sure the event is executed just the way you planned?! A coordinator will do just that, so that all of your friends and family will be able to relax and enjoy this moment with you!

Please leave a comment below, and let us know you’re thoughts on hiring a Day of Coordinator!