Brides this may be one of the most important blogs you ever read, I say this because if you are currently in the midst of planning your wedding and you have a venue coordinator- you need things to be clarified. There are some fundamental distinctions between a wedding planner and a venue coordinator and if you don’t know the differences, you won’t understand what their responsibilities are.

The Wedding Planner

As a wedding planner, our sole purpose is to make your entire wedding day runs as perfectly as you could ever dream of. Planners are also very flexible in terms of the services they provide and will happily customize a package that suits your needs. We do everything from helping you develop a theme and color scheme, to meetings vendors and keeping track of payments. Planners also walk you through creating your budget and timelines step by step if you require it. We have back up plans, lists of suppliers, we know to keep Uncle Sam away from your MOH, and will feed the best man his speech behind the scenes. On the day of, we are there before the first vendor arrives, oversee the complete set up, catering and we know the wedding day schedule backwards. We are there for the ceremony, pictures, has the emergency kit, arrange the dinner seating plan and leaves after the last vendor has tore down. Essentially planners will hold your hand from the moment you are engaged until we put you, your bridal party and the three empty tequila bottles in a limo and send you to the hotel. We might even express post the high heels you kicked off in the bathroom earlier that night because your feet hurt too much rocking out to Bruno Mars!

The Venue Coordinator

A venue coordinator is not, I repeat is NOT a wedding planner. Think of it this way, they are like any other vendor you have hired for that day. So if you have a florist that is scheduled to deliver the flowers for the tables at 2pm that afternoon, they deliver them, give you a receipt and leave. That’s it. The venue coordinator is your point of contact for anything to do with the venue, period. You want to add candles; you ask the coordinator if you are permitted to have open flame on your tables. If you need to have the venue re-swept because it wasn’t done properly, you page the venue coordinator. They will provide you with packages the venue offers with regards to renting it and have your payment receipts for the venue. They will have a list of the furniture you need, make sure the venue is ready for your set up team and help you find supplies for the washroom and other things like that. They do not plan your wedding; they don’t have your supplier lists, tide sticks, day of timeline or help you set up your centerpieces. A venue coordinator is specifically for the venue only!

It’s is crucial that brides understand and can distinguish between these two individuals. Without understanding those differences you might end up with misplaced expectations and in need of help. Many brides make the mistake of not hiring a planner because they think their venue coordinator is the same thing. If you decide not to hire a planner that is fine, just know that it means you will be planning your own wedding.