Wedding planner or on-site venue coordinator?
It’s one of the questions we’re often asked by couples that are considering hiring a wedding planner. What is the difference between an independent wedding planner and a on-site venue coordinator?
What does a venue coordinator do?
Venue coordinators are exactly that. They are employed by the venue to coordinate your wedding. Depending on the venue, the person that you first meet when you look at the venue and discuss your plans, may be different to the person on your wedding day. It’s common for larger venues to have a sales team and an operational team. If it’s important to you to have one consistent contact throughout, we would suggest asking the question early on.
Venue coordinators may also suggest suppliers that they have worked with before, or are on their preferred supplier list… but they are not necessarily selecting the best suppliers for you. It’s true that venues have great contacts and they certainly will know what works well at their venue. But it’s not the same as someone designing your day. A wedding planner will handpick suppliers for you based on your couple style, personality and budget.
Over the years we’ve had the pleasure of working alongside many amazing venue coordinators that really know their stuff. We are also committed to working with venues to help train their venue coordinators, teaching them the both the planning basics and the latest trends.
If you’re hiring a venue that doesn’t have a coordinator, and are looking for On the Day Management, we offer that as a service too. Give us a call and we can chat through how we can help.
What does an independent wedding planner do?
A wedding planner is hired by you, and works for you, with your wedding as their priority.
There are a few options when it comes to hiring a wedding planner too. We offer four main services:
Full Planning
The most comprehensive option, perfect for couples that understand the overwhelming, stressful details involved in budgeting, designing and planning a wedding. We will gently guide you every step of the planning process; from helping you collate your ideas and create your vision, right through to the seamless execution on the day.
On the Day Management
The perfect option for couples that have planned their wedding, but would like someone they can trust to manage their day. On the day we oversee the set up and manage your suppliers, as well as coordinate your friends and family, ensuring everything and everyone is in the right place at the right time. Allowing you to focus on each other and your guests.
First Steps and Set Up
This option works well for couples that would like to tap into the skills, expertise and contacts that a wedding planner has, but wish to organise their day themselves. With so much to do to plan a wedding it can be overwhelming to know where to start. We will help you with your early stage planning, assisting with your venue search, key suppliers, budgeting and timeline. We’ll provide you with checklists and planning tools to guide you through the process and be on hand to offer advice. We then catch up 6-8 weeks before your wedding to discuss all the details, and I’ll be there on the day to oversee set up, manage your suppliers and timeline.
Partial Planning
Designed for couples that have booked and contracted their venue and some of their main suppliers but would like to bring in a professional to assist with the remainder of the planning. At our handover meeting we’ll review the suppliers you have on board and establish what tasks remain, then we’ll set to work completing your vision and bringing it to life.
In addition we also offer a consultancy service for couples looking for advice and guidance.
You can be safe in the knowledge that as a professional and experienced wedding planners we have everything under control.
We love talking about all things wedding and would love to hear your story. Get in touch today, and we can arrange a free consultation, I’ll bring the tea and cake (or wine and cheese).