What Does A Wedding Coordinator Do?

I actually get this question a lot. “What does a wedding coordinator do?”

While I can’t exactly speak for all the coordinators across the world, but I can shine some light on what I do for my clients that you may not think about whenever you first consider a coordinator or you hear that your venue requires one.

Preparation

The first steps start when we get together for a consultation. We will walk through where you are in your planning process, see where you feel the most concerned, and what hasn’t been addressed yet. This will give you a chance to see if we’re a good match and also get a grasp of where you are in the process. There are a lot of moving parts when planning a wedding and sometimes it helps to have a review with someone who’s been through it before to make sure everything is going well and where needs the most attention moving forward.

The agenda

A month or two before the wedding, we will get together to put together an agenda. This is where we will walk through step by step each and every event of the wedding. This will be provided to your vendors to help them understand their role and what all they may be able to do to help. In this session, we will put together – not only a rundown of the event – but also the setup, breakdown, and responsibilities of each person. When we walk away, we will all have a greater understanding of what’s left to be done and what details may conflict that we still need to work out. For most couples, it’s the first time that all the logistics have been compiled into one place rather than in the various systems for each vendor.

Example: We told the caterer to start service at 6 and the first dance at 6:30, but that won’t be enough time to serve all the guests. We will work through adjusting that to accommodate all the guests and have a more accurate time for the first dance.

The home stretch

The home stretch includes the last 2-3 weeks before the wedding. This is where you get to hand over the reigns. I will start taking over communication and reach out to each vendor. We will have a one on one discussion to make sure that everything matches our plans. I will also review their ideas to utilize their experience and exchange as much information as possible. A lot of details change from booking to the wedding date and we want to make sure that your vendors all have the latest information and a rundown of the evening. We will review all the details, get delivery times, review assignments and needs to make sure that every detail is accounted for.

The rehearsal

Okay, so now we’re ready to practice the details! I’ll help run the rehearsal, make special announcements, answer questions and more so everyone knows what they need to do and where they need to be (and at what time). We’ll review last minute questions and details and prepare for the next day.