Venue: The Vault | Photography: Carrie Wildes Photography
Let’s talk about your day to day life. Generally speaking, you typically wake up, go to work, commute home to make dinner and try to relax for a few precious hours before starting it all over again the next day. Now let’s throw planning your wedding into the mix. Doing simple tasks such as finding the perfect venue, reaching out to vendors for pricing, AND figuring out how to execute it all while keeping your head on straight. Seems like a lot, right?
One of the biggest suggestions that Event Design can recommend to any newly engaged couple (or ones who have come to realize that they’re in over their heads) is to hire a wedding planner! These professionals are experts when it comes to figuring out the nitty gritty and are there on your wedding day to make sure everything runs to plan. You may be rolling your eyes and thinking to yourself “but my venue already includes someone to be there day of” which is probably true, but are they really wedding planners? Nine out of ten times the answer is no. Though these individuals are experts at their job, assisting you with your wedding isn’t their sole priority.
Still unsure if you should really take the plunge of investing in a planner rather than doing it yourself? Our good friend, Lauren, from MDP Events has been a planner for over ten years and has broken down four reasons why you NEED a planner and four reasons why the person you’re working with at your venue is NOT one!
Wedding Planning Process
Wedding Planners are with you throughout the entire process and are able to assist the couple with staying within their budget. They are able to offer advice, design guidance, and referrals with vendors who they work with frequently.
Wedding Planners Understand the Vision
After countless hours of communication between both you and your fiancé, planners have a knack for knowing your ideal vision. This allows them to make sure that the day looks not only cohesive and seamless, but exactly what you envisioned.
Wedding Planners Provide Constant Support
Planners are there to support the couple every step of the way. They have the ability to properly organize everything by creating timelines as well as scheduling vendor deliveries.
Wedding Planners Take Care of Personal Items
Wedding Planners are there to set up and tear down all of the couple’s personal items including photographs, escort cards, and custom details that will enhance the atmosphere of the space.
Venue Coordinators are Catering Sales Managers
Unlike Wedding Planners, the Venue Coordinator is an employee of the hotel/venue. They aren’t hired directly by the couple for all of their wants and needs. This means that if something were to happen elsewhere on the property, the Coordinator could be pulled away from your wedding to handle a different situation.
Venue Coordinators Have Other Responsibilities
Along with being responsible for the venue’s day to day actions, Venue Coordinators have to worry about other events happening on the same day, run and manage AV (if it’s provided), room blocks for other upcoming events, and so much more!
Venue Coordinators Don’t Stay for the Entire Time
Most likely after the food is served and the cake is cut, Venue Coordinators leave for the day while the remainder of the wedding finishes up. Of course, the venue’s banquet staff will be there for any dire situation but you will no longer have the ability to speak to the person that you’ve been working with for months prior.
Venue Coordinators Handle More Than Just What Meets the Eye
Venue Coordinators assist with room layout, providing helpful information about the venue including in-house items, recommended vendors, processing invoices, and occasionally managing catering needs. This job title takes care of the mechanics of running the venue’s operations smoothly and your wedding is not necessarily their prime focus.
Although at times Wedding Planners and Venue Coordinators have similar responsibilities, at the end of the day hiring your own planner will help ensure that everything will run accordingly to YOUR means. While a planner can be an investment, Event Design cannot stress enough how much easier having one will make your life in the long run!