Hiring a Professional Wedding Planner When You Already Have A On-Site Coordinator | Wedding Vendor Wednesday | Denver Wedding Photographer

After working with Jessica McTaggart from Pink Champagne Events a few times I asked her a question I’m sure she gets often. Why is it beneficial for bride to hire a planner when they already have a on-site coordinator? She was nice enough to write up this blog posts for all brides to be 🙂

As a planning bride it can be hard to understand why you need a professional wedding coordinator when you have an on-site event manager.  To be honest, it is best when you can have BOTH!  But…while they have several overlapping duties and responsibilities, it is for the tasks outside of that realm where a wedding coordinator is of true importance.   Below are lists that contain duties performed by a venue’s on-site coordinator(s) and those performed by a professional wedding coordinator(s).

On-site coordinator – Represents VENUE

• Advice from past experience with weddings at their specific venue
• Recommending preferred vendors (generally limited to those they work with regularly)
• Arranging food tastings and menu  planning with on-site caterer (when applicable)
• VENUE cost proposal based on your wedding size and budget
• Reserving ballroom/meeting space on your behalf and hotel rooms (if at hotel)
• Payment and deposit schedule explanations
• Overseeing wedding day set-up and break-down at their venue ONLY
• Occasionally a sounding board for your ideas relative to the venue
• Wedding day timeline for events at the venue ONLY
• Floor Plan creation
• Present at the rehearsal, in some cases
• Point of contact for VENUE related issues only

 

Professional Wedding Coordinator/Planner/Designer – Represents YOU

• Advice from past experience with weddings at your specific venue and all weddings in general
• Vendor recommendations based on your budget and personal styles
• Arranging food tastings and menu planning with any/all caterers you’re interested in
• OVERALL WEDDING cost proposal based on your wedding size and budget
• Reserving ballroom/meeting space and guest hotel rooms regardless of which venue you select
• Assistance with design and décor concept development
• Available as a sound board for ideas
• Source of etiquette and traditional information
• Coordinating and orchestrating your rehearsal
• ALL vendor procurements, including contract negotiations
• Overseeing ALL vendors leading up to and on the wedding day
• Working with you to create a floor plan, as well as assistance with guest seating arrangements/charts, etc…
• Present to coordinate at your ceremony AND reception
• Participation in any décor/design assistance at both ceremony AND reception venues
• Wedding day timeline for events during the ENTIRE DAY, not just at the venue
• Recording of ALL vendor payments and deposits made, along with those due at a later date
• Single point of contact for ALL vendors on the wedding day
• Arranges transportation from hotel to venue and vice versa
• Available for on-going phone calls, emails and in-person vendor meetings, if necessary
• Distributes vendor gratuities at the end of the evening
• Returns all rental items

 

While the list of responsibilities for the professional wedding coordinator’s job is limited to those most important, you can see that they cover far more with regard to your wedding day coordination than the venue’s on-site manager.  Ultimately, the final decision rests with how comfortable you are in leaving the coordination of the ENTIRE DAY in the hands of someone representing the VENUE.

 

To finish this post here are some photos of Jessica’s handy work.