The truth behind what venue coordinators and a day-of coordinators really do
Having worked as a venue coordinator for a large local catering company when I first started to get into wedding planning gave me so much insight as to what a venue coordinator actually does compared to a wedding planner or wedding coordinator (yes, there is a difference between wedding planner and wedding coordinator, I will create another post about, stay tuned!).
First of all, don't get me wrong, there are many venue coordinators out there that go above and beyond their job description and for that, I am truly thankful, but there are also many venue coordinators that stick to their job, this is not a bad thing and does not mean they wouldn't go above and beyond providing an amazing service for their clients and allowing them to have a great experience, it just means that they limit themselves to what their are there to do, which is take care of the venue first and food. That along is a lot to handle on a wedding day and venue coordinators should focus all of their energy and time towards making sure those two things are well taken care of.
A day-of coordinator is more than just that, in order to successfully run a wedding day, the coordinator needs to get involved at least two weeks prior to the wedding, in our case, we get involved one month prior to allow plenty of time to reach out to all of the vendors and work on the master timeline for the day as well as to finalize any unfinished details.
To better understand what a venue coordinator does vs. a day-of wedding coordinator, I've outlined below the basic duties for each:
VENUE COORDINATOR:
- Represents venue and/or catering
- Schedule tours and tasting
- Takes care of day-of venue emergencies (overflowing toilets, etc.)
- Oversees the set-up and break-down of catering items (tables, chairs, linens, service-ware)
- Catering and/or venue staff management
- Venue management
- Will reach out to vendors with the catering timeline from the moment the couple arrives to venue
- **Might** help coordinate ceremony processional/recessional
- **Might** help coordinate formalities during reception
- Usually leaves after dinner is served or after cake cutting
DAY-OF COORDINATOR:
- Represents couple
- Answer etiquette questions
- Make suggestions on formalities
- Coordination of all vendors involved prior to the wedding to agree on a master timeline for the day
- Set-up and break-down of couple's personal inventory (gift box, guest book, signage, extra decor pieces)
(including hair, makeup, photographers and videographers' arrivals, locations the couple might visit prior to arriving at venue (if doing a first look or other portraits at a location other than venue), finalizes shuttle itinerary, etc.)
- Places boutonnieres and corsages
- Coordinates ceremony processional/recessional
- Coordinates formalities during reception
- Assists vendors where/when needed
- Stays until the end (once couple and guests have left the venue)
VENUE COORDINATOR'S PRIORITIES:
1. Venue
2. Catering
3. Client
4. Vendors
DAY-OF COORDINATOR'S PRIORITIES:
1. Client
2. Guests
3. Catering and all vendors
4. Venue
No matter how big or small your event is, everyone can benefit from a day-of coordinator (and even better, a full wedding planner!).
Thank you so much for reading and happy planning!!
Cheers!
Andi
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