Hello one, Hello all!
Let's start with a quick Q&A:
Q. Do Coordinators only work on weekends?
A. Absolutely not! Sure, weekends are usually the event days, but we are working around the clock, accommodating to many clients and their schedules throughout the week.
Q. Do Coordinators just stand their with clipboards and look pretty during the wedding?
A. This we don't know, because we don't do that. At every wedding we do, guests see us working hard and pulling the entire evening together. But yes, we have clipboards. And walkies.
Q. Do Coordinators charge an arm and a leg?
A. We can't speak on behalf of other coordinators, but the answer to this question depends on how much you understand as far as the coordinator's scope of work, responsibility, and the value you are getting.
Q. Can a friend or family member coordinate a wedding?
A. No. You can try and cross your fingers that everything will be alright. If it's not, it will be too late to change your mind.
Q. Do couples have false promises from vendors and think the Coordinator can solve everything?
A. Yes. This is tricky because sometimes couples have so poorly planned the wedding that we can only salvage what we can come the wedding day. We are the closest thing to miracle workers, but the expectations need to be reasonable when we can't just entirely take over, for say, the caterer!
Moving on...
So, you have it all figured out. You have chosen your florist, your rentals are finalized, and you have one dress fitting left. All set, right?
Well, one question remains: Do you have a Day-of Coordinator(or as we at EFY call ourselves, Wedding Director)? And we are not referring to the coordinator provided by the banquet hall or hotel you will be married at (as it has been proven that they only take care of their portion of work such as the food or wait-staff, regardless of what they tell you).
What? You don't have a Wedding Director? Well, in that case, you are not so ready for the Big Day after all. You have spent endless hours outside of work and/or school to plan the wedding, but you have no one to make sure it ends up perfect?
'Well, Susan, it's an additional cost...a luxury service, if you will"
Is it? Is it a luxury item to make sure the wedding goes perfect?
Your Wedding Director is the one person on your behalf that will tie all the vendors together on the wedding day.
FACT: Your wedding is a production, no matter how big or small the guest count, and no matter how simple or detailed the events of the day are.
You may have the best vendors in town, or you may have cut corners with vendors to save some money here and there. Regardless, your Day-of Coordinator is the only vendor that is working and performing duties on your behalf. To execute it exactly as you planned. Your liaison for all aspects of the wedding and all the vendors involved.
We are your back-up florist, cake decorator, beverage provider, rental issue solver. Some have called us magicians. That we are not. However, we are the closest thing to it on the wedding day.
Between coordination of vendor load-in, inventory, ceremony and reception setup, there is much room for problems: shortage of rental items, incorrect colors/styles of rentals, late vendors, missing vendors, problems due to miscommunication between you and the vendor, seating problems due to wedding crashers or due to not accounting for some guests that RSVP'd yes. We have had cakes catch on fire, unsightly/incorrect cakes replaced. We have made bridesmaid bouquets ourselves, replaced the wrong vases brought by the florist. We have made beverage runs before and during the event (see photo below). We have done it all. We solve problems and trouble-shoot the entire time as part of our job. We are your insurance policy.There is nothing above us when it comes to getting the job done, including rolling up our sleeves and helping vendors physically do their job.
Not only is the set-up portion imperative to the success of the wedding, we are there to make sure you are on schedule. This is important to you, your guests, and vendors that have been hired on a time-frame. We catch you up as needed, without cutting out important parts of the day.
We are setting up, keeping schedule, greeting guests, managing cocktail hour, lining up for ceremony, managing the reception itinerary, and over-seeing tear down after the reception. Oh, and all your items are returned at the end of the evening, along with the gifts packed up in the designated car, or sent up to your hotel suite before you have the chance to ask!
There are also cultural weddings that have complex itineraries, several ceremonies, more than one cocktail hour, and hundreds of guests that we manage for you.
Our Day-of Coordination service is quite extensive and our involvement is hands on. We take over weeks before the wedding, crossing the t's and dotting the i's for you. Additionally, we are there for you during the planning process, as a resource to you.
BEWARE: The wedding day is not the day to have your Aunt Hilda or cousin Jen to coordinate. They are not experienced or equipped to solve the problems that may, and will, come up. Day-of Coordination is not just telling you when to cut the cake! This is not the day to take risks and assume that everyone will do their job perfectly and on time, and that a curve ball will not head in your direction. Even with the best vendors, things can happen. Unforseen things. Unappreciated things. Things we can handle for you. Also, let your family enjoy the day as guests.
In short, it's a shame when we hear of all the time and money a couple spends on a wedding that was ruined in one way or another, just because they didn't have a Wedding Director. Don't take that chance. Don't chalk it up to 'things happen on the wedding day' because things happen, yes, but it happens to us, not you or your guests. That's why we are there.
Don't be this:
Be this (one of our happy clients below):
With all the endless meetings and planning you have done, do yourself a favor and make sure to have the perfect wedding. You deserve it.
Lots of Love,
Susan
