Venue Coordinators Aren't Wedding Planners

Venue Coordinators Aren’t Wedding Planners

You might have heard this from your venue; “We have an in-house coordinator to take care of your planning needs” but really don’t know what that actually means. It’s a pretty vague statement that doesn’t really come with an outline, contract, or wedding planning support in a tangible form you can compare. To start Venue Coordinators aren’t Wedding Planners.

You might think you have all the help you need; they are after all giving you an outline of when they think your food should be served and they’re suggesting for when speeches should be.

From the outside that can be really confusing for you. Sure, they are giving you a baseline to work with, and yes, that is great, but you need to know that they are working on the things that relate to their venue only. They’re going to help you (or they should), in all the ways they can, associated with what happens in their space and what will affect their service timing. This would include things like when your vendors can install (they’ll let you know a time) and when you can start your dinner and how long it will last for.

If you’ve done any part of your wedding planning at all you will know – or let me tell you – that that doesn’t even scratch the surface of all the other details you need to consider for your wedding day itself (don’t even get me started in the months and year/s of planning leading up to it).

Ariana Tennyson

“We don’t need a Wedding Planner to help us plan, our venue does that”

We’ve heard this from couples before. I want to pause right here (take a sip of tea) and tell you that they likely don’t – Venue Coordinators aren’t Wedding Planners – and here’s why; they are taking care of your food, likely liquor, the tables, chairs and, their event-related setup.

Take a look at your contract, is there a fee on their for Wedding Planning? Is there a line item on your break down covering attending your floral meetings, cake tastings and, dress shopping with you? Is there anything that includes helping you create a realistic budget and helping you stick to that budget? Are their details outlining how they will walk you through family dynamics, how to create a well-flowing family photo list, when to get ready in the morning, how much time you need and, when to take breaks so the day doesn’t totally overwhelm you? (social anxiety is something we don’t take lightly and have honest conversations with our couples about and plan their days with their personalized needs flowing through)

Sugar & Soul Photography

A Venue Coordinator is just that a VENUE Coordinator.

They manage their house. We manage the whole block. We’re a part of every aspect of the planning you want us to be (our planning services are customizable). We don’t leave any wedding-related conversation un-had. We have planning meetings every month, we go to all the vendor meetings, tastings, design mockups, dress shopping too if you want. We keep track of the budget, your timeline and, work out a full master itinerary for all your vendors and all aspects of the day (this includes working with your MC on their script and all their timing and cues on the wedding day).

I could go on and on about everything that’s included in our Full Planning or even our Wedding Managment but those are already outlined in other posts and you can find more info here too. Either way, I feel like you’re likely getting the point. We’re very hands-on with you, we think and plan on all sides of your wedding. Nothing is left unplanned or thought through.

Pantel Photo

All-inclusive venues aren’t what you think they are

Let’s talk about those venues that have an all-inclusive package or are more hands-on than others. Some venues come with an all-inclusive option which we think can be a great fit for some couples; it really can include a lot of great vendors, options and, streamline your vendor selections, if that’s what you’re after. It can also be a nice budget savings (but do your math please).

All-inclusive can be great but don’t be mistaken it’s not like a resort with an endless buffet, liquor and, wonderful entertainment. Usually, all-inclusive means you get your food, liquor, maybe linens, a credit for a florist, cake designer, they might have in-house decor you can add on as rentals and, they’ll maybe give you some suggestions for photographers and videographers*. They’re still not doing any planning with you. They’re still not covering things outside their house. Your bills for those florists and cake designers might go through the venue, which is nice for you (less payment to fewer places), but you still need to design your cake, pick your colours, flower types, overall wedding design/theme and, go to all those meetings. The venue does not go and plan with you – Venue Coordinators aren’t Wedding Planners. Have you ever heard of a Venue Coordinator going to a floral consult with a couple? That’s because it’s not “a thing”.

*Here in the Manitoba market that generally how far as all-inclusive venue packages go. We can’t speak to other markets/cities/countries and how they run this sort of package.

Rachwal Photography

“Well Amanda I don’t need a Wedding Planner, just someone on the day”

Sure, let’s chat about that. There’s a big difference between a Full Wedding Planner and a Wedding Coordinator. There’s also a big difference between a Vendor Coordinator and a Wedding Coordinator or what a lot of people refer to as Day of or Month of Coordination. The best term for what we do is really Wedding Management.

Our Wedding Management looks like this: We take you right where you’re at and start planning and manging all wedding day related details. We start with a 2-hour itinerary meeting. There is A LOT that we go over, a lot of details we need to get from you. It’s false to think that we can just show up on your wedding day with a decor list you gave us and a one-page rough timeline you wrote up and take care of your day.

The ultimate goal of anything we do with clients is to take stress AWAY. That comes with years of practice and tweaking offerings. We’ve tried just “showing up” on the day with a phone meeting and some contracts emailed over ahead of time. That has always been a disaster. Not an experiment I ever want to try more then a couple of times (more than once really).

When we’re managing your day we’re digging into what’s important to you, what vibe do you want, how do you want your guests to feel. What are you the most concerned about? What’s something you feel will really stress you out? Are there any special needs or mobility issues we need to consider or accommodate? And these are just some of the personal questions we get into. I won’t list all the decor, timing, wedding party, MC and, surprise elements we get into.

Have you ever heard of a Vendor Coordinator asking you about your stress and how they can help? That’s because it’s not their job and, that’s ok! They have a big job, a big catering and venue set-up team they need to manage. They’re getting paid to do a big job on your wedding day, but they’re not getting paid to do our job – your Wedding Planner’s job. They will not be that support for you.

Venue Coordinators aren’t Wedding Planners

Victoria Anne Photography

We usually do this (2-hour meeting) 6 months before the wedding and then have another (2-hour) meeting 3 months before the wedding. On top of that we have constant email support, send to-do list emails and, have two support packages our clients get to help them through their planning (if you think the blog has a lot of content you should see these support packages; they are FULL of tools for our clients).

With Wedding Management, we really are supporting you where you’re at – whenever it is that you hire us – all the way through the wedding day. That help is there so you can ask whatever questions you want. You don’t have to tailor them or ask only this question to this vendor, or this question to the florist but then this one to the cake designer and, then you need to make sure that the install and set-up timing works with the venue, but then does that work for the linen company (??) because they wanted to be first. We do all of that for you. We have those conversations and I will add we work closely with your Venue Coordinator on these details.

We do have a little bit of overlap because we are managing all the vendors and that include the venue and following their rules and work with their staff too.

Lucky Girl Photography

Venue Coordinators are an important part of your team

Venue Coordinators are an important part of your team. They take care of some very important details of your wedding. We’re so very thankful for them, their effort and, we get to work with so many great ones out there.

This blog post is to show you the difference between what they do and what we do and to, most importantly, make sure you see and understand what you’re getting with your venue and what support you need.

I hate horrour stories in my industry. They can always be avoided, and this is a pravalant one; thinking you have the help but you truly do not.

Make sure you ask the right questions and reach out and meet with us (we’d love to chat!). Ask us what we do, don’t do and, we’ll chat about your venue and what we know they take care of and what they don’t.