Wedding Planner/Designer/Coordinator.… is there a difference? Part 2

After last weeks post I know you’re all straight on the differences between a Wedding Planner and a Wedding Designer right? This week we’re going to take on Wedding Coordinators and onsite Venue Coordinators/Event Managers and clarify those for you… I hope!
A day of Wedding Coordinator is generally not very involved with planning the wedding. The wedding coordinator is on site on the day of the wedding and helps to facilitate a smooth running event, making sure everything is coming together according to plan; that’s what their primary function is. They’re often hired a month, more or less, before the wedding to finalize last minute details, confirm vendor obligations, create a timeline, and oversee the set-up of the decor. Many wedding planners offer or include day of wedding coordination services to their clients as part of their overall service package, however you should know that wedding coordinators/day-of-coordinators are very different from wedding planners or wedding designers. Their responsibility for anything going wrong, or turning out brilliantly for that matter, can be limited, as for the most part they are there to oversee the plans that were made by somebody else. A wedding coordinator should also not be confused with a Venue Coordinator.

An onsite Venue Coordinator or Event Manager is hired by the venue, a hotel/resort for example, to ensure your wedding follows the rules and regulations of the space. They’ll look after coordinating your menu, supervise the set up of tables, chairs, china etc., make sure your bouquet gets to you and the staff puts the floral centerpieces on the tables, but may not be of any assistance when it comes to personalized details, décor or custom items that you want to include.  They also may be of little help when it comes to creating and executing your timeline; cueing you down the aisle; making sure the violinists are there and playing your processional music at the right time; readying you for the speeches, announcing your first dance or the cake cutting; and carrying out all the various other important moments of the day. Most significantly, a venue coordinator works for the venue; their job is to answer your questions about the venue and assist you with your venue layout. Their focus is to get the best revenue for the venue using items and resources owned by the venue and their job does not necessarily include all the other details that go into planning your wedding. Some venues can have more than one reception going on, very often at the same time and cannot allocate to you the personalized service you were expecting; and although on-site coordinators may be good at what they do and know what works well in the space, their capabilities can often be stretched out to cover many other responsibilities and job duties, besides just weddings… which can lead to frustrating communications and experiences, especially in a far off destination scenario.
If you want someone who will cue your bridal party, bustle your dress, set-up decor, let you know it’s time for the first dance and the cake cutting and announce it to your guests or assist with the hundred other details at a wedding, my suggestion would be that you hire a wedding professional not associated with your venue. They’ll work side-by-side with the venue coordinator to ensure everything and everyone flows smoothly and that everything you wanted has been looked after and done.

An independent Wedding Planner, Designer or Coordinator’s loyalty lies with you! A great wedding professional handles your stress, “talks you down” and in the process, makes you feel that everything is perfect, will be perfect or is going along perfectly, even (and most importantly) when it isn’t. They are there to fix what’s not working, what didn’t happen, what didn’t arrive and/or come up with solutions to make it all better…one way or another… so on the day of your wedding you can relax and enjoy your family and friends and the wonderful celebration you’ve created for yourselves and your loved ones! Planning a wedding can become extremely emotional and stressful; here is where an experienced wedding professional wears many hats!  They are your mediator, your stylist, your sounding board, your source for ideas and inspiration or simply a shoulder to cry on, happy or sad! So, when thinking about hiring a wedding planner, designer, coordinator or a 3 for 1 combo like we are here at Weddings Vallarta by Barbara, it’s important to get a good grasp on what your needs and desires are so you can focus on finding the right wedding professional to help you create the wedding you’ve dreaming of.

Happy Planning!

**Photos courtesy of Josef Kandoll W. Photography

Wedding Planner/Designer/Coordinator.… is there a difference? Part 1

Sooo… you’re hunting around for the right person to help you plan and create the wedding you’ve been dreaming of! You’ve visited countless websites of fabulous wedding professionals and now have the words “wedding planner, wedding designer and wedding coordinator” emblazoned on your mind…. But what’s the difference?? Is there a difference?? Does it matter?? YES, it sure does!!

Here at Weddings Vallarta by Barbara we tout ourselves as being the full service deal. We plan, design and coordinate your wedding or event, from start to finish….we do all three. Not all wedding professionals do however and it can get a little confusing, especially to the recently engaged couple who have just realized that there is an entire vocabulary of wedding-speak out there that they need to learn.
I often hear couples and people in general confuse and interchange the terms wedding planner, designer and coordinator. I totally understand the confusion, but there is a difference… a big one actually! I’m going to try and clarify it for you in this 2 part series so read on…. A planner is generally a coordinator as well, but a coordinator is not always a planner. A planner can be a designer too, but don’t take that as a given; and a designer is not always a planner or a coordinator, but can be.  Some of us wear all three hats and some only one. More confused?
Although many wedding professionals are a combination of the three, many are not. Each area is different and includes specific duties and responsibilities when it comes to the wedding services provided. I’m going to outline the differences for you, so you know what to look for on your quest for a wedding professional.
A Wedding Planner is a seasoned professional who can confidently plan and guide you through the entire wedding planning process from start to finish. All the logistical elements (florist, baker, officiate, DJ, caterer, venue, musicians, rentals, etc.) you need for your big day are sourced, presented, procured and planned for you by the wedding planner. The planner is involved from the very beginning of the planning process; they have ideas, provide inspiration and are educated in everything wedding.

In the case of many destination wedding planners (like us here in Puerto Vallarta), the tendency is to offer complete planning services rather than partial planning or just day of services. It just makes more sense that you would hire the planner planning your wedding in a far off exotic destination to do everything for you as you probably won’t be flying in and out doing some of the legwork yourself. That being said, whether you hire a wedding planner in your home town to plan your home town wedding or a destination wedding planner for your tropical wedding in Puerto Vallarta, the goal of the planner is to help the bride and groom have the best wedding experience possible!
A wedding planner, and I am speaking from a destination wedding planners perspective, will assist with keeping you within your budget; source venues and assist in the selection; express your needs and vision to all the vendors/suppliers and coordinate/communicate between the two of you, maybe even manage their payments for you; work with the catering company and help with the menu selection and coordination; put together a wedding day timeline; help with the seating arrangements; help arrange pre and post wedding day events; keep you calm and focused…and more! They are your go to on everything wedding related and a shoulder to lean on for etiquette, advise and if you’re “freaking out”. As well, a wedding planner will coordinate the day of flow and is the go to person for mom, dad, uncle Bill, best friend from high school, grooms dad’s new wife… absolutely anyone… with questions, comments, needs or concerns, so they don’t bother you. They have planned everything from start to finish and know what is going on every minute and how the couple wants their big day to unfold.

A Wedding Designer is responsible for the overall visual aesthetic of the wedding. Designers think in terms of ~ look and style of the wedding ~ décor and details ~ vintage, contemporary, theme, rustic… and the list goes on. They take the vision the couple has for their wedding and help to conceptualize it through the wedding design and decor elements; ideally running that concept through all the “details” and visual elements. Colors, textures, florals, materials, lighting, props, furniture, etc., they design, create and work in conjunction with the florist, lighting technicians, baker, caterer, rental companies, and so on, to install all the extras the couple desired to take their wedding from “cookie cutter” to “uniquely theirs”. A wedding designer adds the style and creates the look and feel of the event.

I think that’s about it for this session, I don’t want to confuse the already confusing any further.

Now that you know what the realms of responsibilities are for a Wedding Planner and a Wedding Designer, which one do you think fits in with what you’re looking for?  Planner?… Designer?… Both?… Not sure??

Maybe you want to wait until next week when I break down the difference between a Wedding Coordinator and an onsite Venue Coordinator/Event Manager.
Have a great week!!