(Photo: Nathaniel Thompson Photography)
Like every wedding planner out there, at Fresh LiME Events we are always asked what it is that we’ll do that that’s different from a bride’s on-site coordinator or catering manager. Um… A LOT! Nearly every wedding venue or caterer will tell you that they offer event coordination, but this is not the same thing as hiring an independent wedding planner to help you plan the biggest day of your life.
Don’t get me wrong, having an on-site coordinator is helpful, but you should not rely only on that person to make sure each and every aspect of your wedding comes together to make it fabulous.
The list below certainly isn’t exhaustive, but it’s a good starting place to understand where your on-site coordinator’s duties end and where a wedding consultant shines:
- Your Wedding Planner will oversee and coordinate all aspects and details that you want on your day. Whether that’s ensuring the bathroom caddy is in the right spot, to ensuring your dancing shoes are under your seat, we’ll make sure they’re there.
- Your Wedding Coordinator will triple and quadruple check with vendors what their arrival times are, what their set-up requirements are, and when they’ll break everything down. Your on-site coordinator won’t confirm any arrival times or requirements. They’ll assume you will have done it.
- Your Wedding Planner works for you and no one else. We’ll keep your best interests at heart and figure out plans B, C, D and E to make sure your vision happens, regardless of snafus. Your on-site coordinator ultimately works for the hotel or venue where you’re holding your reception, not you.
- For destination weddings, your Wedding Planner will creative travel itineraries, book travel and put together information on what guests can do in that particular location. We’ll also confirm travel reservations so you and your groom aren’t stranded. Your on-site coordinator, simply, won’t.
This isn’t meant to be doom and gloom about on-site coordinators, they can be very helpful, but we are not the same. There are real differences. And for a real-life story about what not hiring a wedding planner can lead to, check out this post on Inspired By This.
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