“My site comes with a coordinator already, I’m good!”
Let me tell you ladies - my biggest pet peeve is a venue who tried to push their onsite coordinator off as a wedding planner, because it is a big. fat. lie.
Don’t get me wrong, having a venue onsite coordinator is helpful to an extent - they can help get you extra trash cans for your reception and show you how to dim the lights in the reception hall. But let me let you in on a little secret - their main priority is keeping their venue in tip-top shape, not making sure the bride and groom are feeling 100% on their wedding day.
Now, an onsite coordinator is a great addition to your wedding day, as they understand the ins and outs of the venue itself. However, when it comes to the nitty gritty, you’re probably better off hiring an extra helping hand.
Many brides, including myself when I was planning my wedding, feel overjoyed when they book with a venue that comes with an onsite coordinator. They think “oh good! Now I don’t have to worry about who will set up my tables, tell me when to walk down the aisle and talk to my vendors.”
The problem is - that isn’t what the onsite coordinator’s job is.
WHAT!?
I know - you’re thinking, ‘No, I don’t really think that’s true, my onsite coordinator told me that they would be there all day to help with the venue.” And you’re right. They’re definitely there to help with the venue.
That’s because an onsite coordinator is the liaison between you and just the venue.
A day of coordinator that you have hired is the liaison between you and all of the vendors you have hired for the big day, including the venue. From confirming arrival and departure times, remaining balances/tips that need to be paid to creating a schedule for the night to ensure activities are moving swiftly and according to plan, a day of coordinator (like WxW) is there to be your #1 cheerleader, administrator, guide and counselor throughout the night. Basically, we aren’t there for just the day, we help plan and schedule at least 3 weeks before the big day!
“The onsite coordinator at our venue was great as a liaison before the event but I wanted someone who I knew was on my team for the big day, not the venue’s.” - WxW bride Kalie Pierce
When you book with a venue that comes with an onsite coordinator, ask these 5 questions to better understand how your onsite venue employee will be helping you:
Do you confirm with my vendors before the wedding day to ensure when they will arrive, depart, what services they are providing and how much to tip/pay them?
Will you help with creating a schedule for the wedding day and make sure that throughout the night we are staying on it?
If a vendor didn’t show up or was running late, how do you handle communicating and solving that with the bride?
Tell me about how you help with setup and tear down the day of the wedding.
Do you recommend that we use a day of coordinator to help with the flow of events?
Most likely the answer to these questions will be “We do not provide that service, but a wedding planner would be able to help you with those! Here’s a list of vendors we recommend.”
Be cautious of getting “happy ears” when a venue tells you that a coordinator is included, make sure you ask the above questions and see what the coordinators responsibilities actually include.
Once you do that, schedule a quick call with us to see how we can help from the moment you wake up to the moment the tables are torn down, chairs are stacked and trash is taken out!