Day-of wedding coordinators: the heroes of wedding days.
Or, at least they are in my book. ;)
If you’re unfamiliar with the term, a day-of wedding coordinator is someone who essentially runs and manages the wedding day – they deal with day-of logistics, including execution of the timeline, day-of coordination and communication with vendors, and basically making sure everything goes off without a hitch, and take a huge amount of pressure off of the bride, groom, and their friends and family so everyone can enjoy the day.
And truly, every single wedding I work that does have a wedding day-of coordinator runs so much smoother than those that do not. Today, I’d love to share a few reasons why you might want to consider hiring a day-of wedding coordinator.
You might want to hire a day-of wedding coordinator if….
1. You don’t want the pressure to fall on any of your friends and family members.
This is a HUGE one. When there is not a day-of coordinator, often times, last minute tasks, decisions, and questions can fall on your friends or family members. For my own wedding, we didn’t hire a day-of coordinator, and much of the responsibility for last minute details, decisions, and coordination fell on my mom (God bless her!). In hind sight, we both agreed that, if we could go back, we would 100% hire a day-of coordinator so she could’ve kicked back a bit more. Hindsight is 20/20!
2. You don’t want to have to give lots of instruction the day of your wedding (or, in other words, if you just want to enjoy the day and let someone else make some of the decisions!).
The bride is usually the head honcho of the day, and everyone wants to make sure she’s happy – so when there’s any sort of uncertainly about how something should be/go, whether it’s how the napkins should be folded, where the photo booth should be set up, or how/when to execute a rain plan, if there’s not a wedding coordinator, these decisions will fall on the bride. And – honestly – most of my brides just want to be able to enjoy their wedding day! Having someone else who knows all of the ins and outs of the wedding day and how things need to run (especially someone who’s a professional at running a wedding day!) can be a huge asset and take lots of weight off of the bride’s shoulders, without putting them on someone else’s who is there to simply celebrate the couple!
3. You don’t want to be the bridal party/family wrangler.
Whether it’s getting your bridal party lined up for the ceremony or getting your family together and ready to take family formals, a day-of coordinator will be the one who directs your loved ones to wherever they need to be whenever they need to be there. Let them be the one who tells your family that they can’t go to cocktail hour until they finish family formals! ;)
4. You don’t want to worry about executing a detailed timeline to make sure everything goes off without a hitch.
The truth is, weddings revolve around the wedding timeline – and every piece of the wedding day revolves around the ceremony! When wedding days don’t run on time, different parts of the day have a tendency to suffer. You might be more rushed, have less time for photos (which always makes me so sad for the couple!!), and just generally have less time to really enjoy different parts of the day. Plus, the last thing you’ll want to do on your wedding day is be the one telling everyone where they need to be and when – there are just too many moving parts, and you’ll probably just want to enjoy the day as it is! A day-of coordinator will do the timeline legwork and work to make sure all runs according to schedule so that all of your planning does not go to waste.
Even though day-of wedding coordinators are fantastic and help the day run infinitely smoother, some folks either don’t have the budget for a day-of coordinator, or just aren’t really interested in having one (maybe they have a smaller or simpler wedding). Regardless of why,
if you don’t want to hire a coordinator, here are some tips for helping your wedding run smoothly without a coordinator:
1. Send an emergency contact list and final wedding timeline to all of your vendors ahead of time.
An emergency contact list and final wedding timeline ensures that all vendors are on the same page regarding timing and communication, eliminating any discrepancies.
As a side note, I would recommend adding in addresses for any locations vendors will be traveling to the day of your wedding – not just names. When I was first getting started in the wedding world, I had a bride tell me the name of the hotel where she was getting ready without providing the address – and I didn’t ask for an address, because I thought I knew exactly where the hotel was! It turns out, there was a newer hotel with the same name across town that I didn’t know about, so I ended up showing up to the wrong hotel!
2. Put a bridesmaid or family member in charge of ALL day-of communication and question-answering.
Putting a bridesmaid or family member in charge of day-of communication (and communicating that in advance to all parties!), helps everyone! With this approach, the bride won’t be bombarded with questions as she focuses on preparing for the day. As a side note, I’ve been this person before in a number of weddings, and it truly does help the bride relax, knowing that there’s someone else who can answer questions when needed.
3. Put different friends/family members in charge of specific tasks.
There are lots of little details that can slip through the cracks on a wedding day when you don’t have a day-of coordinator. Who will line you up for the ceremony, and send your bridesmaids down the aisle in a timely manner? Who is going to add the last minute touches to your outdoor ceremony space? (Bows, flowers, etc.!). Who is going to hand out final wedding payments to your hair/makeup artists? I’d suggest breaking down the different, small tasks that need to happen the day of the wedding and spreading them out between different friends/family members. That way, no one has too much they need to remember and can focus on completing their one (or two!) specific tasks!
4. Go over the timeline for the day with your bridal party and family at the rehearsal dinner… and maybe even give everyone a copy of the timeline (or, at the very least send it to them so they can have it on their phone!)
One of the most frequent ways I see weddings fall behind is when members of the bridal party or family walk away when they’re needed for something (in my case, I see it a lot with the photography portion of the day!). You cannot over communicate where everyone needs to be on your wedding day and when enough! The easiest way to get everyone on the same page is to spend a few minutes at your rehearsal dinner giving people specific times for where they need to be – when they need to be dressed and ready to go for the ceremony, when everyone needs to line up for the ceremony, when the family formals will take place, when the bridal party photos will take place, and when everyone needs to line up to be announced into the reception are all great time points to communicate!
Whether you choose to hire a day-of coordinator or use a DIY method for coordinating your day, I hope these tips help you make the best choice for you and your loved ones! And if you’re someone who’s planned a wedding – what did you decide to do for your wedding day, and what would you recommend to others?
Happy planning!
