The most common question we hear from potential clients is, why do we need a wedding planner when the venue already has one? A common misconception is that a venue coordinator = a wedding planner. Here are just a few reasons why you need both.
Reasons You Should Hire A Wedding Planner Even If Your Venue Has A Coordinator
- The Venue Coordinator works for the venue. A Wedding Planner works for you. The venue coordinator will focus on making sure venue operations and staff are running smoothly: for example, valet, bar service, cocktail hour, or dinner service. Your wedding planner will focus on you, your families, your bridal party and your third-party vendors!
- While venue coordinators and maitre d’s are AMAZING at taking care of all things venue related, they will not be present at other locations. ie: to help you get ready at your hotel, home or assisting with an offsite ceremony.
- A wedding planner is the liaison during the final month leading up to your wedding day and collaborates with vendors to create a detailed timeline. Because of our patented “Buffer Time”, the Senior Planners here at TWP&Co. use the motto “even when we’re late we’re on time.” Your venue will have a general timeline that begins once you arrive at the venue, but they will not put together a comprehensive timeline for the whole wedding day or weekend.
- Our wedding planners are reviewing contracts in the month leading up to the wedding day to ensure accuracy – for example, if your wedding day is Saturday, June 5th and the DJs contract says Friday, June 5th, when does the DJ think he’s coming? We confirm all of that for you!
- A wedding planner will problem solve vendor delays, guest issues, timeline hiccups, broken bustles, ripped pants, crying aunts, drunk groomsmen… you name it! Your mom’s heel breaks 10 minutes before the ceremony? Your planner is in her car running back to the hotel to grab a backup pair of shoes for her. (This has actually happened to us!)
At TWP&Co. We’re all about collaboration and partnership – not competition! When we’re part of the team, Venue Coordinators can focus on the true parts of their job which is handling their staff and kitchen, setting up your personal décor, as well as making sure every aspect of the venue is running smoothly. Our role is to allow them the opportunity to concentrate on their job, while we concentrate on you! Your bridal attendant may hold your bouquet and your train but won’t be involved in the details like your planner will!
In CA, everywhere from 5 star hotels down to DIY venues require wedding planners, whereas in NJ and the Northeast, many venues are still resistant to it. We’ve spent over 10 years creating a community and reputation for being a team player, and it shows in our connections and glowing recommendations from vendors and venues alike. This is not ego driven for us, it’s something we take great pride in!! We understand that when you collaborate you have to be kind, organized, and professional – how you communicate is how you create relationships, and these relationships will only be beneficial to all parties involved, including you!
One big misconception we hear often from couples – they think their sales coordinator will be at their event on wedding day. Typically, this is not the case. Depending on the venue, there will be a maitre’D or a day-of venue coordinator that the couple has never met before. If the salespeople are in attendance, it’s for a very short amount of time – mostly to say hello to the couple and wish them congratulations before heading out. When you also have TWP&Co., we work with you for a minimum of 30 days prior to the wedding, so you KNOW us! You have time to create a relationship with your Senior Planner, and they have time to create relationships with your vendors and venue team. This means you can rest easy knowing wedding day will run as smoothly as possible and nothing has fallen through the cracks.
We spoke with our friends Dominique and Megan, who make up the Special Events team at Battello in Jersey City, NJ, an award winning restaurant and wedding venue with spectacular views of the NYC skyline. Dominique and Megan filled us in on the differences between their role and a wedding planner, and why they feel everyone should have both!
From your vantage point, what is the difference (or differences) between your position and a wedding planner?
The biggest difference to us is that an on-site day of events coordinator is responsible for keeping the couple’s day of timeline on track, making sure vendors arrive when they are supposed to, handling all food/beverage services and of course the overall set up of the venue VS. a wedding planner which is more hands on throughout the planning process in being in touch with vendors leading up to the day and keeping the couple on track with all things prior to the arrival at the venue (hair/makeup, etc).
What is helpful to you and your staff about having TWP&Co. as a wedding planner? What do you think TWP & Co. does to stand out in the wedding planning world?
We both understand each other’s roles/responsibilities and are helpful to one another without being in each other’s way! Sometimes when there’s “too many cooks in the kitchen” it can be a bad thing but not when working with TWP & Co team! We genuinely all work well together and are aligned that at the end of the day, our most important goal is that the couple has the most perfect day ever!
At the end of the day, weddings are about spending time and creating memories with the people you love. When you have both a venue coordinator and a wedding planner, this guarantees that ALL aspects of your wedding day will be taken care of. Issues will inevitably pop up, but all the last-minute changes will be taken care of by a team dedicated to you, so you can focus solely on getting married and staying in the moment to enjoy your day!
