7 Reasons Why You Need a Day of Wedding Coordinator

7 Reasons Why You Need a Day of Wedding Coordinator

Your wedding day is a few short months away! Your vendors are booked, your invitations went out, the menu is set and your playlist is finalized. You’ve spent countless hours planning and preparing to perfection. You did it!

Now - how do you make sure that what you have in your spreadsheet actually happens on your wedding day? What if it rains? What if the trolley you booked doesn’t show up to the hotel on time? What if the bartenders forget to put those customized swizzle sticks you ordered from Etsy in your signature cocktail? What if your crazy soon-to-be sister-in-law gets too drunk and starts making inappropriate comments like she did at Christmas?? Yikes.

When the what-ifs keep you up at night…

via GIPHY

You need a Day of Coordinator. Someone to manage your carefully planned fête with grace and efficiency. Sure, you could save a few bucks, skip this vendor and hope for the best, but why risk it? The peace of mind from having someone else in charge is absolutely priceless.

Here are 7 reasons why hiring An Event Less Ordinary to coordinate your day is essential to having a fun, flawless wedding day!  

1. Your Personal Advocate

via GIPHY

-The venue coordinator works for the venue. The catering coordinator works for the caterer. The photographer is busy…taking photos. A Day of Coordinator (or DOC) works just for you, advocating for what you want behind the scenes. 

-Sometimes vendors can disagree about how and when things should be done; it’s good to have a Day-of-Coordinator to call the shots on your behalf so you’re not constantly bombarded with questions throughout the day.

2. Preparation and Communication Prior to the Wedding

via GIPHY

-With An Event Less Ordinary’s DOC package, you get:

• At least a month and a half of professional wedding prep work, plus a knowledgeable ally. If you have ideas or logistical questions, ask us! 

• Guidance through the end of the planning process. We’ll make sure you’ve crossed every “T” and dotted every “I” when it comes to planning.

• Vendor communications: we’ll handle that! You can enjoy the special time in the days before your wedding with your family and friends. We’ll handle the rest. 

3. Vendor/People Management

via GIPHY

-A SCENARIO: 

“It’s time to cut the cake”, says the catering coordinator. You and your partner approach the cake, but wait! The DJ isn’t playing the cake-cutting song you specifically requested…and where is the photographer?? “Cousin Mike, put your drink down and go see if he’s in the bathroom,” you shout out while you stand awkwardly in front of your giant pastry. And gah, no one thought to make sure that your parents were in the room so they missed the moment too! This aggravating scenario would have been avoided if you had a Day of Coordinator to make sure all the players are in place before action is called.

-We love to be bossy, (i.e. get shit done). We know your WHOLE vision, not just one aspect of it, and will make sure everyone does what you want them to do to accomplish it.

4. Timeline Management

via GIPHY

-Sometimes a photographer will write up a timeline for you. Sometimes a catering coordinator will give you an BEO with service times and food and beverage details. These are very useful tools, but they’re separate documents that don’t talk to each other and do not encompass every tiny detail that needs to be accounted for. We work with you AND your other vendors to create an extensive, painstakingly detailed Master Timeline for your run of show. You’ll get one organized timeline that all of the vendors will have, not a hodgepodge of photography and catering timelines.

-To create this document, your AELO DOC will meet with you in person (or via Zoom if that’s not possible). Over coffee or drinks, we’ll ask you and your partner to talk through your vision and ask you lots of questions. We’ll then confirm details with your vendor team so that everyone is on the same page well in advance of the wedding day. An experienced coordinator has seen it all and knows how to plan in advance to ensure the best outcome.

5. Venue, Catering Managers Don’t Do What We Do

via GIPHY

-We love venue and catering coordinators and work really well with them as part of your vendor team. But they don’t do what we do. AELO is by your side throughout the wedding day. We don’t have to stop to answer the office phone or give tours when new prospective clients walk through the doors. We’re neither executing dinner nor filling the toilet paper in the bathrooms; we’re just there for you, beholden to no one but you and your needs. 

-And when the party is over we don’t just wrap up and head home. We will pack up your wedding stuff and drop it by your hotel room. We’ll wait outside to ensure the shuttle doesn’t leave without the last party goers (yourself included). We’ve got your back when you’re tired and tipsy and don’t want to think about clean up logistics.

6. When Things Go Wrong, We Will Fix Them

via GIPHY

-Our emergency wedding kits are filled with essential tools we’ve cultivated over the years. When someone spills on the groom’s crisp white shirt or your bridesmaids can’t quite seem to get your bustle right? You’re covered. Zip ties, scissors, glue gun, tampons—you name it, we’ve got it.

-We have the answers, and if we don’t, we will find them. With more than a decade of wedding experience, we’re familiar with things that go wrong and know how to fix them. We’ve put out literal and figurative fires all over Chicago.

-Best of all, we handle sticky situations quickly and discreetly so chances are if something does go wrong at your wedding, we will correct it right away. We won’t make a scene, and your guests have absolutely no idea anything unusual happened. 

7. So You Can Actually Enjoy Your Wedding

via GIPHY

-It’s your wedding day. Your only job is to get married and have fun! You don’t have to worry about all the little things–you’ve done the work, you’ve hired the vendors, we will take the stress off your shoulders.

-You may be a great planner, a type-A personality who is perfectly capable of running your own show, but why would you want to? The star of the musical does not stage manage the musical. Relax and enjoy the wedding day you’ve worked so hard to create.

Guest Post: COVID-19 Planning Stress

We are so pleased to introduce you to Megan Glenn! She has some great advice for dealing with the stress of planning during the pandemic. Thank you, Megan!

photo: Elizabeth Greve Photography

How to Deal with the Stresses of Wedding Planning in the Midst of COVID-19 Orders

Weddings are traditionally lavish events, staged by bride and groom with no expense spared. The industry is worth around $74 billion, and is one of the most reliable industries for surviving economic crises. After 9/11 and the recession of 2008, patrons learned to get creative with their event planning. They were flexible with less popular days of the week and more budget conscious. However, even though finances were initially less of an issue this go-round, it’s a waiting game that makes it challenging for both patrons and event planners.

 The coronavirus pandemic, COVID-19, has meant that thousands of couples across the world are having to postpone their big days. Stay-at-home orders and social distancing measures are in place across the USA and many other countries. Naturally, this prohibits weddings, since they typically consist of a large gathering of people.

 With celebrations temporarily on hold, couples are having to make the decision to either postpone or cancel their wedding plans entirely. Since planning a wedding can take the best part of a year, many couples have spent months on the process only to be thrown into uncertainty by COVID-19.

 Postponement is the natural option - most couples will still want to have their weddings once the pandemic is all over. This means that some degree of planning can remain intact for a later date. However, some couples are deciding not to wait at all. 

Continue Planning Your Wedding

 It is understandably stressful and upsetting if you have spent months planning your perfect wedding, only for it to have been put on hold indefinitely. The most important thing to remember at this time is that you will still be marrying the love of your life and it will still be a day you’ll never forget. Perhaps it will have to happen at an unfavorable time of year, or with fewer guests than you planned, but it will come to fruition, nonetheless.

Here are some of the things you should be doing right away:

●      Contact your wedding planner and/or venue manager. They will be able to offer you some comfort by relaying your options. By now, most venues will have COVID-19 strategies in place, and are receptive to a postponement.

●      Inform your guests of your change of plans. This might seem obvious to you, but people do have different levels of awareness about the extent of the COVID-19 pandemic. You might still have some family or friends who expect to attend your spring wedding - let them know that it has been postponed until a later date! Things get a little more complicated if your guests had to make long-distance travel plans for your wedding - try to give at least four months’ notice ahead of the postponed ceremony.

●      Try to build a relationship with your wedding planner. Exchange texts and emails during this difficult period, and they might be able to provide you with some wedding-related questionnaires and activities to think about while you are self-isolating.

●      Beware of wedding insurance policies. Some unscrupulous insurance companies are looking to avoid any COVID-19 related payouts by including clauses that circumvent any complications caused by the pandemic. So, before you take out any wedding insurance for your upcoming event, be sure that you won’t be fleeced later down the line. On the subject of insurance, CFAR (cancel for any reason) insurance could be a safe bet for couples with weddings or honeymoons planned abroad.

●      If you have your hearts set on your original wedding date, you can hold a local ceremony that adheres to social distancing and CDC guidelines. As long as you don’t mind foregoing an event with plenty of guests and close contact, you could look into the possibilities of holding a very small (or even virtual) wedding before mandates are lifted. 

Light At The End Of The Tunnel 

Since most people are working from home, connecting virtually, and online, there have been several digital resources made available. One resource is Reddit, that has a subreddit for wedding planning. Check out r/weddingplanning for countless threads and posts created by other people in your situation.

For the 125,000 subscribers to this particular subreddit, life has changed from a stream of wedding dress decisions to chaotic posts about the coronavirus. From terminally ill family members no longer able to attend a spring wedding, to stories of people losing vast amounts of money due to cancelled weddings, a supportive online community is more important than ever.

Fortunately, the moderators of this subreddit have separated coronavirus related posts into their own threads. This keeps other sections of the subreddit free for more positive chat about continuing with wedding plans, and looking forward to the happy day.

This is the ultimate message for couples which have had their wedding affected by COVID-19: Your wedding day still belongs to you and there are great alternatives to simply waiting for the pandemic to end.

Megan Glenn

I’m a freelance writer with extensive expertise in a plethora of subjects, including: home decor, business, lifestyle, and more. I’ve been writing professionally for over a decade, and have had the pleasure of working with incredible publishers over the years, including Discount Two-Way Radio.