When planning a wedding, the question often arises - is it necessary to attract help from the outside? Wedding organizer or wedding coordinator has long been a common service provider and is not a special extra in the wedding market. However, after receiving inquiries from brides and grooms-to-be, I realized that many people are still confused about the difference between a wedding coordinator and a wedding planner. Is it the same thing? Can they also conduct weddings? What are these people responsible for? 

Julia Pumpe

If I have already almost arranged the wedding - does it make sense to call? I offer to review together the functions of each professional, so that you can make a decision more easily - to attract such a person or not.

Wedding organizer

Wedding organizer or wedding planner - this is a person who solves all issues related to wedding planning. This is your wedding project manager. He is the producer, creative director and consultant of the event. It tends to be an agency or a self-employed person. Most often, the wedding planner plans the wedding from A to Z or joins at a later stage when the couple has already started doing something. In any case, he knows about all processes, controls all subcontractors, communicates with all parties - he is the chief conductor in the wedding orchestra, or the chef in the wedding kitchen in a figurative sense! So what are the functions of a wedding organizer:

Wedding planning : the wedding planner listens to the wishes of the couple and develops the wedding concept and scenario, budget and work schedule. He helps choose the venue, organizes meetings with service providers, concludes contracts. All basic matters are coordinated through him: design, menu, financial issues. You don't need to spend long hours on the Internet reading reviews of wedding leaders or photographers, you don't need to puzzle over technical solutions for the stage or look for the contacts of a particular singer. All this will be done by the wedding planner.

Creating a project team: the organizer helps you find all the people who will work at your wedding - from the makeup artist, the photographer, to the bus driver who will take the guests home. I always tell my clients that finding subcontractors is only 5% of the job.

Financial Management : The wedding planner is also your financial director and consultant. He creates a wedding budget, keeps track of expenses and gives advice on efficient use of resources, optimization of expenses if necessary.

Decorations, floristry and design:

In parallel with the development of the wedding concept, the organizer works on the creation of decorations ideas. This includes hiring decorators, florists and designers. Invitations and other printed matter, ceremony and dinner table decoration, bridal bouquet and other floral arrangements, textiles, candles, easels, signs... Oh, this list tends to consist of 100 items. A knowledgeable organizer will also ensure that the chosen dress fits into the visual concept, will recommend a wedding stylist.

Wedding scenario:

If decorations reflect the visual side of the wedding concept, then the scenario shows the content of the idea. The organizer develops the day's plan, then supplements the evening part with the activities of the evening manager. Think about what kind of entertainment should be included, what kind of artists would fit - some will do with live music, magicians, fire shows, fireworks, others - only a warm ceremony and dinner among the closest people. Venue, caterers and service staff:

Of course, the organizer also provides the venue, catering, bartender, confectioner services, as well as other service personnel - waiters, guest greeters. Communicates with the chef and banquet manager, arranges the tables, coordinates the menu, orders drinks and cake.

Technical support:

Another thing that couples rarely think about is technical support, or sound and lighting. Often the songs brought by the DJ are not enough, but bright blue lights make your party look like a school disco. The organizers know what the designations in the group raiders mean, what floodlights are needed for a hall of a certain size, and attract a technical person who will provide everything necessary.

Wedding coordination:

Of course, the wedding organizer also works on the wedding day - coordinates and controls all processes. He can also attract other wedding coordinators to help him. We will talk about the functions of the coordinator in the next section.

Wedding coordinator - your assistant on the wedding day

Unlike the organizer, the wedding coordinator works directly on the wedding day. His main task is to ensure that the wedding event runs smoothly and according to a pre-agreed, developed plan. He does not attract service providers, does not think of ideas or creative solutions. You can organize the wedding yourself and hire a wedding coordinator at the last minute.

The wedding coordinator will review the progress of the wedding, develop a plan for the day. It is very valuable if the wedding coordinator also works as an organizer on a daily basis, then he will be able to suggest better solutions in difficult moments, analyze the work done and point out weak points. Therefore, as a coordinator, I meet with the couple at least a month before the wedding, so that they still have time to improve something and change it if necessary.

It should be noted that the engaged coordinator is not responsible for the quality of the work of third parties - the wedding organizer or the couple themselves are responsible for this, if they planned the wedding independently. However, a professional coordinator will help resolve a crisis situation or recommend another service provider if there are concerns about the quality of work of a selected subcontractor.

Here are some of his duties:

Wedding Day Coordination : The wedding day coordinator sets the schedule, ensures that all events are on time, and coordinates service providers such as photographers, videographers, waiters, etc. Very often, the wedding coordinator also goes to the bride's place to follow the morning makeup, because it is important that the make-up artist arrives on time, the photographer does not get too excited during the photo session and the bride is ready at the agreed time.

In my experience, there were also cases when we drove with a couple to a photo session. Communication with guests: the wedding coordinator meets the guests, answers organizational questions about the event, helps with flowers, gifts, introduces the host of the evening if the guests have any questions about their speech or have prepared a surprise for the couple. Working with service providers: a week before the wedding or at another agreed time, as well as the day before, he contacts the service providers, makes sure that all the details of the wedding have been taken into account, the couple's requirements and that everyone is healthy and remembers everything.

Dealing with unexpected situations a: if any problems or unexpected situations arise during the wedding, the wedding coordinator reacts quickly and finds solutions, minimizing the couple's stress. What is not included in the coordinator and organizer services?

It is important to remember that the wedding coordinator and organizer is not the host of the evening.

They do not lead activities and mingling. They're not DJs either. Of course, we are very versatile people and we can call the start of dinner or put on a song if necessary, but this means that we have to take our attention away from our immediate duties. In general, this can lead to unnecessary haste and spoil the overall atmosphere.

In wedding forums, there are such personalities who position themselves as an organizer - wedding leader - DJ three in one or even four in one. I invite you to carefully evaluate such offers, remembering that everyone still has to do their job and, for example, emergency doctors are responsible for treatment, while drivers are responsible for quickly transporting the patient to the hospital. If the doctor also had to steer, it would hardly have a good outcome.

The exception is really small, family weddings with 10 to 15 guests, when the leader is not mandatory. In that case, the coordinator can also announce more important points - the beginning of the ceremony and dinner, the presentation of the wedding cake and provide basic information about the evening.

A wedding coordinator is also not a babysitter. If your wedding has small children and you want the parents to enjoy the evening, I recommend inviting an animator or a babysitter, the guests will thank you. This is especially important when the wedding takes place by the water or in another less safe environment for children.

How many coordinators are needed?

Everything depends very much on the scale and logistics of the wedding. If the ceremony and dinner take place in different places and the number of guests is around 50 people, 2 to 3 coordinators are needed for quality coordination. One coordinator can handle it if everything is in one place, the number of guests is around 20 and there are no different artists participating in the wedding.

If there are 80 to 100 guests at the wedding, there is a band, other shows, outdoor catering, the recommended number of coordinators is 4-6 people. One to two coordinators are responsible for the guests, one for catering, one works behind the scenes and meets all the artists, one is responsible for what is happening on the stage, in the hall, and one is as the main coordinator who is responsible for the whole process and communicates with the customer. However, events of this scale usually also have a wedding planner who already brings his own team.

Author of the article: Júlija Pumpe, wedding organizer and coordinator, Caramel Events Riga manager