Wedding Planner vs Venue Coordinator…What’s the Difference?
If you’re engaged or planning a wedding, you’ve no doubt heard or read about at least one of these: wedding planner, venue coordinator, wedding coordinator, or venue host.
Many times, brides unknowingly talk about them interchangeably, without truly understanding their different roles and how each makes your special day run smoothly.
Wedding Planners and Venue Coordinators
For today, we’ll use the titles of wedding planner and venue coordinator. This will help keep them separate, but give you an idea about how both of these people play an important role in making everything come together for your celebration.
To give you information straight from the experts, we sat down with Paige, owner and wedding planner of Driftwood Point Events and Chelsea, Cider Mountain Wedding Venue’s own venue coordinator.
During the interview, Paige shared a great, easy-to-remember analogy of her role as a wedding planner vs the role of a venue coordinator. Think about it like this:
“A wedding planner is the best friend of the bride. The venue coordinator is the best friend of the venue.” The wedding planner is going to know all the details of your wedding celebration plan. They are there to ensure your vision comes to life!
Paige shared that instead of using the title ‘Wedding Planner’ or ‘Wedding Coordinator,’ she uses ‘Best Friend of the Bride’ as her title with clients since that’s an accurate picture of what she does! She takes care of all the personal details of the wedding day so you don’t have to stress — so you can enjoy your friends and family.
That’s what a great wedding planner will do.
At the same time, the venue coordinator plays a very important role as well. He or she is going to make sure the venue itself is beautiful and ready for your arrival and most venue coordinators provide set-up and takedown of chairs, tables, and arbor. The venue coordinator will also work with vendors for a very smooth set-up when they arrive on-site.
Chelsea shared that many times, she is coordinating more with the wedding planner, vendors, and the bride's immediate family or wedding party than she is with the bride. “I show food trucks where to park or escort Dj’s to the area they’ll set up in. And I love giving photographers ideas on great spots around the venue for different photo ops. My goal is to make everything seamless for the vendors.”
She has found that brides who have hired a wedding planner seem much less stressed, and spend more time with their bridesmaids and family before the ceremony.
Difference in roles
Here’s a quick, at-a-glance breakdown to see the differences of each of these roles. You’ll see that they work in conjunction together, each having specific duties leading up to and during your celebration.
Some brides mistakenly think the venue coordinator takes on roles that are reserved for a wedding planner or a specific person the bride has designated beforehand (like a family friend or non-immediate family member). For example, a bride might think that the venue coordinator will set the tables with place settings or decorate the chairs with items you bring.
However, these are details you’ll want someone you know personally to do or have hired to accomplish so that your vision for the day is reached.
No one wants to feel confused or frustrated on their wedding day! Being clear on the roles ahead of time ensures a smooth day for the bride that focuses on celebration rather than worrying about details.
Full Wedding Planning vs Day of Wedding Planner Coordination Services
Another aspect of hiring a wedding planner is deciding if you want full wedding planning services or Day Of wedding coordination services. Some brides might not be aware that many wedding planners offer a menu of services to meet needs and budgets.
Brides might think they only hire a wedding planner if they need help planning from start to finish. But that’s not true! Many companies offer Day Of Wedding coordination services.
What’s the difference? Again, our expert wedding planner gives a deeper understanding of the differences.
Full planning is for brides that fall into one of these categories:
Brides who are very busy and want to trust someone to take ideas and run with them.
Brides who are not sure about what they want and need guidance.
Brides who feel overwhelmed, or experience decision-fatigue even early on in the planning stages.
Full wedding planning would be great if you see yourself in one of these descriptions. Full planning usually involves an initial planning meeting to help focus and outline what needs to be accomplished, determine how much, if any the bride wants to be involved, and talking with the wedding planner about budget. After that, communication may be primarily through email until closer to the wedding when the bride and planner will meet again for updates.
But if you’re a bride that has already been planning — you know that Pinterest Board that is filled up, those mementos you’ve been saving over the years — yet don’t want to leave it up to family and friends to make everything run smoothly that day, then there is a different option for you.
Day Of wedding coordination would be a great option for you. You’ll talk with your wedding planner about the details you’ve already planned, including vendors you may have already booked, and put together a timeline/flow for your celebration.
With Day Of coordination, your wedding planner will be there on the day of your celebration to get guests to their seats on time, move you to cut the cake, cue the DJ to start the first dance — all those little details that can fall through the cracks if one person isn’t already specifically assigned to do it.
Similar to setting up, some brides think these kinds of details will be handled by the venue coordinator. However, the flow and timeline of your celebration isn’t part of their role and it’s a common misunderstanding that can leave brides disappointed or confused.
And we don’t want you to feel either of those!
Working Together
Wedding Planners and Venue Coordinators both work together to make your day fantastic; they each just have a very specific focus and role to make that happen.
More and more brides are finding that hiring a wedding planner is money well spent! Paige shared that her business has grown tremendously over the last 2 years. She hired another wedding planner to expand her availability and is offering internships for those wanting to get into the business.
Chelsea has also shared that within the last wedding season, she is seeing more and more brides bringing their wedding planner to the venue for tours. Plus, she’s noticed the weddings with brides who have hired a wedding planner, seem to have a greater overall feeling of celebration for the families. This makes sense because they aren’t having to worry about specific jobs to get done—family and friends can enjoy the event along with the other guests celebrating their loved ones.
Looking for a wedding planner?
Be sure to check out our Preferred Vendors page. We know there are lots of great planners out there, but these are wedding planners who have worked with Cider Mountain brides and will be able to make your weekend wedding the most fabulous and memory-making event you’ve been dreaming of!
