5 Reasons to Hire a Wedding
Coordinator
Someone To Have Your Back
Wedding days are full of love, joy, and happiness. They are days that are etched into our memories that are difficult to forget because of how much they mean. When I see one of my clients frustrated with vendors due to miscommunication or disrespect, there is no end to how much that peeves me. Because while these days should be filled with love, joy, and happiness, stress can creep in and cause the day to go awry quickly and leave bad memories where they shouldn’t be. This is where a wedding coordinator comes in handy. This is where the need for their expertise comes to the rescue.
Table of Contents
Creating A Timeline and Sticking to It
When I got married, my sister, who was a photographer at the time, called me frantically a couple nights before asking me if there were any plans to make a timeline. She then started asking me questions about various times photos were going to be taken, when we were getting ready, what time the ceremony was and so on. This is one of the many things that a wedding coordinator does for you and why they are so valuable. From the research that I have done, the work that a wedding coordinator does for you ranges from anywhere from 30 days to a week out from your wedding. Depending on the services they provide, you will receive help on creating a timeline to keep your day organized and make sure that disasters are avoided. It is the job of your wedding coordinator to make sure that your day is ran smoothly.
Vendor Coordination
I take pride in the fact that I rarely run late when it comes to taking photos. I find it very disrespectful to a client if a vendor is running behind from unprofessionalism. And in my opinion, there is nothing more unprofessional than not sticking to the timeline when it can be avoided. Here is a case study of what can and has gone wrong with and without a wedding coordinator.
Wedding A
One of the only times I fell behind was because something in the timeline changed 10 minutes prior to the change. The wedding coordinator facilitated the change and helped us all stay on track. When I started falling behind, the wedding coordinator let me know that time was getting short and that I needed to wrap up what I was doing because we needed to get onto the next thing.
Wedding B
I have found that there are only two reasons why a timeline usually falls behind, hair and makeup (I count those as one) and traveling. Depending on the package that is purchase from my business, I will either show up during, or just towards the end of the bride finishing up with hair and makeup. If hair and makeup fall behind, photos will inevitably suffer because of this. We come to this wedding that I photographed. This was a New Years Eve wedding and they wanted me to be there late because of the new year. So I got there at 3, with the ceremony at 5. Given the fact that they weren’t planning on doing a first look I didn’t think too much about the getting ready photos. I could do it all in 2 hours. I however made it a point to make sure that everyone knew to be almost finished by the time that I got there so that I could photograph the bride and groom accordingly. When I got there, only 3 of the 6 bridal party members were finished with their hair and makeup. A wedding coordinator will help prevent the loss of time and keep everyone on track to make sure your wedding progresses according to your vision.
Personal Advocate
There are many different coordinators for wedding days. Depending on the types of services you’re looking for, you can end up with an venue coordinator for both the ceremony and the reception venue, a photography coordinator, if you hire a volume studio, and a catering coordinator. Even a day of coordinator will help you advocate for the things that you want for your wedding day. Especially when other vendors cant agree on how things will play out during the day. They will be the final say to make sure that your day is as stress free as it can be.
Last Minute Details
All the details of your wedding day, once set in stone, are the responsibility of the wedding coordinator to oversee. This includes any last minute details or changes that happen. As the day unfolds it is their responsibility to take care of so that you can be completely present during your wedding day. An example of this, as was in my case, is if a vendor is falling behind because of a change in the timeline that happened day of it is their responsibility to ensure that the timeline gets back on track.
Stress Manager
There are two things that I have seen always happen when it comes to photographing weddings. Every bride I have ever met, including my own wife, has always wanted their day to go off without a hitch. And every wedding that I have ever photographed has had something go that wasn’t according to the set plan. The biggest perk to hiring a wedding coordinator is to manage the stress that comes from all of the high emotions during your big day. Imagine the awkward stress of separated parents who don’t get along. Imaging your cake melting because its 103 degrees and your cake should be kept in the cooler. Imagine your hair stylist showing up 30 minutes late. These are major stressors on wedding days that I have seen where a wedding coordinator has come through in a pinch to save the day.
Your vendors, myself as your photographer included, are there to make sure that you get the day that you want. We all work together to make sure that you throw an event that everyone remembers. You will thank yourself for hiring a wedding coordinator so you can be present and enjoy your wedding day.