It’s a great question and with very similar titles you would think they have very similar jobs… however they are very different but work together to create a beautiful day for you.
Venue Coordinator
Sometimes the person who handles weddings at a venue can be referred to as the “Wedding Coordinator” in their email signature and though we understand the confusion here, this person is responsible for coordinating the weddings (as opposed to events or conferences…) at this venue. Your venue coordinator is responsible for managing any venue related parts of the wedding day – Some examples include:
- Booking the ceremony and/or reception spaces for your group
- Providing the Menu and Bar options and handling all catering, serving staff and bartending needs
- Possibly assisting with a room block if available at the venue
- Managing the venue Deposit Schedule, sending timely payment reminders and assisting with processing payments
- Providing access timing for set up, and setting up any in house rentals such as tables, chairs, cutlery, glassware etc.
- Assist in building basic floor plans that will allow good flow and functionality
- Outline any venue specific policies such as decor or noise policies.
- Creation of your Banquet Event Order aka the final summary of all food & beverage requests and details for serving & billing
Photo Credit: Willow and Wolf Photography
Venue Coordinators are there to help guide you through what happens at the venue & usually is not involved in any sort of planning outside of the venue needs.
Although they typically do have vendor referral lists, hiring external vendors & building a timeline to capture all of the vendors needs would still be part of the couples scope of wedding planning. Which is often why couples will seek assistance from a Wedding Planner, like us!
Wedding Planner
Enter – The Wedding Planner. We are the team that can assist you with everything else in between. From curating a custom list of vendors based on your style, budget & personality to managing the logistics and timing of the day minute by minute all the way to designing your decor and invitations, they are there through it all. Some examples include of additional services they provide are:
- Vendor suggestions, hiring & management of core vendors
- Building a realistic budget inclusive of all areas of planning (Food & beverage, Decor, vendors), and walking you through how to allocate every dollar
- Save the Dates & Invitations design, editing and managing when to send
- Regular check ins to keep planning moving forward
- Creation and implementation of decor & design
Overall your coordinator can help you save hours of time in research, emails and communication with their experience and knowledge. They are there to be an advisor and help guide you through the entire process, if you haven’t planned an event before how would you know where to start and all the nuances?
Photo Credit: Ally Dittrick Photography
The biggest difference between the two, regardless of your level of involvement will be logistics planning. Your wedding planner should help you create a timeline and production schedule that takes into consideration the needs of all your vendors and offers creative solutions to pinch points as needed.
Your wedding planner then is the one to manage all the moving parts on the day of, which means they are working with the venue & their teams in addition to all of your other vendors and the planner would be your main contact on the day. They are typically the first ones to arrive and the last ones to leave after that final goodbye hug, and tear down is complete.
Photo Credit: Willow and Wolf Photography
Your wedding coordinator (planner, producer we go by many names!) communicates not only with you & the venue but also with your vendor team to ensure everyone has everything they need and all questions are answered prior to the day of. When a wedding coordinator is not involved you would be responsible to liaise between the venue, and vendors directly.
Now if our venue doesn’t have a coordinator (for example you are tenting on a private property) then your wedding coordinator is even more valuable as they will likely need to fill both roles and further assist in what is required to essentially create your own venue!
Photo Credit: Carey Nash Photography
All in all, both a venue coordinator and wedding coordinator are invaluable assets in any planning team to ensure a smooth, and stress free day for you and your loved ones.
If you are ready for some help with planning, you can view our programs & services here.
