Wedding planners wear many hats, and one of the most vital is that of day-of wedding coordinator. This role is essential in making sure your special day goes off without a single unplanned surprise.
What is a Day-of Wedding Coordinator?
Your big day is about you and your partner. The coordinator’s main job is to make sure you do nothing but enjoy the day in whatever way you choose. They achieve this by planning and coordinating the wedding in advance and being there on the day to see it happens in the correct sequence.
A Wedding Coordinator’s Duties
- Oversees the wedding rehearsal.
- Creates a detailed itinerary and floor plan.
- Acts as your point person on the wedding day.
- Addresses any last-minute details and additions.
- Checks in with the vendors to review their contracts and confirm logistics.
- Helps to organize and transfer items from the ceremony to the reception.
- Does a final walkthrough of the ceremony and reception venues.
Photo by Guanfranco G on Unsplash
What’s the difference between a wedding coordinator and a wedding planner?
While a wedding planner helps you plan the whole affair from the get go, a wedding coordinator will be there with you from four to eight weeks before the wedding. They check all of the details in the lead up to the wedding, confirming vendors, seating plans, timings, and anything else either you or your event planner have decided on. They will then attend on the day of and coordinate the wedding so that your only job is to have an incredible day.
When to Hire a Wedding Coordinator
It fits your budget
Budget naturally plays a role in all aspects of wedding planning. Hiring a full-service wedding planner means someone is by your side at every stage of planning and on the day. But, if you can’t afford a full-service planner, a coordinator can be more cost effective. If it’s within budget, hiring a wedding coordinator will make the event effortless for you. You part with the money so that any last-minute problems fall on someone else’s shoulders.
You just want to relax on the day
You can start your day relaxing, having an easy breakfast, getting your hair just right, taking the time to enjoy a drink with your bridal party or groomsmen as you get ready, then allow yourself to be guided through the day carefree.
Your wedding calls for it
If you’re having an intimate backyard wedding and your uncle is manning the bar, you probably don’t need a coordinator. However, if you’re looking to wrangle over a hundred guests at a large venue, have a bunch of musical cues, multiple hired caterers, or a handful of musicians, you may need someone to spin all those plates.
You’ve chosen an untraditional venue
The staff at traditional wedding venues know how to go with the flow of a big day with little supervision. If you’ve chosen a location that doesn’t regularly host weddings you might need a coordinator to organize the staff.
You’ve planned the event yourselves
Some couples will opt to plan their own wedding and then pass off the logistics to the day-of coordinator a month or two before the wedding. Despite your best efforts, you probably haven’t thought of everything and this is where a coordinator can tie up and last-minute loose ends.
So, do you think a coordinator fits with your plans, or a full-service wedding planner? At You Forever, we can do both. Get in touch with us today and let’s get started!
And, if you’re newly engaged, take a look at our next article on choosing the perfect wedding dress.
The big event is coming, and you can’t wait; you’re full of excitable nerves. You’ve looked forward to it for months. Everyone you know is going to be there. The day arrives and it’s not exactly like you expected… it’s even better! A great event planner can walk you into a room with their hands over your eyes and blow you away. But to meet and outdo your expectations they need a few key qualities.
Empathy and Understanding First
What will make this occasion special for you? Your event planner will listen and understand. Their first job is getting to know you, or your loved one, or you and your partner as a couple. Then they can get started. Most people like cake, fine food, good lighting, popular music. Anyone can throw these generic elements together. Your planner will design the event around your tastes, the picture in your head, and make decisions based on your personality.
The Best Event Planners Are Versatile
Before, during, and after your event, your planner will be playing a lot of roles in your life. They understand the catering industry, they’re amateur therapists, professional crisis managers, financial planners, artists, florists, DJs, interior designers, they’re fairy godmothers and organizational wizards. That versatility is really what this article is about.
Organization Skills Are Key
Hosting an event is like cooking a large roast dinner. There are a bunch of elements that need different types of preparation and care, and most importantly each one needs to be timed perfectly to succeed. Having a head for organization is key to event planning.
They Love Networking
Ice sculptures, an authentic Vegas blackjack table, a petting zoo, a bounce house, a cake that a person can jump out of… you probably don’t know how to source any of these things. Your event planner does or knows someone who knows someone who does.
They’re Resilient and Adaptable
We’re here to alleviate your fears, but events are actually made up of a series of smaller events, any of which could go wrong. Hitches happen. The music might not go down when it’s time for speeches. The birthday girl might not be feeling the playlist. A dove might fly into Aunt Karen’s giant wedding hat. A great event planner will foresee most issues before they happen, and quick to rectify them if they do.
Resilience is about taking problems in your stride. Your planner will be at the event to take on any challenges that arise and keep everything running smoothly. The best ones remain calm, accept the situation, take a breath, and go to work at fixing it. An arrangement of roses fell apart: more colourful petals for the flower girl. The vegan main option wasn’t ordered: the planner has Ubereats on standby and is troubleshooting with the chef in the heat of the kitchen. Becky’s Sweet 16 cake says, “Happy Birthday Debbie,”: some whipped cream magic and it now only says “Happy Birthday,” and you’ll be getting 50% off from the baker. Resilience and adaptability at work.
They Have a Deep Understanding of Events
The point of you hiring an event planner is that you get to experience the special day rather than run it. Much like a film or a piece of music, events have high points and dips as they play out, which your planner will understand.
Take a wedding, for example. People get a drink and time to relax when they get to the reception. They are then seated, and the meal is brought out. Then speeches, because everyone is full, relaxed, and ready to sit for half an hour and have a good laugh or cry. Then more drinks and dancing. Simple, huh?
But, what if the meal was after the speeches? People would be scattered, distracted by hunger, and sneaking off to the bar. If there was a second or third round of drinks before the speeches and food, people might be too tipsy to enjoy both. This may seem basic, but every event needs considered forward planning in order to be a perfect day.
Imagination is Essential
Part of having imagination is seeing all aspects of the event ahead of time, as we touched on previously. But a party planner’s real imaginative spirit is put to work long before that, in the planning stage. You have an image in your head of the perfect event. Your planner will see it, understand it, and do you one better. They will take your ideas to the next level, imagining all the ways to make your day one you will never forget.
Event Planners Need Endless Creativity
Imagining is one thing; your event planner also has to turn their amazing concepts into a reality. No two events are the same. Or, at least, they don’t have to be. With a creative event planner adding special touches and bringing all of your daydreams into reality, your day can be personal to you and unlike any other party you’ve ever been to.
Feeling inspired? It just so happens we know some event planners with such a set of skills. Get in contact with You Forever today to discuss any upcoming event you think you might need help planning.
It’s time to pop some bubbly and celebrate the news–you’re getting married! The knee has been bent, the ring is on your finger, the “YES” has been emphatically stated. Planning an event is the perfect way to share your excitement with friends and family, and we’ve got great engagement party ideas below to help you get started.
Pick Your Host
First things first, decide who will be planning your engagement party event. It can be you and your partner, or anyone you both trust and who will be happy to arrange the details. They can deal with vendors and location managers, then do all of the heavy lifting of hosting the event so that you get to relax and enjoy it. If you’re looking to do something really special, this is the perfect moment to hire a party planner to create an event to remember.
Set the Date for Your Engagement Party
You’ll both be feeling excited from your good news, so we believe there is no time like the present to celebrate! Choose a date for the party that’s within the first few months of getting engaged. You want it to be close to the proposal to keep it relevant and before you all your focus is needed for planning a wedding.
Create the Guestlist
It’s always best to have a smaller engagement party full of people you’ll be inviting to the wedding too. That way, you have a great place to start when planning your wedding guestlist. If someone else is hosting for you, always discuss the guests with them too so you’re happy with who will be joining the celebrations.
Choose a Suitable Venue
Look for a venue that will have the right amount of space for all your guests and think about how formal or casual you want it to be. It might be a private function at a restaurant or hotel, or a smaller engagement party at your house. It could be somewhere that takes you back to a certain time in your relationship. If you’ve enlisted the help of a professional party planner, they’ll have helpful suggestions ready to help you choose!
Set Up a Gift Registry
As soon as your loved ones hear the good news, they will want to send you gifts to show they’re excited for you! It’s a great idea to set up gift registry and have it ready before the invites go out for your engagement party. Your guests will appreciate the organization and will help them know the best way to say congratulations.
Send Out Engagement Party Invitations
The invites should reflect the style of the event, so your guests know what style of event to expect. It will help them plan accordingly by dressing appropriately, knowing if they can bring their children, and if they can bring a date. Send out traditional paper invites or beautifully designed paperless invites using websites such as Paperless Post.
Give at least a month’s notice for an engagement party and remember to add the RSVP with a date. The RSVP date gives a deadline for you to know who will be attending in advance, which means less time spent following up with prospective guests, and more time to organize catering and other details.
Book Your Vendors
When you have an idea of guest numbers and have a venue booked, you or your host can arrange some of the fun details of the engagement party. Think about how you would like to set the scene. Maybe you like the idea of a themed event, or to keep it simple with some flower arrangements and candles for ambiance.
More importantly, figure out what you’ll be feeding your guests. Depending on the size of your event, plan out a menu for a dinner event or appetizers for a more informal gathering. Also, if you’d like to capture all your loved ones being in one place, don’t forget to book a local event photographer!
Consider Special Moments
Your engagement party is the ideal time and place to formally ask your best man and maid of honour if they will be a part of your wedding, along with groomsmen and bridesmaids. If you have someone unconventional you would like to walk you down the aisle, or a loved one you might even want to preside over the wedding, that’s an option too. It’s up to you whether you want these to be intimate moments with the individuals or share the excitement with everyone.
Now you have the know-how to planning an engagement party, you might be excited to start organizing right away. If you’re looking for further guidance to make it happen, we’re here to help you every step of the way. Contact us today for a complimentary consultation to hear how we can make your event extra special!
If you enjoyed reading this, see our last post on how to make events eco-friendly.
The key to a personalized engagement event is to get to know the couple as a couple, as well as who they are as individuals. Once you understand what makes them who they are you start having all kinds of engagement party ideas. You can include elements of each of them in the decorations, activities and food for their engagement party or event.
Reconnecting With an Old Love
In November of 2018, I had a gentleman in his 70s reach out to me to plan an intimate engagement for his high school sweetheart whom, until 2017, he hadn’t seen since they graduated from high school in 1969. The gentleman told me that they had both lost their partners back in 2014 and 2015 due to illnesses. When they ran into each other at a coffee shop in the middle of downtown Vancouver they just knew it was a sign for them to reconnect.
That first encounter, after 52 years, was very significant to both of them together and individually. At the beginning they just reconnected as old friends and as the months went by they realized that spark from 52 years ago was still there, and they didn’t want to waste another moment without being together.
An Engagement Plan 50 Years in the Making
After hearing this beautiful love story, the gentleman and I brainstormed on what kind of engagement plan would represent them as a couple and individually. It came down to the theme of going back in time.
For this specific engagement, we worked with both of their families on decoration as he wanted something simple but special. We started by getting pictures from their albums, so that we could create a timeline with their most treasured memories, starting with individual portraits of them and down the line showing pictures of them together and ending with current pictures. The gentleman wanted to do this surprise proposal in his backyard to make it as intimate as possible. We hired a company to build a rectangular frame so that we could hang the fairy lights and attach the string of pictures to give the effect of walking along memory lane. On the grass we had red rose petals that were brought in from Ecuador specifically for this intimate engagement party.
A Wonderful Success
As I was setting up his backyard, the couple went for dinner at her favourite sushi restaurant. I did a quick sound and light check and had everything ready for their arrival. We had the family hidden, we had champagne in an ice bucket and music was ready to be played from the minute she walked in. When the couple walked into the house and went to the backyard, she started crying happy tears as the gentleman took her hand and guided her through the aisle so that they could go back in time together. When they reached the end of the photos, he pulled out an engagement ring and proposed. The happy couple and their families celebrated such a special occasion that became a forever memory.
Making that couple’s day perfect, those happy tears and helping them celebrate their love after a lifetime apart is why we do what we do. If you are looking for engagement party ideas – an intimate proposal dinner, help choosing an engagement ring, or have already popped the question and want to crack open the champagne with your closest people at an engagement party – we want to help. Get in touch today and we’ll do our best to make your story as special as this one.
For more engagement party ideas, we’ve written a full article on the fundamentals here.
Congratulations! You have something to celebrate – an anniversary, a proposal, Valentine’s Day, maybe a birthday or some great news. Let us help you plan it as a surprise like no other and give your partner, family or friends the event they’ll remember, and you deserve.
Don’t Settle for a Small Surprise
When you’re looking to execute the perfect surprise, you can find all kinds of suggestions online for stunning locations, picnic spread ideas, couples massage recommendations and AirBnB getaways. At You Forever, we believe in going the extra mile and delivering an event just as you picture it. We’ll provide you with personalized recommendations and a fully serviced event of whatever scale you choose. Whether you prefer to manage each detail of the occasion or give us a theme and let us plan the rest, we guarantee the only surprises will be happy ones.
Setting Your Partner Up for a Surprise Event
Our clients always get excited about an upcoming event but want to create a buildup rather than give the surprise away. We can help there too. Having done this before, and with several sweet tales to recount, we think that creating a ruse to help throw off any scent of the grand plan is a must.
We’ve created a business out of knowing both the magic and the realities of planning surprises and two factors can come up as potential problems. If it’s an anniversary, birthday or another annual event:
- they know that this date is coming up
- they know your way of doing things
While these factors make surprising your partner a bit of a challenge, they’re also what you can lean into to create misdirection! Magicians are known to apply similar strategies to get big reactions.
Diffusion
Better than one big explosion is a delightful scattering or a buildup to something grand. So, our first set of ideas belong in the pre-surprise phase (2-3 days before the event).
– Ask them misleading questions that lead them to make ‘obvious’ gift assumptions.
Example: “Do you like any TV show enough to buy their merch?”
– Use their computer to make random searches for gift ideas.
Example : “home spa ideas summer”
– Leave some old photos and some stationery lying around, “accidentally on purpose.”
Illusion
Add a bit of drama, like a hushed conversation with “customer care” over a delayed delivery. You’re playing this up so your actual plans don’t cross your person’s mind.
Misdirection
Plan a smaller surprise before the bigger one. Your significant other gets a small bonus, and their expectations are managed before you exceed them wildly. We can suggest some ideas on this front too!
Astonishment
Be prepared to document your chosen surprise with pictures and video! Let us know if we can help here too as an additional service.
Why Choose You Forever?
When you leave the planning to us, we can guarantee the look on your partner’s face will be worth it. Stories about surprises tend to be about the little things you had to keep anxiously hidden, the intricate planning, near misses and last-minute final touches. All that fuss is what we enjoy, as our team’s passion is to help create a memory you can cherish and recount to friends and family in years to come.
Do you like the way we think? We have plenty of other tricks up our sleeves! Let’s partner up and pull off your surprise together.