If You Call Me a Day-Of Coordinator, I May Have to Smack You :-D
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Old habits die hard. I get it.
For a long time I used the term “day-of coordinator,” too. This has been a long-standing term for wedding planners that offer an affordable package to couples whom desire to plan their own weddings, but need help toward the end of the process to finalize things and manage/coordinate their wedding on the day. It is a wise decision and enables the bride(s) and/or grooms(s) to just be that and enjoy their day without the stress of execution - virtual high five for that decision!
But guys! Over the years and as a planner develops, you become keenly aware of the fact that there are still a lot of pieces to the puzzle that need to be massaged in advance. Not only that, but our clients are free to contact us throughout their planning for any guidance because I want things to go perfectly, too.
Our custom timeline template that we have been curating for years based on experience is over 10 pages long. There is a LOT of blood, sweat and tears that have gone into making it the absolute best it can be, so that the couple does not forget ANYTHING on their wedding day. We share the template with them at least 1 month prior to the wedding, but often much sooner than that.
At least three weeks before a wedding, we jump on a “timeline call.” This call could take anywhere from 1-2 hours where we walk through the document line by line. I take that time to combat any logistical errors I may see, ask questions and get the timeline fully completed to send to all the vendors.
Two weeks before the wedding, I email the timeline to all the vendors asking them to confirm their participation, double-check their bits on the timeline which are color-coded and easy to find, give me an arrival time and pick-up time if they are coming back to pick up their items.
It is during the next two weeks before the wedding that we are cross-referencing arrival/pick-up times, adding any additional information or changes needed to the timeline, ensuring everyone responds and often having to call or text vendors to get that final confirmation if they do not respond to the timeline email, and answering phone calls from vendors with any last minute issues/questions.
We are there to coordinate the rehearsal the day before the wedding and are often traveling that day for our out-of-town weddings where we have prearranged any hotel reservations for our team.
If I am able to bring an available intern, I have sourced them, prearranged their compensation and confirmed their roles for the day, arrival times and leave times.
Finally, yes, we are there for the “day of” the wedding to carry out and execute the best wedding plans we can.
Day-of coordination is a myth. No planner is only working on the day of a wedding and it devalues what we actually do. As an industry, we MUST move away from this phrase altogether and start calling it what it is: Wedding Management or even Wedding Coordination is better than day-of coordinator.
It even took me a while to fully make this transition, so don’t feel bad if you accidentally let it slip out from time to time. Like I said in the beginning of this post, old habits die hard. It is all about educating ourselves, our fellow vendors and our couples on what we actually do. I applaud you for reading this post 👏👏👏
“You must unlearn what you have learned.” - Yoda