Wedding Management: What Does it Mean?

If you’ve reached out to a wedding planner/coordinator sometime in the past few years asking for a “Day-of Coordinator,” the response you received likely included something to the effect of “Day-of Coordination doesn’t exist” and you may have been confused by that reply. After all, it’s very common language still used by venues and many vendors who are recommending that you have someone other than yourself or family/wedding party members coordinating details on your wedding day. On the surface, the term implies that you only need someone for the one day, and that is where the confusion begins. One day of service from a coordinator does not encompass what you really need for a smooth wedding experience. Let me explain, below.

First, let’s break down what type of service you’ll need on your wedding day. You need someone who can handle all the things that occur on your wedding day: greeting and directing vendors, running and managing timelines, trouble-shooting, setting up your personal decor items, greeting and directing guests, communicating with the caterer, coordinating timing with photographers, ensuring floor plans match the diagram, answering ALL the questions, cueing musicians, lining up wedding party, steaming wrinkled linens, setting up place cards, wrangling flower girls and ring bearers, pinning boutonnieres, review timing with the banquet captain, and so on …the list is way longer than you would want to read here.

So, why can’t a day-of coordinator do all that? Well, of course they can, but preparing themselves to be able to handle all of the situations that require management of your wedding day is at the crux of why the term “Day-of” is so mis-leading, and frankly, outdated. A seamless wedding requires WAY more than just showing up on the day. There is no way anyone worth their salt will arrive on the morning of your wedding and just wing it. In fact, you would not want them to do so - it’s a recipe for disaster. Just like you’ve planned and prepared for the big day, a coordinator does the same. By nature, they plan and prepare for everything, and that includes coordinating your wedding day.

Enter the term “Wedding Management.” A much broader term that more accurately encompasses the breadth and depth of work a coordinator will do to prepare themselves to manage your wedding day. Most planners I know begin their Wedding Management process anywhere from one month out to 3 or 4 months out from your wedding date. Oftentimes, they begin with reviewing all of your contracts so they know what each service provider has agreed to. They work with you to create a wedding day timeline to cover every aspect of your day from hair and makeup to the last song of the night, and beyond. They review floor plans, rental orders, floral orders, catering orders, hair and makeup timelines. They cross-check each aspect of every order with the timeline to ensure that everyone is on the same page, that the day flows smoothly and makes sense. They work with your vendor team to schedule load-in and setup times so that at the appointed time, everything is set and ready. They ask the logistical as well as personal questions that perhaps no one else has asked to be sure they are on top of every detail of the day. They learn your wants and needs, what’s most important to you. They attend and manage the rehearsal, and then of course they are there to manage the wedding day and all the details that go into such a production. Again, the list goes on and there is so much more to ensuring a perfect wedding day.

So why can’t we all agree to just call it day-of coordination? Personally, I think the term devalues the preparation that goes into coordinating a wedding. It implies that all the work that is required leading up to the wedding day is not important and and goes unaccounted for. You don’t “JUST” need day-of coordination. You need someone who has taken the time to learn all of the details you’ve so carefully planned, someone who injects their knowledge and experience into the equation to help you fine-tune the details, and someone who will be your advocate on your wedding day to ensure that it is as perfect as possible. You need someone (or in reality, a team of someones) who are as invested in the success of your wedding day as you are, and hiring a skilled, knowledgeable, fun team to manage the day for you is one of the best investments you can make for your wedding day.

photos via Haute Stock