Most couples today recognize the importance of hiring a wedding planner, whether that be for full service planning or wedding management. The experience and guidance a professional wedding planner can give you is invaluable when trying to plan your big day. As the need for wedding planners has risen over the years, we’ve noticed that more and more venues are stating that a coordinator is included in your venue pricing.

While the service a venue coordinator provides is crucial in planning and executing your big day, their services are meant to compliment a wedding planner, not replace one. Choosing to not hire a wedding planner simply because your venue has a coordinator could leave you overwhelmed during the planning process and on your wedding day. Here are the key differences between a venue coordinator and a wedding planner.

A venue coordinator represents the venue only. It’s the responsibility of the venue coordinator to represent the venues best interest at all times. They make sure that venue policies are being met and no damage is being done to the space. At the end of the day, they will always advocate for what is best for the venue.

A wedding planner represents you. When you hire a wedding planner, you have a professional whose sole job it is to make sure your wishes are fulfilled and your expectations met. They are an advocate for you every step of the way.

A venue coordinator oversees the set up and breakdown of venue provided items only. If your venue provides tables, chairs, and linens, your venue coordinator will ensure that those items are set up in a timely manner. They don’t handle any set up or breakdown of any items provided by you.

A wedding planner oversees the set up of everything else. Your wedding planner knows what’s to be provided by each of your vendors and how those items are supposed to be set up. They will ensure that vendors are not only arriving on time but fulfilling their contracts. Additionally, your wedding planner will set up any items provided by you.

A venue coordinator is not involved in the details of your planning. While they will know every detail of your wedding as it pertains to the services they provide, a venue coordinator will not know all the details you’ve arranged with each of your other vendors and knowing these details is key to executing your day.

A wedding planner sees your vision and brings it to life. Whether your wedding planner has been involved since the beginning or is only stepping in six weeks out, it’s their job to know your vision and learn the details of each item being provided by a vendor. This allows them to bring all of your hard work and planning to life.

A venue coordinator does not run your wedding day timeline. Your venue coordinator cares about two moments on your timeline - when the doors open for set up and when the doors lock behind you. This person does not run your timeline ensuring everything happens as it was planned.

A wedding planner makes your timeline. Not only does your wedding planner run your day of timeline coordinating the important moments throughout your day, they also create it. Your wedding planner is in constant communication with each of your vendors ensuring that the linens arrive before the flowers and the cake isn’t delivered too early. As you’ll soon learn, a stress free wedding day is the product of a well designed timeline.

As you can see, there are a number of differences between a venue coordinator and a wedding planner. While this list could continue on, it’s important to remember that your venue coordinator will play an important role in your planning ensuring the space is perfect for your big day. However, your relationship with your wedding planner is much more personal and promotes a stress free wedding day for you.

Photographer credit: Samantha James

About Sincerely Pete

Sincerely Pete is a full-service wedding planning and design company in Washington, D.C. and Alexandria, VA who believes in a personal, curated & customized approach to each wedding couple we work with, taking their values & personalities into account and keeping the relationship as the focus of the wedding. We plan Washington DC weddings, Virginia weddings, Maryland weddings and destination weddings all over the world.