Photo from screenrush.co.uk

I was chatting this morning with Jinah, the friend whose wedding I am decorating in April, and I asked her what she meant when she put “logistics” as one of my responsibilities. She had meant it to mean that I’d be responsible for working with her caterer and cueing her deejay. Unfortunately, since I’m the “decorator,” I recommended to her that she should find a friend to play that role.

What role would that be? The role of the wedding coordinator. Wedding coordinator can mean so many things, so I kind of want to spell out the three types of “wedding coordinator” a potential bride might encounter — at least from my experience.

Photo lifted from screenrush.co.uk

Now, Jennifer Lopez has long since left behind the Wedding Planner, but the role she played is probably the first thing that comes to mind when you think “wedding coordinator.” This type of wedding coordinator is the first person you contract with after getting engaged, because this person will likely find you all your vendors, negotiate your prices and take care of all the details up to, during and after your wedding. Another way to think of this person is to call him/her a bride’s personal assistant — the bride and groom make all the final decisions, but the wedding coordinator does all the research and presents all the options. This type of wedding coordinator is a luxury, so of course his/her services will cost you a pretty penny. Plus, s/he will probably earn a fee from the vendors that the bride and groom chooses. But, if you’re pressed for time, and have the cash, it sure would be nice to have a comprehensive wedding coordinator.

The next level of wedding coordinator is venue-specific. Many Catholic churches, especially the big cathedrals, have wedding coordinators, and at hotels, catering managers often play this role. This person only handles what happens at his/her venue. At a church, this means coordinating with the photographer, videographer, florist and singer/musician/deejay. At a church, this person would also be the timekeeper, getting the ceremony started on time, and ushering everyone out so the next wedding can get set up. At a hotel, the coordinator will work with the florist, cake person/bakery, catering, band/deejay and the bride in developing the layout of the reception. The coordinator at a hotel won’t be as concerned about time, unless its a busy weekend. In fact, if you are having your wedding on a Saturday night (the most popular and expensive slot for wedding receptions), they might actually allow you to just keep on going, since no one else can have a party after the Saturday night slot.

The role that Jinah was hoping I would play is the unofficial wedding coordinator. Basically, this is a friend, probably a previous bride, who will be the point person in place of the bride. Depending on what’s already been done, this person will greet the vendors and let them know to come to him/her for any problems, carry the envelope of checks for outstanding fees/contracts, have a timeline of when the ceremony/reception should start and also provide the names and their pronunciations of the wedding party to the deejay/emcee for the introductions.  This person will likely have other responsibilities, depending on the elaborateness of the wedding.

Now, do you need any of these types of wedding coordinators? Need is subjective, of course. In the case of Jinah and I, I recommended that she appoint a totally separate person because I’m basically an unpaid wedding vendor. And, brides, you will probably never know this, but wedding vendors who are unfamiliar with each other don’t always play well together. Which is why I recommended she appoint someone besides myself.

Now just for fun, here’s the trailer for The Wedding Planner.