The Difference Between Wedding Planners, Coordinators, and Designers
When it comes to wedding planning, its not uncommon to need a little help from some professionals to bring the wedding of your dreams to life. But before you hire a team of pros, its important to learn what the difference is between a wedding planner, coordinator, and a designer. All three vendors help to execute various parts of your wedding, but each do so to a varying degree.
wedding planner
Wedding planners are all about logistics. Everything from vendor referrals and contract negotiation to day-of execution. Planners take the guesswork out of the process. They keep track of your budget, provide timeline assistance, and may even provide services like RSVP handling.
common wedding planner responsibilities: Provides vendor referrals and negotiates contracts.
Schedules and attends all vendor meetings.
Tracks deposits and payments for all vendors.
Creates detailed timelines and floor plans.
Helps determine and manage your budget, as well as tracks deposits and payments.
Attends site tours and menu tastings
Brainstorms style ideas and coordinates design details.
Coordinates hotel room blocks and transportation.
Manages the rehearsal.
Oversees everything on the wedding day (makes sure everyone adheres to the timeline, handles snafus, manages vendors, and executes your vision on-site).
when to hire a planner:You have the budget for it.
You want the least possible amount of wedding-related stress.
You have no free time.
You have no clue where to start when it comes to planning, and your organizational skills aren't the greatest.
You have a very short time frame for planning.
You're throwing a destination wedding and/or a wedding weekend involving multiple events.
You're hosting your wedding in an unusual space (read: not a hotel, restaurant, or banquet hall).
WEDDING COORDINATOR
A wedding coordinator is also logistically focused but on a shorter timeline than a wedding planner. They usually start helping you about a month or two prior to your wedding and function as the point person on the day of.
common wedding coordinator responsibilities: Meets with you four to eight weeks before the wedding to get a handle on what you've planned thus far.
Checks in with your vendors to review the signed contracts and confirm logistics.
Creates detailed timelines and floor plans.
Completes a final walk-through of the ceremony and reception sites.
Addresses any overlooked details (such as forgetting to hire a coat-check attendant).
Manages the rehearsal.
Oversees everything on the wedding day.
when to hire a coordinator:You want to play an active role in planning your wedding but would like someone to take care of the last-minute details and make sure you haven't missed anything.
You're extremely organized and detail-oriented.
You don't have the budget for a full-service wedding planner.
WEDDING DESIGNER
A wedding designer's role doesn’t include things like contract negotiations or rehearsal management. A wedding designer specializes in design, floor plans, lighting, florals, furniture, linens, and attire. We ultimately help with all the decisions that will give your wedding a cohesive, stylish, and sophisticated look.
I also specialize in the creation of DIY pieces, saving you money and adding a unique element to your wedding day.
common wedding designer responsibilities: Creates the wedding's design concept.
Provides color palette guidance.
Oversees the décor budget and vendors (florist, rentals, lighting, stationery).
Sources special props and equipment.
Attends a site visit to visualize where you want everything to go, devise a layout, and identify potential problems.
Creates detailed floor plans.
Ensures all of the décor elements are in place on-site at the wedding.
when to hire a designer: The décor matters to you.
You're confident in your organizational and logistical skills, but your creative skills are lacking.
You're trying to pull off a very specific theme.
You have a million wedding style ideas that you can't narrow down.
You consider your photos to be one of the most important parts of your wedding
You have a limited budget that you need to maximize
Your wedding Pinterest Board is full of cute signs, luxurious tablescapes, unique guest favors, magazine worthy invites, and personalized details
You hate making decisions