Wedding 101: Choosing a Day of Coordinator or Wedding Planner

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Planning a wedding long distance, I knew I was going to need help. True, I have my mom, my FSIL and my MOH's but they don’t plan weddings everyday and I still want them speaking to me by the wedding day, so I knew I needed to find professional help.

So how do you choose a wedding planner or coordinator?

First you need to determine your needs. Are you going to do all the planning yourself and just need someone to coordinate the day of? Do you want someone else to do most of the footwork for you? Or do you want something more in the middle. And most importantly you need to know what your budget is for these services. There is a difference between a wedding planner and a wedding coordinator. A planner is usually with you from the beginning and helps with everything from hiring vendors to coordinating the day of, depending on what you have in your contract. A coordinator usually takes over anywhere from a month out from the wedding to a few days before and generally handles coordinating the rehearsal and making sure the wedding day runs smoothly.

Even before I was officially engaged I started to research coordinators just to get an idea of their prices. When I looked online I kept seeing glowing reviews about a particular planner, so I shot her an email and she answered all my questions and her packages had everything I wanted. Plus she had the lowest prices in the area, while offering the most.  So of course, after meeting her we hired her.

I had very specific things I wanted in a coordinator. I wanted someone to set up/clean up centerpieces, run the rehearsal, contact my vendors to make sure they know when and where they need to be, and to basically take care of any problems that may come up on that day so my fiancé and I don’t have to worry about a thing. I also really like that my coordinator offers an hourly planning service so that if I need any planning assistance before the wedding she is there.

Here are a list of things I wanted to know about potential  coordinators:

• Is wedding planning their primary job?
• How many weddings do they do per weekend?
• Do they have references?
• Do they have photos of events they decorated? (If you are looking for someone who does decorating too)
• How often can you call/email? Will you be charged?
• What is the deposit? When is the final payment due?
• When will they take over my wedding? How long will they stay?
• Have they worked at my venue? Can they recommend vendors?

I also wanted someone who was friendly, seemed genuinely interested in my wedding, and whose personality meshed with ours.

So ladies, did you have a wedding planner or coordinator? How did you find them? And were they worth it?

Wedding 101: How to choose a venue

Goodwood House wedding venue - 35, originally uploaded by Wedding Photography by Jon Day.

Next week Mr. Modern and I will be going out to town to scout (and hopefully book) a reception venue. Since the perfect venue is a very important aspect of our wedding we wanted to book it as early as possible so we could be sure to get our date and not have to settle for whatever was available. Also, it’s a great for negotiations since we have plenty of time to make a decision.

I started by making a making a list of things that were important to us in a venue such as being able to have the ceremony and reception at the location, being inside, having the venue available until midnight or later, good food, modern/unique décor, and a general wow factor. Then I made a chart with all of these factors and all of the venues within our per plate price range (which is why it is important to have the guest count and budget at this point).

After looking at photos, virtual tours, and reviews online and emailing back and forth with venues we have narrowed it down to 5 venues between 2 different cities , my hometown of Toledo and the metro Detroit area, which also had some nice options.

In order to help us decide I compiled a list of questions to ask each venue. Some of these I found online, some were suggested by newly married friends, and many were just questions I had:

• What is the facility rental fee?
• What is the cost-for food?
• What is the cost-for beverage?
• If you can hold your ceremony on site, what is the ceremony fee?
• What is the set-up/break-down fee?
• What is the staffing fee? (including bartenders, waiters etc.)
• Is there a fee for security personnel?
• Are there adequate coat check and bathroom facilities?
• What's the cancellation policy?
• Is there a payment schedule? What kind of deposits are required?
• Are there any hidden costs? (Before you sign the contract, read it carefully.)
• Do they have a liquor license? Will they allow you to bring your own liquor?
• Is there a space for the bride and groom to change and/or relax?
• Where will you take photographs? Is there a park nearby, or do the coordinators have recommended spots on the grounds?
• Is there a venue coordinator?
• Where can your guests park? Are there extra fees for parking? Do they have valet parking?
• Especially in museums or private clubs, are there limitations on decorations? Do they limit food and drinks to only certain areas of the wedding venue?
• Are candles or other open flames allowed?
• Are linins included?
• Do you have banquet tables or just round? Could we use both?
• Is there a separate area for the cocktail reception?
• What is the length of the facility rental? Is there an overtime fee if your wedding reception lasts longer?
• Do you have use of the entire reception site? If not - what areas can your party use?
• Does the site have any music or noise restrictions?
• Are there any decorating restrictions?
• Will there be another party during, before or after yours? If so, how will this affect your event?
• Ask if they are doing any remodeling or redecorating from now until your wedding day. You don't want construction going on during your reception.
• Is there a cake cutting fee?

My Wedding Binder

Organization is the key to every thing, that’s why as soon as I got engaged I put together a wedding binder. I made sections for the ceremony, reception, attire, budget, guest list, ideas, décor, music, photo/video and honeymoon. Each of these sections have sheet protectors to hold receipts, contracts and other things I don’t want to hole punch.  Since my wedding is over a year and a half away, it mostly holds ideas and vendor research.

I'm connected at the hip to my laptop (or Mr. Modern's I should say since mine is currently out of commission) so I also keep a handy copy of important things in a folder on the computer and on Google Docs.

How do you organize your wedding planning stuff?

Wedding Planning 101: What to do First

To Do List, originally uploaded by LaLaLewi.

As soon as I got engaged I hit the internet to find out what I needed to do next. I knew my wedding was not going to be right away but Mr. Modern and I are planners so we needed a game plan. These are the best tips I found on the net:

Size
Make a rough draft of your guest list to get an idea of about how many guests you think you want to invite. This amount effects many things such as budget and what venue you can use. Plus everyone will be asking about when the wedding is and if they are invited, so if you have a rough idea of who you plan to invite, you know what people not to make any promises to.

Budget
Another important thing you need to determine is your budget. You should really try to be realistic and research the price of the average wedding in your area. You have to consider the size, time of year and style in coming to this number, and how much you can really afford. I you already have a date in mind, figure out how much you can save per month from now until that date, and that can be your budget. Mr. Modern and I decided on an amount that we could save comfortably, without changing our normal spending habits too much, and what we thought was worth spending on one day.

Style
By style I mean formality. If you want a casual affair, it may not make sense to check out ballrooms, and if you are thinking black tie, having it in your back yard may not work out.

Location
Do you want a destination wedding? Would it be easier or cheaper to have it in you hometown?

Time of Year
Even though you may not have an exact date in mind, it’s a good idea to think of the time of year you want. If you have always dreamed of a spring wedding, so have many other brides, so you need to book your dream venue quickly. Or if you are considering a winter wedding in the Midwest, you might want to determine if weather would be an issue for out of town guests that need to travel.

This could also effect your budget, since off season weddings can be substantially cheaper. And it can effect your theme (winter wedding in July?).

Time of Day
And lastly time of day. Having a wedding brunch can really benefit your budget, but it could also put a damper on your black tie dreams. And if you want to party late into the night, you may need to reconsider inviting a lot of small children.

These things really helped us shape the vision of our wedding day, and hopefully they can help you.