When you begin planning your wedding, it’s very possible you also enter a whole new world of processes, vendors, and lingo that you’re encountering for the first time. The Wedding Industry could write a dictionary of its own just for all things wedding ~ I compiled an alphabetical list of our most used terminology here for you on the blog as a quick lesson in wedding terms.
But truly, all of the newness and direction from google can become quickly overwhelming, and you don’t know what you don’t know, right? So let’s break it down together!
One of the terms you may begin to hear when Wedding Planning is “Day-Of Coordination” .. or maybe one of your vendors requires you to have a ”Day-Of Coordinator”.
I will get straight to it – The point here is…wedding day-of coordination is just not a thing. It does not exist in a literal sense. There is MUCH hard work, design, logistics, and organization that goes into planning someone’s big day. Sometimes upwards of 200 hours. It’s unrealistic and frankly just not possible to be hired for one day, mind you a very very special day, and expect it to be executed seamlessly if the person in charge has never reviewed any of the details prior to the day they are expected to execute. That’s what day-of coordination is.
At Betty Jane and CO, day-of coordination does not exist for that very reason. We truly value the intricacies in the logistics, the intentional design and layout, the relationships we have with our fellow vendors, and ALL of those very important hours we spend hand curating your day, no matter what style of package you book with us.
The execution plan for a wedding day is not something that can just be handed over in less than 48 hours with the expectation a dream day will be produced. Whether you choose full planning or partial planning, each day is as special to the couple as the next and should be treated as such.
Those that are looking to hire a day-of coordinator are likely doing so because either One- the venue they have chosen requires it, Two – they have no clue how they will be present in their day while they execute the details they planned, or Three- for those couples want to have a hand in the process, be involved in all of the planning, they want to hand-select their vendors, their aesthetic, etc. but need a professional to wave the magic wand and tie it all together come wedding day.
The best part is, that all of those scenarios are possible!! They should just happen much sooner than “the day of”.
Imagine – You have spent months and countless hours planning your wedding so you decided to hire a day-of coordinator to help support you on the big day and your big day is finally here!!!! You meet with the day-of coordinator on the day before your wedding, or even worse, the morning of your wedding. Your emotions are running wild, you have a million things on your mind that you are trying to remember to relay to the day-of coordinator, you need to make sure all the confirmations have a green light, and you want your wedding day to be stress-free and seamless.
OOOOOFFFF No pressure at all; For real for real – that is a wedding day disaster waiting to happen.
Vendors are the prime directors in making sure your day comes together. They should be well informed prior to the wedding day. At Betty Jane and CO, we send our vendors the final packet more than two weeks out with final details and confirmations so that they have time to prepare, too, and are not left scrambling over last-minute details.
So what is a couple to do instead of hiring a day-of coordinator, especially if they are interested in having a bigger part in the planning?
It is as simple as a small learning curve and mindset shift! Now that you do know planning and being prepared for a Wedding day needs more than a day of notice, consider hiring a planner that offers partial planning or an event management package.
What’s the difference between that and a day-of coordination package? Well, again, it is simple – Partial planning packages are geared to let the couple be very involved and, overall, be in charge of the planning. Depending on who you select as your planner specifically, they will step in around the last 60-90 days leading up to the big day.
Speaking from our perspective at Betty Jane and CO – we offer a partial planning service also known as The Feather in the Hat Experience, where we step in 90 days prior to the Wedding. We have a pass-the-mic meeting to discuss allllll of the things you have planned thus far, any bumps in the road, any gaps still left to fill, any family drama we should be aware of, and create a thorough timeline that jives with allll of the vendors you selected to play a part in the dream day. We coordinate all of the final meetings and walk-throughs so that we are not learning what is going on and where things are supposed to be, on the day of action. We create the plan and provide it to you so you, as the couple, don’t take on that stress. In addition to all that we do once inside the 90-day wedding kickoff, we are also educating and guiding our couples along their entire planning journey through email communications, checklist, and advice before the 90-day mark approaches so they don’t show up to the first meeting with us in a complete panic because they are unsure of what to do next so they haven’t done anything at all.
All in all, there is truly so much work that goes into planning a wedding. Anyone who wants their day to be seamless, stress-free and one to remember for a lifetime should strongly consider more than a day-of coordination approach. You wouldn’t step on stage at the recital for the very first time without rehearsing, would you? Don’t let your wedding day be that test!!!
If you would like to understand more about why day-of coordination doesn’t exist here at Betty Jane and CO or how “day of management” differs from partial planning, I would be elated to help you understand! Hop over to my contact page and fill out the inquiry form to schedule some time to chat!!!
