Planning a wedding on your own and then managing it on the day, is near impossible to do without becoming completely over-whelmed and ‘over it’ by the day.  I don’t care how organised you are, or how much time you have, there is always room for some level of help and when it comes to the day, a moment where you HAVE TO LET IT GO so you can get married. But what wedding planner you need comes down to you, your budget and appetite for planning as well as the amount of help around you (or whether you want your family and friends helping on the day). To help you determine what wedding planner you need, we have summarised the key Wedding Planning roles for you; Full Wedding Planner, On The Day Coordinator & Venue Coordinator.

Full Wedding Planner

A full-service wedding planner, plans every detail, from start to finish.  This wedding pro will be ideal for you if the idea of planning your wedding gives you a case of hives, or you just don’t have the time to add one more thing to your already groaning schedule.  They can take over everything from finding you Venues and Vendors, to managing your budget and guest list, to putting together a cohesive design and timeline for the day. You will meet and speak regularly and they will be there at your Rehearsal and on the day to ensure everything runs smoothly.  You will still make the decisions, but skip the hours spent planning, sourcing items and running around.

Full wedding planning is most effective if you are able to let go and give your Wedding Planner a degree of control and if you hire them early on.  Whilst our speciality is On the Day Coordination we reserve a limited number of spots for full Wedding Planning clients each year.

Many Full Wedding Planners also offer partial wedding planning services.

On The Day Coordinator

A Day of Coordinator doesn’t just show up on the day. Yes they will be there on the day to make sure your wedding day vision is realised and that everything runs smoothly, but to ensure they can do this, they will begin working with you in advance of your actual wedding day.  An On the Day Coordinator normally begins working closely with their couples, 4-6 weeks in advance. At the I Do Crew we call this our handover meeting and it gives us a chance to deep dive into your wedding plans with you, so we can get familiar with your priorities, plans and challenges and determine what details need to be finished and exactly what needs to be done on the day. In addition to this meeting, your On the Day Coordinator will normally do a final walk-through of the ceremony and reception sites, confirm all vendor contracts, create a detailed timeline, and manage both the rehearsal and the wedding day. At the I Do Crew we also will help with styling and setting up/packing down on the day.  

On the Day Coordination is our primary service at the I Do Crew and we find that it is ideal for couples who are excited to dive into their planning, have time to do it and feel confident doing so.  Planning your wedding yourself and hiring an On the Day Coordinator for the day, is also a more budget friendly option than full Wedding Planning. The inclusions in a service like this vary a lot from Planning company to planning company so you are best to do your research to find an option that best suits you and your wedding.  At the I Do Crew, we custom design this service to suit every individual couple’s needs.

When it comes to who this service is best for, it does help to be organised too, but we have tools that you can use to assist with this so if being organised is not one of your strengths, talk to us.  We recommend hiring your On the Day Coordinator at least 6-8 months in advance so they are there to help you along the way with planning advice, vendor referrals or getting back on track with your planning if you get behind. We provide unlimited support throughout the planning process, not just on the day.  Whilst 6-8 months lead time is ideal, we have been booked as close as 2 weeks out from a wedding and because we have good systems in place for ensuring we understand your needs, we can make this work for you. In fact, many On the Day Coordinators, like the I Do Crew offer variations to this package to account for the amount of planning you have already done at the time you contact them.

Venue Coordinator

Venue Coordinators are unique to the wedding planning in that their priority is the venue. This wedding professional is hired by the venue FOR the venue rather than by you which means you don’t get to pick who works with you on your wedding day and if they leave before your big day, you will get someone new. They are there to make sure that the lights are working, the space is clean, and the venue is treated appropriately by other vendors. In our experience most Venue Coordinators take exceptional care of their clients and go above and beyond to ensure the couple has a good experience at the venue. They will also liaise with your suppliers about bump in and out requirements and times.

We often work as On the Day Coordinators at venues with Venue Coordinators, to assist with the Coordination of the Wedding as a whole (including the Ceremony if it is being held at a separate location) and especially in helping to set up your personal decor items.  Many venues will do the basic setting up for you, but if you have specific styling requirements, or are sourcing a lot of elements from third parties, they will ask you to hire a professional to manage this part of your wedding for you.  

To find out which service we recommend for you, contact us.  And if you are just getting started with your wedding planning, check out Wedding Planning – our guide to getting started.