Events Blog

I had the pleasure of attending a bridal show on Sunday at the Hollywood Beach Marriott.  I met some fabulous brides, chatted about what sound like great weddings and had a really fun day overall.  However, like pretty much every other show that I attend, the same question kept coming up again and again…”Why do I need a Day-of-Event Coordinator?” Brides and moms would site that either their best friend or their aunt was going to make sure everything ran smoothly on their wedding day, that they have all of their vendors already chosen or my favorite – the venue has a manager; so they are all set right? WRONG!  Choosing a Day-of to assist with your wedding is pure choice. First, let me say that you don’t need any one person or any one thing (short of the actual piece of paper that says you are married) on your actual wedding day to make it special and perfect.  Everyone has different tastes and every wedding is different. Now that being said, I can tell you a short story – a few years ago I attended a wedding.  The bride was beautiful and everything looked perfect.  She asked a good friend to help her on the wedding day, which was great in theory.  The weather turned bad about an hour before the ceremony.  She was a half hour late, which pushed the ceremony back, which led to the reception starting late.  The friend that was helping didn’t understand the importance of trying to catch up or make up the time and the on-site catering manager was involved in making sure that food was running smoothly.  At 11PM, the caterer walked over to the mom and asked her if she wanted to “continue the event?”.  The bride’s mother, not understanding the severity of what she was agreeing to, said yes.  The event continued on until 11:30 so that the cake cutting and bouquet toss could be done.  Obviously, the DJ hung out to make sure there was music for everyone who remained on the dance floor and the bar continued to stay open.  However, when the cake cutting and bouquet toss were done, there was no photographer or videographer…. Where could they have gone?! The answer is very simple.  Those two vendors were contracted until 11PM.  At that time, they told the friend in charge, who had been drinking and enjoying the party, that they were contracted until 11PM and if she didn’t need them for anything else; they were going to leave.  She agreed, waved goodbye and out the door they went, along with the chance for the bride to capture the cake cutting and bouquet toss on film. However this wasn’t the worst part… the father was also asked for two checks at the end of the night for the DJ’s overtime as well as the catering overtime for staff and additional open bar.  Yes, it’s a true story, but I’m not trying to scare anyone.  It doesn’t happen all of the time, but it does happen.  This whole situation could have been easily managed if the time would have been made up and a proper schedule was drafted.  Plus, a good planner knows how to negotiate with vendors to try to get you through the sticky situation of overages.  So, that brings me back to the question of “Do I really need a Day-of-Coordinator for my wedding?” My personal answer is simple… if you want peace of mind then yes.  If you want to be able to enjoy your event and allow everyone at that event to enjoy it along with you, yes.  If you want to make sure that the amount that you paid when every last contract was signed is the same amount that you pay at the end of your event, then yes.  If you want it done professionally with attention to detail, budget and time…YES!