I was lucky enough to sit down recently with Bec from South Coast Wedding Coordinators. Bec, a lifetime resident on the South Coast, has been in the wedding industry for 15 years working as a Planner, Wedding Manager and Wedding Coordinator for established venues in both Gerringong and Kiama. 15 months ago, in addition to promotion to Functions Manager with her Kiama employer, a Monday to Friday gig, she decided to put all of her hard work and experience to the test and start her own business: South Coast Wedding Coordinators.
Bec and I met at one of our first weddings at Eleven Eighty – “The Venue with a Twist”. Bec fell in love with the character and eclectic spaces our south coast wedding venue offers, and we loved Bec’s capable, calm and detailed orientated style, plus her wealth of knowledge in the wedding space.
Our chat inspired me to put together this blog. The title was supposed to be along the lines of questioning: “Should you go the extra expense of hiring a wedding coordinator?” But all it took was the time to enjoy one cider and a G&T respectively, and I was firmly in the camp of: “A wedding coordinator is an essential, not a luxury for your special day.”
My top reasons for hiring a wedding coordinator are as follows:
- You don’t know what you don’t know. Bec has coordinated literally hundreds of weddings over the course of her career. She knows the potential pitfalls to look out for and she knows what works. She will bring all your vendors together and she knows the questions to ask and what will and won’t work logistically.
- This is probably Bec’s top tip. You may think you can delegate to family members and friends to cut out the cost of a wedding coordinator, and in theory this is a great idea. However, in reality, it just doesn’t work. If you are part of the bridal party, you get caught up in the day. You want your friends and family to enjoy the occasion and be present, not stressing about details, set up and timings. Hiring a coordinator ensures that everyone you invite can enjoy themselves and relax.
- Things will go wrong. However detailed orientated you are, however much you pride yourself on being good at planning, little challenges will present themselves on the day. Take the stress out of it by having a professional on site who is calm and has a proven track record at finding solutions and improvising.
- Time-saving: Planning a wedding can take up a lot of time, especially if you have a busy schedule. A wedding coordinator can help you save time by handling the details such as coordinating with vendors, managing timelines, and handling any issues that arise.
- Stress reducing: Wedding planning can be stressful, and having a professional on board can help to reduce that stress and allow you to enjoy the whole experience.
- Vendor Connections: Wedding coordinators have established relationships with vendors in the industry.
- Attention to detail: A wedding coordinator is responsible for ensuring that every detail of your wedding day is perfect from the ceremony to the reception. They will be there to manage the timeline, coordinate with the vendors and handle any issues that arise.
From an Eleven Eighty perspective, I have acted as Site Manager and witness to both wedding days run by family and friends and those run by an experienced wedding coordinator. The difference is noticeable. One thing to note, is that a site manager is not a wedding coordinator (people often get confused). A site manager is there to ensure that the venue adheres to set council regulations (numbers of people, noise etc) and is there as a back-up should anything go wrong with the venue (power etc). As site manager at a DIY wedding venue such as Eleven Eighty, is not there to set up or coordinate your wedding. Things we have observed with weddings where no coordinator is on site:
- Timelines quickly go array. You may be a very chilled out bride and groom and not be worried about this but be aware that it puts pressure on your vendors – in particular your caterers. We have seen huge chunks of the day get missed – it always seems to be the cake cutting! We have seen speeches or photography sessions overrun and not leave enough time for the much-anticipated dancing.
- We have seen the stress it has put on nominated members of the bridal party. At Eleven Eighty, we will always ask for a point of contact outside of the bride and groom if no wedding coordinator is on site. We don’t want to be taking problems or questions to the couple on the big day, so the role often falls to the best man, chief bridesmaid or MC. Instead of getting to focus on the day, they find often find themselves in a stressful role making guesses as they don’t necessarily have the answers to our questions.
Overall, hiring a wedding coordinator can help make your wedding planning process smoother, less stressful, and more enjoyable. They can provide valuable advice and guidance, save you time and money and ensure that every detail of your wedding day is executed flawlessly.
