What's the difference between a venue coordinator and a wedding coordinator?

What are the roles and responsibilities for each, and do you need both for your wedding?

A venue coordinator is, to put it bluntly, there for the venue, not for you. A wedding coordinator that you hire, on the other hand, is there specifically to make sure your day runs smoothly and stays on track. I love working with amazing venue coordinators and hope to work with many more!

Venue Coordinators

A venue coordinators job is just that: the venue. This is not to say that venue coordinators are not very important, they are! Their jobs are crucial to your wedding day. They handle lots and lots of behind the scene tasks that you wouldn't ever think of, just so you can arrive to a beautiful venue, set up the way you like it for you and your big day.

However, often these venue coordinators are juggling a wedding every. single. weekend. during wedding season. That means they may be handling way more clients than a typical wedding coordinator would have. Their duties are not the same as a wedding coordinator. They may help people find their seats if needed, but they're not going to help when your cousin shows up with her kids to your child-free wedding. They have an important role on your big day and do a great job at it, but they're not the all-inclusive person you often need.

A venue coordinator's typical tasks and responsibilities:

• Ensures the safety and care of the venue

• Arranges the tables and chairs for your layout

• In charge of power & lighting

• Makes sure the bathrooms and the bar are stocked and clean

• Usually will not help set up your own decor

• Does not manage vendors, including overseeing their services provided or that they are following the timeline

• Does not assist with running wedding rehearsal

• Often at the venue from right before the ceremony begins to shortly after the reception or dinner begins

Wedding Coordinators (Month-Of & Day-Of)

A wedding coordinator (or month-of coordinator, wedding manager, wedding planner, etc!) on the other hand, is there solely to help YOU! They plan their job around you, and what you need. They usually start working with you 1-2 months before the wedding and help you to manage vendors, timeline, rehearsal and more. This is the person you want there as you're getting ready, who's going to make sure all your vendors show up on time, make sure your wedding party is walking down in the right order, and the person who's going to help you solve any little (or major!) problems as they pop up on your big day.

Wedding coordinators will typically help with setup and teardown, including placing out and cleaning up all of your centerpieces, place settings, and ceremony decorations. They'll run your wedding rehearsal and make sure everyone knows where to be and when to be there. They'll know your entire timeline and adjust it as needed if something runs behind or you're ahead of schedule.

A wedding coordinator's typical tasks & responsibilities:

• Run or assist with the wedding rehearsal

• Manage vendor communication from 30-60 days prior to the wedding, confirming timeline, final payments, and all services provided

• Will travel with you from ceremony to reception, there for every part of your big day

• Attend the ceremony & ensure the wedding party is walking down at the right time

• Set out decor before the reception, including place settings, centerpieces & place cards

• Clean up decor after the reception

• Manage the timeline on your wedding day and adjust events as needed

• Help move people from the ceremony to cocktail hour to the reception

• Act as the problem solver when little hiccups happen (Guests arrive 4 hours early? You shouldn't have to be the one to handle that!)

• Often the first one there and the last one out on your wedding day

If my venue provides a venue coordinator, should I still hire a wedding coordinator?

If you can, yes! The best way to ensure a wedding goes smoothly is to have a venue coordinator and a wedding coordinator that can work together. If the venue coordinator is setting up tables, then the wedding coordinator can follow behind and put your linens and centerpieces on them. Working hand-in-hand is important to make sure that your wedding day is as amazing as it can be.

The roles described here are common for my experiences, but they are not all encompassing. Some venue coordinators will help you with more, and some wedding coordinators will help you with less. There is always an exception to the rule, and I strongly encourage you to ask your vendors questions and read through all of your contracts to figure out exactly which services each will provide.

Happy wedding planning!