Why “Day-of” Wedding Coordination Is Not Enough

It’s your first day as a barista at Starbucks, you’ve been given a few days of training, you know how to make a latte and then somewhat walks in and asks for the secret off-menu “Samoa Frappuccino upside down”. Is that latte going to turn out great? Even the most experienced barista would have a hard time pulling it off.  Wedding day coordination is a bit like this. 

A newly engaged couple spends one year (on average) planning, considering, creating and preparing for every little detail of their wedding day. It takes a team of professionals to make a wedding come to life, including venues, caterers, photographers, beauty teams, entertainment, transportation, sound and lighting production, cake bakers, rental suppliers, and many more. Communication with these vendors contributes directly to the success of the team.  If one person is late or doesn’t know their role in the overall flow of the day, it can be a domino effect.  Often times, key vendors are hired over 1 year in advance and will need to make changes/updates to their plans over the course of the planning period.

Asking a coordinator to step in and bring the vision to life right before the wedding is like asking an attorney to argue your case in court without having been a part of any research, planning, or previous communication with key players until a few weeks before the wedding.   

Would you ask an actor to perform without rehearsal?  Probably not! While given a few weeks of preparation like for your wedding management package, we do our best to understand all the important details so the day goes off without a hitch. But still, we didn’t plan this wedding or guide you starting a year out, there is a much higher likelihood that something will go wrong that is completely outside of our control.

Trying to plan your own wedding with no previous experience is a daunting task.  It takes our team, on average, over 300 hours of communication with vendors in the year leading up to the wedding day.  We have over 6 years of experience, have carefully honed our process, know what to ask, and can anticipate potential challenges to troubleshoot problems early. 

If you think event day-of coordination is enough, I challenge you to evaluate your schedule and ask yourself if you trust someone stepping in at the very end to bring all of your plans to life.  Even the most talented actors, baristas and wedding planners have a hard time being successful at the 11th hour.  Is that a risk you are willing to take?

Still think you want to get started without a full-service planner? Check out our article on the first three thing to do to get started with planning your wedding.

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Ness McGovern Events & Design is New-Jersey based wedding planning company, specializing in full-planning and design services, we service New Jersey, New York City and up and down the northeast coast. We’ve had the pleasure of guiding couples through wedding planning in Connecticut, New Jersey, New York and New York City, Vermont, Cape Cod, and Rhode Island.

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