If you’re helping a bride select a wedding venue, don’t hesitate to recommend a place because they have a wedding and event coordinator. Their responsibilities are different than a wedding planner’s and a bride still needs you. My tips today can help you successfully work with a coordinator at a venue.
Question
I work in a big city where many venues have coordinators onsite. Can I use their venues for my brides? Will my brides fire me when they realize a coordinator comes with the venue?
Answer
Venues of every size in cities large and small very often have wedding and event coordinators. Of course, you can use these venues. Coordinators work with wedding planners and have a different role than you do, so brides still need you.
As a wedding planner, you need to be prepared to work with a venue’s coordinator to help your brides have the weddings they want.
Here are 5 tips for working successfully with them:
1) Explain to your bride what a coordinator at a venue does versus what you do
A venue’s coordinator is in charge of all of the things their venue provides. They do things like make sure the table and chairs are set up, manage the food and beverage provided by the venue, check that that the restrooms are ready for guests, oversee the venue staff and handle parking.
You work for the bride and handle every detail for her leading up to the wedding day and on the wedding day itself. You manage the budget, timeline, vendors and help the bride make decisions. You are there for her every step of the way, doing the things she needs you to do to make sure her day is stress free.
2) Set clear expectations with the coordinator
Position yourself, not your bride, as the point-of-contact for the wedding. You need to be the one involved in all the day-to-day details.
Meet with the coordinator and write a list of each of your responsibilities so you are both clear about your duties and nothing is forgotten.
If your bride booked the venue before she hired you, talk to her and explain the advantages of having you work with the venue’s wedding coordinator for her.
3) Don’t let the venue’s coordinator manage the other wedding vendors
Be the point-of-contact for all the vendors involved in the wedding. You need to know their concerns and answer their questions. If you let them contact the venue’s coordinator, you may not know of any problems until they become emergencies.
4) Stay in contact with your bride
Ask your bride how often she would like status on the wedding planning details and abide by her request (of course, contact her immediately if something needs special attention). You don’t want her calling the venue’s coordinator, or other vendors, for status updates because you didn’t stay in touch with her as often as she wanted.
5) Respect the role that venue wedding coordinators play
Coordinators are experts on weddings at their venue. They know what works best and can provide suggestions for proper lighting, sound and a floorplan that works for the size of your bride’s guest list. They can make your work easier so treat them as valuable partners in your success.
And if you want more help to become a top wedding planner, sign in to get my ezine “Wedding Planner Tips.”
