You’ve popped the question, picked the date, and found a venue that you love. You may be thinking “I don’t need a wedding planner, the venue coordinator will handle everything for us!” A venue coordinator is a planner hired by the venue to handle wedding day details and make sure that your party at their location goes smoothly. I think that they are so valuable! They work so hard to handle all things venue on your special day, and I have loved working with them. However, do I think that they can replace a wedding planner? The short answer is no. Let me tell you why.

1. You Are the Top Priority

First things first, a wedding planner’s top priority is YOU. When it comes down to it, it is a venue coordinator's job to look out for the venue’s best interest. They will be focused on setup, food, bathrooms, etc. If they have to choose between making sure the reception is set up and helping get a stain out of your wedding dress, they’re going to care about the setup logistics. Their focus is less on the couple and more on keeping the venue and staff safe and on task. I’m not saying that this is a bad thing; that is where their focus should be!

A wedding planner, however, will be focused on you and only you. They will be by your side throughout the night, letting you know what is next on the schedule and getting you from place to place. If your veil is out of place, they will notice and fix it ASAP. The wedding planner will of course help coordinate set up and there will be overlap with the venue coordinator, but having both will make sure that you are covered and your day can be as smooth as absolutely possible.

2. Location Changes

Not all weddings take place in one venue. Especially here in Utah, there are a lot of celebrations that move from one location to another throughout the day. Because a venue coordinator works specifically for the venue, they will not travel from place to place with you or plan anything outside the scope of their location. A wedding planner is with you from makeup in the morning until your sendoff that night. Wherever the celebration goes, they will be there to facilitate the day’s events. They will bring your flowers out to the beach for a sandy ceremony then pack them up for a safe transfer to the reception venue, where the venue coordinator will be setting up for the party.

3 . You Choose Your Planner

Last, a venue coordinator is chosen and hired by the venue. You will not have any say in their individual style or process. A wedding planner, however, is someone that you can research and choose based on their style, work ethic, and personality. Venues are known to have a high coordinator turnover rate, so the person that you originally book your wedding with might not be the person that you are working with on your wedding day a year later. A coordinator also won’t typically get involved until close to the wedding date. Your wedding planner will be with you through the entire planning process. They will get to know you and your partner personally and make sure that the entire experience is everything you’ve dreamed it would be from invites to boutonnieres to the sendoff.

You deserve to have your dream day! In my opinion, hiring a wedding planner even when you will have a venue coordinator involved will make your wedding as special and stress-free as possible.