Why you need to hire a PROFESSIONAL Wedding Coordinator, Part 3

3. Our Job is to be with YOU!

There were days when I would have a wedding when I worked at the hotel and I honestly wish science had a way to clone me in about 5 minutes so I could be in all the places I needed to be at the same time. Hotel Coordinators really do run around a LOT! Their main job is to make sure that the function is pulled off without a hitch. It is really hard to be at one end of the hotel in the kitchen to make sure that the plate up of your entrée is being done according to your specifications, then in the banquet staging area to make sure that the timing of service is perfect and courses will be served in the correct order…oh, and making sure I can spare 5 minutes to get you announced in to your wedding reception. A Professional Wedding Coordinator is there for you alone that day, a personal assistant of sorts. You need something, we do it. I can tell you I have gotten some outrageous requests, but if it is legal, I will try anything in my power to get it accomplished. It’s my job. You should not be the last person or thing to have assistance on your wedding day.

2. All the Extras

Who are you going to turn to when you need to keep track of your RSVP’s, give your final head count to your venue, keep you on point with final payments and your timeline, bustle your train or even help you in that dress, hold your bouquet or your ring, make sure you keep your vendor appointments, design a tablescape with you, most importantly, be your part time therapist when you are ready to strangle your bridesmaids or scream at your mother? Don’t call your Hotel Coordinator.

1. We LOVE what we do!

Listen, you are only supposed to get married once. A ton of women dream of this day from the time they are little. I can tell you the name of my dress and exactly what my ceremony and reception will look like and I am not getting married any time soon. Your wedding is IMPORTANT! Not only is it your dream, it is a reflection of your love, the beginning of your life together, a gathering of your closest family and friends, one hell of a party and one of the most expensive things you will do in your life (next to children and buying a house.) Why would you leave it in the hands of someone who is not educated, not connected to people who can help you and most importantly someone who doesn’t LOVE what they do? Professional Wedding Coordinators love what they do. There is no way you can do this job and not. It is fast paced and high stress but we make people’s dream come true. When you open the door for a bride so she can see her reception room for the first time, it makes it all worth it. We are in the business of happy. Don’t risk that day just to save a few bucks. It’s not worth it in the end.

Why you need to hire a PROFESSIONAL Wedding Coordinator, Part 2

In continuation to last night's post, here are reasons 4-7 on why you need to hire a PROFESSIONAL Wedding Coordinator.

7. Wedding Day Management

I know we all have family who volunteer to help us pull off our special day but when it comes down to it, your mother is going to be getting her hair and makeup done right along with you plus she is going to be trying to keep you calm. She isn’t going to have time to set out your centerpieces, tie perfect bows on your chairs or set up your ceremony, neither are most venues. Hotel Planners usually don’t get to the hotel until a few hours before the ceremony/reception and that is if they even help to set up at all. A lot can go wrong in those few hours if you don’t have anyone monitoring your room set and your vendors. Will you know if your photographer is late? If your makeup artist is lost? Your officiant double booked? Your cake was dropped? I have honestly had all of these things happen. Would you know what to do if that happened? More importantly, would your venue? Do you want to chance it?

6. Vacation all I ever wanted

Point blank, you sign a contract with a Professional Wedding Coordinator for your wedding, you have your Wedding Coordinator. Do it with a hotel, you may not. I will be in Italy for my birthday, I am sorry your wedding happens to be that day, I however, don’t have any obligation to be there for it because the Hotel approved my time off. Sounds bad but it is true. Have fun with the person who knows nothing about your day, your style or your wishes to how things should be run.

5. Networking and Industry Pull

Networking is key to all of our success as Professional Wedding Coordinators. We are always selling our services, but more importantly, we are always searching for new talent to promote to our brides. We make it our business to be up on industry standards, new trends and to have a large network of Photographers, DJ’s, Florists, Makeup Artists, Limo Companies, Bridal Shops and more to fit our brides with the best vendor for their budget, personal style and personality. We tell our brides that our vendor list, which we take great care in building, is the best of the best. That they should take contacting these vendors as a job interview. If the vendor doesn’t get back to them within 48 hours, they don’t get the job. Apparently they have so much business coming through the door that they don’t need to take phone calls. If they are rude, unprofessional or your personalities just don’t click, you don’t use them. I also want to know, I need the good, the bad and the ugly of all feedback. Things happen, but I monitor that list and trust me it’s easier to get off it than on it. Sometimes venues pick vendors based on kickbacks for referrals. A great example was a Hotel I worked for got a 20% kickback from a Photography company. The problem is, you never met your photographer. You were sent a “certified photographer” from their company. You didn’t know if your personalities matched, if they were a traditional or photojournalistic photographer and you will not have seen their portfolio before your wedding. I would never put my name on this. My reputation means too much to me and I don’t care how much money you want to offer me to refer you, I won’t risk my bride being disappointed. Will your Hotel Coordinator? Remember, you don’t get a re-do.

4. Professional Wedding Coordinators can SAVE you MONEY!

That’s right! We CAN save you money. Unheard of I know but it can be done! I recently saved a bride of mine over 2500.00. How? I know my industry and what can, and can’t, be done. You tell me what you want the majority of your budget to go to and what we can play with and we can work miracles. Do you know there are ways around that room rental? That you can chose different menu options that are in season to save you. That plated dinners are almost always cheaper than a buffet because you account for more than one serving and more than one entrée per person where as plated you have a set amount without the variables. That you can do a lot of the stunning things you see on all those wedding shows that you don’t think you have the budget for but you really do? You just need someone who knows how to guide you through the process. A Hotel Coordinator’s job is to make you spend money. They are in the sales industry, more than half the time they get bonused off of the money you spend in addition to what you originally contracted for. That chocolate fountain, the upgraded champagne, the duet plate…CHA-CHING! It is business, you can’t be upset. It is just nice to know you have someone in your corner to make sure it is reasonable and that you are being treated fairly.

Why you need to hire a PROFESSIONAL Wedding Coordinator and NOT your Venue Coordinator

A while back I wrote this piece for an AMAZING Officiant, Virginia Bishop, and decided it was about time to put it on my own blog. I can really speak to this because I have been the "Venue Coordinator" and I know how it can work to your advantage and most likely your DISADVANTAGE. In the beginning, using the Coodinator that works at the Venue seems like an easy, and cost effective, option but I want all of the Brides reading this to think twice about your decision. Odds are good you wouldn't always get someone like me working at that Venue and the money you spend on a professional coordinator can save you bundles in the long run. Over the next few days I will be posting some of my top 10 reasons to go with a Professional. Tonight we have 8-10.

In today’s stellar economy, brides, whether their budget is $5,000.00 or $500,000.00, are trying to find creative ways to reduce expenses while pulling off their dream wedding. One of the alarming trends we are beginning to see in the industry is instead of obtaining the services of a Professional Wedding Coordinator, brides and their families are opting to go with the venue “wedding coordinator” that is provided at no cost once they sign a contract to host their wedding there. As a former Hotel Wedding Coordinator I can say that 75% of venue “wedding coordinators” are not trained in weddings and a large percentage don’t exactly have a passion for the industry, have a desire to be a Professional Wedding Coordinator or even like weddings…it’s just a job. Venue Coordinators are great…for handling venue logistics NOT for executing an all encompassing flawless day.

Here are 10 things to be mindful of when you decide to forgo a Professional Wedding Coordinator:

10. Contractual Obligations

You sign a lot of contracts in the wedding planning process. It’s not the most fun aspect of planning but these contracts protect you and the vendors you are working with. The photographer you love, that funky DJ, your amazing floral designer, they are all guaranteed to be working their magic on your wedding day. Signing that venue contract guarantees you the venue and maybe will lock in your menu and pricing. It does not guarantee that “planner” you have been hammering out every detail with over the past year has to be there. I can’t begin to tell you how many brides I felt bad for leaving at my former venues but life happens and in the end, I was just the one to sell it to you. You signed with my venue, not with me.

9. Education

It’s a growing source of contention and bitterness with Professional Wedding Coordinators that Hotel Coordinators can hold a title such as “Certified Wedding Planner” without having any experience. Trust me, I took the “Certified Wedding Planner” Exam through the major hotel chain I was working for that offers it. It’s 20 or 30 questions asking things like what side of the aisle does the Groom’s Parents sit on? It is so easy the Executive Chef and the Banquet Captain accidentally took it and passed. That exam doesn’t teach you anything you need to know about weddings other than a few basics and tips, at least it’s not enough to pull off a successful one. Professional Wedding Coordinators should be a member of the Association of Bridal Consultants and through this organization they require that you have a certain amount of continuing education credits each year to stay a member. I currently hold the title of Accrediated Bridal Consultant which required me to study about Wedding Day Management, Etiquette, Marketing and more, pass exams and do a final project and submit a binder and essays for approval, requiring proof of your work. That binder has taken me months to produce, it is not something that is done in a day. Obtaining the Master Bridal Consultant designation is even more difficult. It’s understandable why we may be offended with someone running around with a “Certified Wedding Planner” title which only took a 20 question test and half an hour to get. We have the training to fix what could go wrong but more importantly, have the education to spot those potential disasters before they even happen.

8. Going the Distance

What was my favorite part of being a Hotel Planner? Getting to go home right after the entrees were served on the table! Did you really think Hotel Planners had to stay for your entire event? Think again! My job was to be there at about 1 or 2 in the afternoon, make sure your room got set up, make sure the ceremony looked ok if it was being held at the hotel and make sure the Kitchen and Banquet staff were on point with what was listed on the event orders you signed. Once that food was out of the box and on your headtable I was gone. See ya! Have a wonderful marriage! I didn’t have to be concerned if you knew how to make that first cut in your cake, if the DJ knew when you start the party music or if your gifts got to your room. I wasn’t getting paid at that point to be concerned. Now, if I am your Professional Wedding Coordinator, I was there at 8am, making sure you made your hair and makeup appointments on time, trying to get you to munch on some food so you don’t starve, make sure everyone is dressed, ready and fabulous to be prepared for those important pre-wedding photos, running to the store when you accidentally rip your pantyhose…then maybe on to Popeyes to get you a biscuit because that is all you can even eat because you are nervous. All the while getting chair bows tied, your place cards perfectly set up, laying out the coolest candy bar ever seen and placing all your favors for your guests while making sure vendors are on time. Then there is lining the wedding party up for the ceremony while being crafty enough to keep the bride and groom apart and getting you two down that aisle. Bustling your train, getting you announced in your room, making sure you have a blast, getting your gifts, your luggage and probably your shoes back to your room and giving you an amazing send off. See who at the hotel will do that.

It's been a long time coming...

I DID IT!

Finally, after all of the dreaming, longing, thinking, rethinking, OVERTHINKING, I finally did it! I have started my own Wedding and Event Design Company! Cielo Celebrations has been in the works for years and only now do I feel like I am completely ready to take the leap. I have some of the most wonderful and supportive friends, the best boyfriend a girl could ask for and am surrounded by the BEST Wedding and Event Talent I could ever imagine! Thank you to all of you who told me that this wasn't just doable, but possible.

I look forward to working with all of my fabulous brides, both present and in the future. Check back often to see what's new in wedding and event trends, styles or just news and gossip!

It's gonna be a fabulous ride kids!

Love it!