Mandi Downs of Champagne NW: Why Hire a Wedding Coordinator?

We're so happy to have Mandi Downs of Champagne Weddings and Events back to guest blog for us! Today she is sharing with us the importance of hiring a wedding coordinator! We agree this is a very important vendor to hire for your wedding and we love the way she explains why ... So, here she is to do just that:

It’s no secret that weddings cost a lot of money and when it comes down to figuring out your budget and what you should spend where, it’s easy to cut out the luxury items, such as a wedding planner! But the inside scoop is that a wedding planner is not a luxury item. Having a professional wedding planner, whether you hire them for the day of or full service, can help you create a budget, stay within your budget, save money, pick quality vendors to fit within your budget [After all, coordinators spend much of their time networking and getting to know vendors], make sure that your day, that you’ve spend hours and thousands planning, goes the way you’ve planned, and the list does not begin to end there!

In my last post I touched on how important having a professional timeline and someone to run it is, but what’s even more important than that is, knowing what you are going to wish you had done before it’s too late. How are you going to do that? The problem is, you’re not. You’ll never be able to get a preview of your wedding day and be able to change the things you will wish you had later, but what you can do is learn from other people’s mistakes. I talked to a few married couples that chose to save money and forgo a coordinator. Here’s what they said:

“I absolutely loved my wedding! Everything turned out great, but if I could do it all over again I would have definitely hired a wedding planner. I remember standing at the alter thinking, “I wonder if the cake lady found the flowers to put on the cake?” “Did my mom light all the candles?” When I should have been up there enjoying my wedding, instead of thinking about all the small things that I hoped would get done. A wedding planner is a must now days... Your wedding day is gone in a blink of an eye, so leave the details to the wedding planner so you can enjoy the beginning of the rest of your life together.

~Imelda

“There were so many things that would have been nice NOT to worry about. Such as having my Auntie Mel stand at the back during the ceremony and direct the wedding party when to go, not having to worrying about setting up, having our guests move their chairs after the ceremony to the tables for the reception. It would have been more enjoyable for everyone if there was someone to take care of those things instead of me, family and guests. I, also, think we would have had more to choose from as far as DJ and other vendor. Our DJ was terrible!!”

~Trisha & Nathan

“For financial reasons and because we were having a small wedding, I thought a wedding coordinator was unnecessary. The fact is, no matter the size of the wedding, it needs coordinated and if you’re not going to hire someone, you’ll have to do it yourself. What I didn’t realize until after the wedding is that by relying on myself and family members to do the job of the coordinator, we would all miss out on a lot of the enjoyment of the wedding. Some important family and friends didn’t even get to see the ceremony because they were busy getting ready for the reception; as for me, I was just glad when it was over. The stress of making all the arrangements and keeping track of the details took away from the day and what it was all about. I would highly recommend all brides hire a coordinator. The benefits out way the costs immensely. There are some things that you just shouldn’t have to think about or worry over on your wedding day and having a capable event planner is the quickest fix for all the wedding day drama.”

~Keri & Derek

Though this is just a small sampling of brides that wished they would have, I run into people all of the time that after telling them what I do say, “Aw, I wish I would have had a wedding coordinator at my wedding” or “Oh, I wish I would have known a better florist to hire.” Though the possibility of things coming up on your wedding day may be great, having a professional there that can troubleshoot and help run things smoothly is a small price to pay to ensure a successful event!

~Mandi