Why Do Wedding Vendors Offer Exclusive Discounts to Wedding Coordinators?

Vendors tell me that they offer discounts to professional coordinators for a number of reasons. When there is a Wedding Coordinator, there will be fewer phone calls to their businesses, they have one person to coordinate with instead of trying to reach a busy bride, or deal with multiple friends and family members.  They know that someone is going to be present for deliveries at a time that is convenient for them and is going to keep a protective eye on their equipment.

At the wedding itself, vendors only have to concentrate on what they were hired to do.  So many times a DJ or a photographer end up adding to their duties things that a coordinator would do but without a picture of the event as it has developed over a longer period of time.  Coordinators can communicate with the vendors to help keep things on a schedule or informing them of changes that are going to have to be made due to key people arriving late and mishaps that are just going to happen because life still happens even if it is a wedding day.  A Wedding Coordinator is there to keep all of them informed of anything that might effect the timeline which has been developed with all of the vendors in mind.  I hear from vendors all the time that their job is made so much easier when a Wedding Coordinator is present.

I don't only work with vendors that give discounts, because many vendors have a great product or talent as well as great pricing.  I enjoy being able to pass on discounts to clients from vendors because it can sometimes make the difference in them getting the wedding they've dreamed of as compared to one they feel they have had to settle for. Clients consistently say that they were reluctant to hire a Wedding Coordinator, but later say hiring a coordinator was one of the best decisions they made.

Wishing you the greatest of days!

Greatest of Days Event and Wedding Planning

What Happens When You Hire a Wedding Coordinator? Part 1.

A wedding Coordinator basically starts out by getting to know what you envision for your wedding after they have determined if they will be available for your wedding day.  You can expect questions that will help them determine what you like, dislike, how you met and get a glimpse of what has brought you to the point where you want to spend the rest of your lives together.  Before you know it, you will have found words or your coordinator has found words to describe exactly what you want your wedding day to be like.   Everything from the look, the feel, the sounds and even the tastes will be put together like a puzzle.

They'll likely want to know what your family backgrounds are such as your parents' marital status or family dynamics are so that awkward moments can be avoided later.  It's always better that finding out this type of information right away long before a seating chart is discussed.

A Wedding Coordinator, like most wedding vendors wants to do the best job possible and establish the parameters of what can be a 6 -16 month relationship in developing the most celebrated day in your adult life.  What a good Wedding Coordinator should do is listen and listen some more.  You should feel like you have found a new friend who is really going to have your back.  From that, you will be pleasantly surprised at how much you wedding day is "so you".

My clients are always surprised at the number of emails that will go back and forth even for a Day-of Coordination.  Speaking of that, you should expect to have quick responses to your questions and not feel that any question is a stupid question.  We realize that you probably have not planned a wedding before and even if you have helped someone plan theirs, it's so different when it is your own.

To sum it up, just be prepared to talk about the most anticipated celebration in your life and what it looks like in your mind's eye.  You'll know everything is going well when you end up having  many laughs and probably even develop some inside jokes along the way!  A Wedding Coordinator will spend more time with you than any other vendor for your wedding.  Here's a little secret or why you might think you're seeing your Wedding Coordinator tear up a little bit!  What?  Really? After your wedding, your Wedding Coordinator is probably going to really miss you and will be absolutely thrilled to hear how you're doing and hear about the latest adventures in your life.  We're professionals, but we are people first and develop a warm spot in our hearts for our clients.

As Always, wishing you the greatest of days!


Greatest of Days, Wedding and Event Planning, Designing and Officiating


Next, we'll talk about the unknown ways a Wedding Coordinator can help you!

Why You Should Not Plan Your Wedding Online!

What??  Well, not entirely, that is!  If you are interested in truly getting the best deals, the best information and have your questions answered in real time by someone who isn't anonymous or unknown to you, you must meet vendors face to face!  It's hard as millennials to get comfortable with this concept.  This is uncomfortable for a lot of individuals, but particularly in this age group.

It feels like I am online almost constantly, but as a Wedding Coordinator, I know all too well that you cannot get the very best information for planning a wedding online.  You will only get the best prices and advice by talking to people who are in the business and have relationships with real people who specialize in their particular area pertaining to weddings.

It's easy to sit at the computer, and it's actually a ton of fun to see all that is available out there to customize a wedding.  However, planning a wedding isn't all about what it will look like or just picking vendors without really getting to know them.  How do you know what questions to ask a vendor?  How do you know if you are seeing the warning signs or not?  How do you know if you are even going to like them?  Do you really want to get advice from other brides on how to plan a wedding versus people who know what the realities are to every detail of a wedding?  Do you know what you should ask before signing any contracts with a particular venue or vendor.  Do you know why things costs what they do for your wedding, i.e. catering vs. a nice dinner out or why you might not be saving money getting your wine or champagne at the big box stores?  Do you know why you're going to pay more for a particular type of flower at certain times of the year?  Do you know what the laws are in your particular state as compared to advice you get online?  How will you know if you have all the bases covered without getting an education first on the essentials of planning a wedding spoken from proven professionals?

What you don't know can hurt you!  As a bride, you would have no way of knowing how many venues and vendors are hoping for Wedding Coordinators to conduct workshops to teach brides about the wedding industry.  It's a concept that would prove to help brides and also make wedding vendors and venues be able to serve their clients much more efficiently which saves money for everyone in the long run.  So why mention all of this?  If this was not true, you would not be hearing more about venues requiring that a bride hire an independent Wedding Consultant in order to book a wedding at their venue.

For the benefit of all brides out there planning weddings, you must look for opportunities to learn in real live situations, workshops and stop limiting your advice only to websites, forums and yes....blogs!  You have to get out in the real world to save yourself a lot of time and money. Hey, wouldn't it be cool to have a shorter engagement?  Now that can save you a LOT of money!  One example of how you can do that is to go to www.bridal4-1-1workshops.com and take a look at what you're not taking advantage of.  For every 10 hours  (maybe more) you spend on the computer filtering through information about planning your wedding, you could find more information from a workshop or a Wedding Coordinator in just 2 hours.

So it depends on how much you trust information online to be reliable as compared to a professional who makes it their livelihood and truly has a passion for what they do.  If they didn't have passion for what they do and the greatest desire to help brides, they would probably choose another line of work.  Their jobs require long hours before and after the wedding, weekends away from home and family, and a phenomenal amount of time marketing for the number of clients they might receive.

I absolutely love being online and I wouldn't have a business without it, but brides and wedding vendors alike, we have to get out in the real world to really know what is going on in the world of weddings.  No matter what we would prefer, there is no substitute.

Wishing you the greatest of days!


Janis Flagg, Event and Wedding Coordinator


Creating memories to bring a smile to your face for years to come!


http://www.bridal4-1-1workshops.com/
http://www.greatestofdays.com/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NkKIjSu9dbA