Your wedding vendors are a huge part of your celebration and make a big impact on your day. Their role is to help make your wedding run smoothly, take some of the stress off your shoulders, and ultimately, they are there to support you and make your wedding enjoyable!
If you don’t know where to start when it comes to hiring wedding vendors, don’t worry – below, I’m sharing with you which wedding vendors you need, and what the main differences are between wedding vendors with similar titles.
Wedding Vendor Checklist
Each wedding is different, so who you ultimately choose to hire will vary depending on what you’re looking for.
When choosing which vendors are the perfect fit for your day, I always recommend making sure that you spend a decent amount of time researching each vendor and looking through their work and reviews. During the hiring process, revisit your top priorities and values to ensure that your wedding vendors will thoroughly support your vision.
Ultimately, the vendors you select will be based on your vision, budget, and the level of support you require throughout the wedding process. As a wedding photographer, these are my top recommendations on which vendors to prioritize hiring to help you bring your wedding vision to life and to make your day as stress-free as possible:
- Wedding planner
- Venue
- Wedding photographer
- Wedding videographer
- Wedding designer
- Florist
- Caterer
- Musicians / Live Entertainment
- Hair & Makeup
- Officiant
Many other vendors can be a part of your day, as this list isn’t exhaustive. However, it’s a good starting point as you begin planning your wedding. And if you’re wondering which vendor you should hire first, my answer is a wedding planner. A wedding planner can help you determine which other vendors to hire and provide vendor recommendations. They can also help you keep your vision (and budget) on track.
What’s the Difference Between a Wedding Planner, vs Wedding Coordinator, vs Wedding Designer vs Venue Coordinator?
As you start the process of researching vendors and deciding who you want to work with, you’re likely going to come across a few different vendor titles. It can be confusing to understand the exact differences between vendors with similar titles.
I thought it would be helpful to break down the differences between four wedding vendor roles that are often misunderstood or used interchangeably. For example, wedding coordinators vs day-of/month-of wedding coordinators often get lumped together and treated as the same, even though they both have distinct responsibilities and roles.
Here’s a side-by-side comparison of each role:
What is the difference between a wedding planner vs day/ month of coordinator?
A wedding planner helps you throughout the entire wedding process with planning, logistics, and vendor management. A day-of or month-of coordinator is different from your wedding planner, as they aren’t a part of your entire wedding planning process. Instead, a day-of wedding coordinator’s responsibilities revolve around timeline execution and management either on the day of your celebration or up to a month in advance.
Do you need a wedding planner or a day-of planner?
The answer – it really depends on how much support you want.
If you choose to hire a day-of wedding coordinator, remember you’re going to be responsible for all of the wedding planning leading up to your celebration. However, when you hire a wedding planner, they will take on the roles and responsibilities that a “day-of coordinator” would typically handle for your wedding.
Which is why, before making your decision, it’s important to consider how much time you have to plan your wedding, determine your budget, and decide on how much assistance you’re looking for throughout the planning process.
What is a Wedding Designer?
A wedding designer assists with visual styling, decor, and the aesthetics of your celebration. Sometimes a wedding designer may also be a wedding planner, but make sure you ask about this before making any assumptions.
Venue Coordinator vs Wedding Planner
A venue coordinator’s responsibilities typically include management solely of the venue, not the entire wedding.
A key difference to remember is that a venue coordinator works with the interests of your venue, whereas a wedding planner works in your and your partner’s interests. For instance, for anything that takes place off-site of the venue, the venue coordinator would not be responsible for handling.
I’ve noticed that some couples don’t hire a wedding planner and instead rely on the venue coordinator to fill that role. This can lead to some things being missed or overlooked on your wedding day.
I think it’s very important to point out that your venue coordinator is not a replacement for a wedding planner or wedding designer, as some things that pop up throughout the day (management of vendors, something missing, etc) aren’t their job to fix.
Questions to ask your Venue Coordinator
Your venue coordinator will work with your wedding designer and wedding planner, and if you want to know what exactly your venue coordinator will be responsible for on the day of your celebration, here are some clarifying questions you can ask:
- Will you coordinate our celebration?
- If the answer is yes, can you clarify what your wedding day responsibilities will be and how you’ll be assisting us? Are there any additional charges we should know about?
- How often will you meet with us leading up to our wedding day? Will you be meeting with us at least one month in advance to discuss plans made and vendors?
- Will you be in contact with our vendors to ensure everything is in order? How far in advance will you be contacting them?
- Will you be assisting us with creating and reviewing a timeline of our day?
- Will you be meeting with our vendors on the day of to show them the layout of the venue?
These are some examples of questions you can ask to get the full picture of how exactly your wedding vendor coordinator will be helping you – especially if you’re not planning on hiring a wedding planner. It’s always a good idea to know in advance what responsibilities your venue coordinator will have.
Now You’re Ready to Book Your Wedding Vendors
Hopefully, you found all this info on which wedding vendors to book helpful. Don’t forget to bookmark this page for later so you can easily come back to it as you start hiring your vendors and begin the wedding planning process!
And…if you are still looking for the perfect wedding photographer in New York to photograph your celebration, I’d love to connect. Your story is one-of-a-kind, and my mission is to preserve it with care, authenticity, and intention.
You can click the link here to check out my wedding photography services or get in touch here!
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