The Difference Between Wedding Coordination and Wedding Planning

When planning a wedding, one of the biggest decisions you’ll need to make is whether you want assistance preparing your big day. Wedding coordinators and wedding planners can be a huge support for couples who don’t want to spend endless hours dealing with all of the elements of planning a wedding. Here we’re going to discover what the difference is between wedding coordination and wedding planning. While these two services have some similarities, you’ll find that there are differences in the level of support they offer.

A wedding planner handles all of the logistics of planning your wedding. They’ll work with you to understand your goals for your wedding and then try to bring your dreams for your big day to life. They are similar to a project manager and can work with you from the moment that you decide to get married through to the tasks leftover after the big day. At Ori Wedding Agency our experienced planners will handle every detail providing you with unforgettable experience throughout the entire process – from arranging your arrival at the wedding venue to overseeing the transfer of photo materials.

There are many different tasks that a wedding planner can support you with. One of the first goals they’ll have is to create a task list, detailing what you need to do at various stages of the planning process. They’ll also work with you to create your budget. While you will be able to decide how much you want to spend on your wedding day, they’ll support you in determining where to spend your money to remain within your budget.

Once they have an idea about your goals for your wedding day, they can help you with ceremony and reception site visits. They’ll also have a list of vendor recommendations and can work with you to find reliable vendors and negotiate your contracts. Wedding planners can even attend meetings with you and the vendors to guide you through this process. If you are planning a destination wedding, they’ll support you with accommodation, activities, and guest management.

When it comes to the wedding day itself, they’ll create the floor plan and timeline for your big day, including the transportation timeline. Instead of rushing around worrying about why vendors have not turned up on time, they can take this stress away from you so you can focus on enjoying your big day. At the end of the day, they’ll be there to help pack down so you can just appreciate being with your loved ones.

On average, a wedding planner will spend about 150 hours planning a wedding. As only about 15 hours of work take place on the wedding day itself, they offer you a lot of support leading up to the big day. A wedding planner is ideal for anyone who is planning a large and elaborate wedding, but they can also be used for smaller services such as assistance through the legal procedures for official marriage registration. Wedding planners naturally require you to have money in your budget for this service, but if you are short of time or work a very high-pressure job, it’s an investment well worth making.

Another reason that people opt to use a wedding planner is that they really have no idea where to start when it comes to wedding planning. Some couples also use this service if they are very limited for time and have a wedding coming up within a short timeframe. It’s the perfect service to use for a destination wedding or a wedding with multiple events, as you won’t have to worry about visiting the destination or country too regularly in the lead up to your wedding. 

We at Ori have extensive experience working remotely with couples worldwide within tight timeframes. Although six months to a year is ideal for planning a destination wedding, we’ve successfully organized weddings in just a couple of months, so don’t hesitate to explore options even if you’re short on time.

However, if you’re someone who wants full control over your wedding and enjoys organization, this might not be a service that’s worth spending the extra money on. Check out our blog on Why You Should Hire a Wedding Planner to discover more about how our wedding planners work with couples.

A wedding coordinator is someone who will support you with the coordination and the logistics of your wedding day. As we detailed above, a wedding planner is involved in the planning process from the very beginning, whereas a wedding coordinator usually steps in just one month before your wedding day. A wedding coordinator isn’t hired to plan your wedding. They just work to oversee and execute the wedding day to reduce stress and allow you to take a step back and enjoy your ceremony and reception.

Compared to a wedding planner, a wedding coordinator will usually work between 25 to 40 hours on a wedding. Again, about 15 of these hours will be on the wedding day. You’ll be left to plan your wedding and make most of the big decisions, but they’ll help to oversee your plans so you can enjoy your day without thinking about all of the logistics.

A wedding coordinator is a good option for anyone who wants to take a more active role in the planning of their wedding day. You’ll then have support to go through the last-minute details and make sure you haven’t missed anything ahead of your big day. If you are well organized, you likely will just require a wedding coordinator instead of a wedding planner. We also recommend this option for anyone planning a smaller wedding or working on a tight budget, as a wedding planner can add quite a bit to the overall cost of your wedding.

When it comes to choosing a wedding planner or wedding coordinator, it’s completely up to you how much support you need. You may also feel brave enough to plan and coordinate everything by yourself, but this is usually only recommended for very simple and smaller weddings. If you feel completely clueless about where to start with wedding planning, using a wedding planner is a great option. They’ll come with years of expertise and experience and be able to help you pull off your dream wedding. For couples that want to be heavily involved in the planning process and feel they will enjoy this in the run up to their wedding day, using a wedding coordinator is likely the best option for you.

Our team will be here to support you with planning and executing your dream wedding. If you are interested in learning more about our wedding planner services, take a look through the websites of Ori and Mandarini Wedding agencies to discover how we can help you in the lead up to your wedding. If you feel you need wedding coordinator services, our team of coordinators from Sami Wedding department is here to help help you. Contact us for more information or to discuss any questions you have about the services we offer.