Wedding Planner vs Wedding Coordinator

Wedding Planning

Feb 10

You may have heard these terms thrown around: wedding planner, wedding coordinator, wedding designer, and wedding stylist. When you dig deeper, you begin to learn that sometimes these are the same person, and other times these are different individuals on the same time, and yet for some, you may have to hire a coordinator and a designer separate. If you are confused on what the difference is between all of these, you are not alone. We are here to help you today differentiate between all of these terms, so that you know what you need for your wedding day specifically.

What’s The Difference?

Wedding Planner

As the name suggests, a wedding planner is someone who plans. They are the individual who is behind the scenes planning out how many chairs and tables are required for the guest count, how many bottles of alcohol are required, how many bartenders are required for the guest count, and who the vendors are that are perfect for the job. Planners are the individuals with the spreadsheets and documents who do all of the nitty gritty logistics that can often make a couple’s head hurt. If you are someone who is busy, who isn’t great with details, or who planning the wedding overwhelms you, a wedding planner is perfect.

Wedding Coordinator

A wedding coordinator is the individual that you will see on the day of your wedding running around with a tool kit attached to their hip and a clipboard in hand making sure that the day of is running smoothly. They are the individual that is the JLo of the wedding, where they are putting out fires throughout (figuratively, not literally for the most part. That being said, keep candles away from table centerpieces), and who are reassuring the couple that everything is going according to plan. Sometimes coordinators are called “Day of Coordinators” or “Month of Coordinators” because they coordinate all of the details, but may not have overseen the planning behind it all. However, the term “Day/Month of Coordinator” is slowly dying as the wedding industry is making a switch to the term “Wedding Management.” This is because wedding coordinators don’t begin their work on the day of or even the month of the wedding, but many are present from the beginning as a resource to the couple so that they are also kept in the loop as planning decisions are being made, especially when the couple is planning their own wedding.

Wedding Designer

A wedding designer is the individual that gets to do all the “fun” parts of wedding planning: they are the individuals that choose things such colour, texture, tablescapes, and experience for the wedding. Designers often work closely with planners (if they are not the same person) to discuss design logistics such as table sizes, dance floor sizes, number of place settings, and all other design logistics. Designers often are also often found creating mood boards and curating beautiful designs to the client specifically to represent their personality and love story.

Wedding Stylist

If a coordinator execute the details that the planner, well…planned, then a stylist is to a wedding designer what a coordinator is to a wedding planner. They make the design come to life, make adjustments to the design on the spot if it when changes need to be made, and maintain the integrity of the vision.

Who Should I Hire?

Knowing that there are four different roles that can happen, your next question is “who should I hire?” or “what do I even need?”. Many full service planning companies (Emerveille Events included) are full service because they do all four of these roles in house. Some companies have different individuals with different roles, some have individuals who have combined roles for continuity, and some companies have one person who does it all. If you are looking for someone who is more than just a coordinator/stylist, we would strongly recommend looking for a company that does it all in house, whether or not they have one person who does several of these roles, or have several different individuals doing each of these roles. We recommend this because this will result in constant communication, and as a result, a very beautiful and natural flow between planner and designer, so that all elements complement one another.

Unless the planner or coordinator recommends it themselves, we DO NOT recommend sourcing out several different companies to do different roles listed above. This is for several reasons. First of all, many companies have an exclusivity clause. This clause essentially states that they are the sole planner/designer/coordinator/stylist on the day of, so that their vision is not disrupted by someone else on the day of, and so that they are the sole company who is in contact with other wedding professionals working the event on the day of. This also means that if you have a guest who thinks that a table design should be different than what the planner/designer has chosen, the planner has final say as they are the individual who understands your vision the best. The guest may not know that the design has intentionality behind it and that is exactly how you want it, and if they move things around, they may be destroying the original vision behind it. Second of all, sometimes this can create added costs as it may be two separate teams.

If you are still confused by the different roles, don’t hesitate to ask a full service wedding planner as their team tends to do it all, and they will be more than happy to assist you!