weddings and special events and private estates: Day of Wedding Coordinating, Valentine's Day Ideas, Plus Our Estate & Picks of the Week

Several times a week, we receive inquiries from new brides asking about day-of-wedding coordination. Since this is a very popular service, I thought it would be a great idea to address it.

The name of this package was created by wedding publications and blogs a few years ago. They helped to convince first-time brides that they can plan their wedding by themselves and then bring in a planner on the wedding day to "coordinate" so that everything can come together flawlessly.

Ask anyone who has ever planned a wedding and they will tell you that it takes a great deal of time (an average wedding from start to finish takes anywhere from 100 to 150 hours to plan).

Our company offers day-of-wedding coordination. The following describes in detail the services provided in our package:

1. An initial meeting to create your wedding timeline, in which we will confirm which projects have already been handled, review items that still need to be planned and answer any remaining client questions.

2. The development of a comprehensive wedding timeline. In order to create one with complete accuracy and include all updates, this will take approximately 3 hours.

3. A walk-through meeting at the venue to confirm logistics with event professionals and our client.

4. Phone and email support to our client.

5. Review the event professional agreements to confirm timing, price, load-in and load-out before our clients sign.

6. Confirm all of the event professionals to make sure that they have received the most current information and the latest timeline about 10 days before the wedding.

7. The wedding rehearsal - we collect all the important items for the wedding. These items can include the escort cards, final checks, seating chart, copy of the vows, and marriage license, to name a few examples. This way our bride and groom can relax and start enjoying their wedding weekend. We also direct the wedding rehearsal, unless the wedding takes place at a religious setting like a church or temple. In these cases, the onsite coordinator will conduct the rehearsal.

8. The wedding day - we spend approximately 10 hours to supervise the set-up, give cues for the musicians, bride and groom's entrance, first dance, event toasts, father-daughter and mother-son dance, plus the cake cutting.

We offer this package at a very special rate (we are only able to do five per year, since it takes up about 30 + planning hours) from $1650 to $1850. These packages only apply to weddings at hotels or private clubs.

There are some event planners who charge $500 for this same package, but for this fee there is a good chance that they might be trying to build up their portfolio and gain experience on your wedding.