Planners vs Coordinators

I'm so sorry it's been so long since I've written. I've been relocating my life and that has put a delay on some areas in my life. I'm sure all can understand. I have attended many weddings where I had people say to me "we really needed a planner", so I thought this topic would perfect to help educate brides and grooms. Here's an extremely educational blog about the planner vs the "on-site" coordinator. I understand that most brides and grooms believe that this person is all the same, however there's a huge difference in the work we do. Please be aware that I'm not in any way discrediting the coordinator at all, I'm just passing on my knowledge about the difference between the two(since I've worked on both sides). Also, I want to help all brides and grooms understand the importance of having a wedding planner. When booking your reception venue or caterer, included in their packages are an "on-site wedding coordinator." Most people think "this is great we don't need to hire a wedding planner." I understand that couples love this feature of the package believing that it will save them money, but it does not save them on stress.
The "on-site coordinator" manages the staff at the venue which includes the food and bar. They ensure that the food will be served on time and hot as well as the bar being stocked appropriately. So if all you have is the on-site coordinator who will handle the vendors? Who will ensure they arrive on time, make sure they know how to get to the venue, where they can load their items, tell them when to eat, manage the time line of events to be followed, make sure all payments are taken care of (trust me a lot of brides and grooms leave them to the last minute) and overall make sure the bride and groom are getting the services that they're paying for. If you only have the on-site coordinator you will be the person taking care of this. On average the coordinator will never talk to your vendors prior to the reception. A wedding planner will talk to your vendors at least 3 times prior to reception to ensure everything is being communicated and understood properly. Now to the most important factor, the bride and groom. If the coordinator is busy with the staff and food who handles you? The wedding planner does 100% and the entire day from hair in the am to putting you in the get away car, we're there. I've done weddings where the coordinator has said that they love having wedding planners there to help, simply because they're never able to attend to the bride and groom. This does not mean that every two seconds we're in your face asking if you need anything or how everything is going. We're in the background making sure that you're both smiling and enjoying your day. If anything out of the ordinary arises the vendors come to the planner first instead of the bride and groom. The absolute last thing you need to be dealing with on your wedding day is any issues! Wedding planners ensure that every little detail is handled which creates a flawless day for the couple and their guests. Endless issues can arise on your big day. Cd's can skip, Ipod's can be forgotten or malfunction, noise ordinances can create issues and finally a guest can lose a button on a jacket. Your wedding planner has back up cd's, a plan for technical difficulties, has spoken to the local police months before your wedding and carries a sewing kit in their pocket. And those are just some the basics of the job. Typically the on-site coordinator is too busy with everything on site that they can not be there to fix those issues. I could go on and on about the importance of having a planner but I will leave you with this "unfortunately, all weddings are unpredictable and planners are there to immediately fix any unpredictability."