Many Venues have a venue coordinator on staff that works for the venue and will be there on your wedding day, which may I say is invaluable, but does that person replace a wedding planner? The answer is no! A venue coordinator works for the venue. They are there to make sure that the venue runs smoothly. They have other duties such as looking after staffing that may be there, issues such as lights, temperature, clogs in the bathrooms, And as a wedding planner I value what they do, they are a huge part of the day. I am always excited when I know there will be a venue coordinator on site during a wedding day. But a Wedding Planner works for YOU! And we only work for YOU! We help you from the beginning of your planning process, many times even before you choose a venue and then up to and on your wedding day. We coordinate all your vendors, go over those vendor contracts, give you checklists, and work with you on your timelines and so much more. Venue Coordinators should give you guidance on room set ups and can create floor plans for you, but their job is not to be a wedding designer. Many wedding planners are also wedding designers; they can help with colors, décor options and many times get you the best deal on décor items that you may want for your wedding day. I myself allow my clients to use whatever décor items I have at no additional charge. There are some venue coordinators that do go above and beyond for the clients, but first and foremost their main focus is the venue. And as a wedding planner my focus is first and foremost YOU! Are receiving lines a thing of the past? I find that many of the weddings I am invited to anymore, they aren’t doing them. Most of my couples don’t even think about them until I bring it up.
Here is my take on this issue. It irritates me as a guest when I spend time and money on someone’s wedding and not even getting a chance to talk to them. Maybe that is just me being pouty, but I don’t think I am alone in this. Your guests have spent money on a gift, hotel, travel, gasoline, and maybe babysitting costs and taken time out of their schedule to attend the ceremony and or reception. The least couples can do is acknowledge them. The best way to do that is a traditional receiving line. Some couples are opting to do it after at the reception, which is fine, but you do often get busy/distracted and not make it to all the tables, or you do it so late that some of the guests have left the venue. If all guests are invited to both ceremony and reception, I encourage my couples to have a receiving line at the ceremony. Now this can be done with or without parents. Side note if the couple is young and a lot of the guests are friends of the parents, then it is super helpful to have the parents in the line. Otherwise it’s up to the couple. Let’s face it, people want an audience with the couple, even if it is just a few minutes. And just because it makes the one or both of the couple uncomfortable isn’t a reason NOT to do it. You invited your guests so step up and do it. If it is a small ceremony and large reception, then it makes sense to do it at the reception. But it must be done early into the reception. Hopefully still while people are eating, this way you are not missing anyone. Your guests will appreciate that you took that extra step to acknowledge them and thank them for attending. |
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