If you have read our previous post about the reasons Why you need a Wedding Coordinator,  you can at least know now the importance of hiring one. Before we thought that hiring one would just be a waste of money or “pa-sosyal lang” but in reality, their job is one of the most crucial things to make the wedding successful because they are making sure that everything will be organized on the day itself. They would also be the one who will try to troubleshoot the unwanted and unforeseen problems that you might encounter on your wedding day. Bottom line, they will be your wedding best friends that will try their very best to make sure that you and your fiance will have the best possible “perfect once-in-a-lifetime wedding!” Though for newly engaged couples, it would be quite hard to determine which type you would need. But based on our experience and some of our friend’s experiences, we’ll just sum up which coordinators should you choose based on some of these basic pieces of information. These will vary depending on the couple in general.

Below are useful things you and your fiance can ponder to see which would suit your needs.

choose a FULL COORDINATOR if you are/have —

• want an “expert” to do everything for you
• haven’t booked any wedding supplier yet
• you still don’t have any exact idea of what you really want for your wedding and just wanted someone to help you to plan it other than your fiance
• you don’t have any final concept yet
• prefers to have someone since Day 1 of the wedding preparations to be with you who has vast knowledge about weddings and the wedding industry in general
• don’t have much time to shortlist or research on the best suppliers in town because you’re both busy with work and other things
• you don’t know how to create your wedding budget or would prefer someone more financially knowledgeable about wedding budgets to do one for you
• prefers that someone will give you a prepared wedding outline and supplier proposals that you can just simply choose from and be done with it
• doesn’t have much patience to do RSVP and all other things related to managing your wedding guest details
• trusts the wedding coordinator’s taste when shortlisting possible suppliers since they will usually come from the coordinator’s own network of suppliers (aka other supplier partners)
• prefers to lessen your wedding preps stress in dealing with suppliers and finalizing details
• is not that well-versed when it comes to wedding legal documents filing and prefers someone who’s had enough experience to help you with it
• definitely, have enough money to splurge on the wedding (let’s face it this is a “real” deal-breaker here)
• if you don’t want to be bothered to troubleshoot wedding-related issues during your preps
• likes the idea of having your own wedding assistant who will be with you during supplier meetings, finalization of details, probably even during fittings etc.
• you are based overseas with enough wedding budget to pay for their fees and don’t have enough time to attend Bridal Fairs
• definitely, have “enough money” to splurge on the wedding (let’s face it this is a “real” deal-breaker here)

choose a SEMI/PARTIAL COORDINATOR if you are/have —

• likes the idea of testing out the waters first by researching on your own, then booking a few suppliers before finally deciding to get one since you felt that an “expert” is much better off with it
• you have booked at least 5 major suppliers already which would either include any of the following: church, venue, caterer, photographer, videographer, bridal gown and hotel preps
• will do almost everything of what a Full Coordinator would do except for planning out your wedding details since Day 1 and that you still haven’t booked any suppliers yet
• prefers not to be stressed after booking a few suppliers
• has a semi-budgeted wedding since you’re definitely aware that their rate is mostly “half the rate” of a Full Coordinator

choose an ON-THE-DAY COORDINATOR (OTD) COORDINATOR if you are/have —

• a practical couple who prefers to be “very hands-on” with your wedding and likes to do things your way
• likes the idea of this wedding preps as a good bonding journey for you and your fiance since you will be hands-on with everything
• prefers to DIY (Do-It-Yourself) certain wedding details to save money for your wedding
• have your targeted (tight) wedding budget in mind
• you already have an initial concept in mind as per your intended wedding budget
• probably have lots of pegs saved on your smartphone for both your prenup and wedding since you already started researching for it
• have enough time or knows how to manage your own time to do your own wedding concept from your theme, color motif, even planning out your prenup session etc.
• you’re very much willing to research the best wedding suppliers in town that would fit your budget through any means portal available — mostly online through Facebook, website, skype, viber, whatsapp, email etc
• will be willing to check your supplier’s portfolios, their works, read feedback or even stalk them to know about their latest work since this is one of the best things you can do to ensure that you got a trusted, quality and reputable wedding supplier
• have time to attend Bridal fairs to check out suppliers and their promos
• based overseas but on a tight budget and instead of feeling unfortunate that you can’t physically attend Bridal fairs or meet with suppliers, would instead do what you can to “communicate” with them
• very patient in dealing with RSVP (if included in the contract) and any other guest-related issues that you will face
• prefers to still hire an “expert” to perfectly manage your wedding to ensure that the day will be smooth but already did everything prior to the wedding
• has joined and is willing to actively participate in wedding online communities where you can get great ideas and real couple feedback for your intended suppliers (example would be joining W@W)
• you have a “very limited wedding budget” and would prefer to use whatever you can save in other important areas of your wedding

These are just some of the basic things to consider, but then a lot of other factors also come into play since not every wedding is the same.

Bottom line, when you get a Full Coordinator, you expect them to do almost everything, from Day 0 up to the Wedding day itself, they’re always there. For a Partial or Semi-Coordinator, they will continue what you have started and do everything after that and for an On-the-Day (OTD) Coordinator, they will only be there to execute everything that you and your fiance have prepared on the wedding day itself, probably with some of their help, but definitely 99% of planning has come from you.

Also, there are times that when you shortlist or try to book a certain Coordinator, you will be able to get discounts from their “partner suppliers” but this “selling point” usually used by other Coordinators to advertise their services shouldn’t be the main factor for you to rule out the rest. It is also wise to know how many weddings and/or events your coordinator handles so you can have an idea regarding their turn around and efficiency to deal with your requests. Always read the contents of the contract and expect that whatever is written in the contract should be followed! So read carefully and be wise!

**For other related posts, you can check these: Supplier Online Interviews: Wedding Coordinator, Things to ask your Wedding Coordinator

** You can also check our shortlisted Wedding Coordinators here with their rates so you can have an idea how much their services are worth.