A Venue’s Wedding Co-ordinator does pretty much what it says on the tin. They’re there to help with all aspects of the running of the day and answer any questions about the venue that you may have. From when the best time to throw the confetti might be, to ceremony “all weather” plans, to how long your welcome drinks reception should be, they’re there to help the day run smoothly and ensure nothing is missed or forgotten.

What’s the difference when it comes to suppliers in the run up to the wedding? 

As a venue we have some amazing suppliers that we can recommend that we have worked with many times before and can offer some great suggestions on who might be available or suit your style and budget most, but a wedding planner is there to actually go out and source and organise all of this for you. They will directly contact your suppliers, check availability and liaise with all the contracts, timings etc throughout your wedding planning. They might even attend your wedding dress fittings, or hair trials and are on hand 24/7 for any wedding related worries or questions you may have.

What’s the difference the day before? 

When you arrive at the venue the day before your wedding, the venue team will have set up all your tables, chairs and ceremony furniture and are on hand all day for any questions or queries you may have. Your florist, lighting or styling company will then come in and set up to ensure everything is looking beautiful! Or if you and your team of merry helpers who would rather get stuck in, you can decorate and style yourselves. Depending on what you have discussed with your caterer, they will either come in the day before or the day of, to lay up the crockery, cutlery etc on the tables and the bar team will take care of all the glassware.  A Wedding Planner, who will sometimes also be your wedding stylist, will take care of all this for you, so you can lay back and watch the beauty unfold!  From table place names to seating plans, they will take care of everything!

Transport and accommodation

Being so close to Bude we have an abundance of accommodation on our doorstep and although we have a few places we recommend on our website, how you get here and where your guests stay, is in the hands of the couple and their guests. Most couples find a simple list of local accommodation and a nod towards booking.com or airbnb and guests are well away with finding the perfect place to stay for a couple of days. We can also recommend some great mini bus companies and have a list of local taxi companies for guests to use! But, word to the wise, we don’t have Uber in Cornwall, so your guests do need to call in advance to arrange for a taxi to take them home.

A wedding planner would organise all this for you; booking hotel rooms, organising transport, timings of pick up and drop off’s, they have all this taken care off.

What about on the day?

On the day a venue wedding co-ordinator is there to liaise with all your suppliers ensuring everyone is where they need to be and everyone is on the same page with timings. They make announcements if needed, direct guests and make sure the Bride and her bridal party are at the ceremony on time and the dress is looking immaculate as they walk down the aisle. On the actual day itself there isn’t a huge amount of difference between a venue wedding co-ordinator and wedding planner.  A planner will get more involved in personal aspects and may, for example, lay out reserved seating for guests, or be on hand to button up the dress, but both planner and co-ordinator’s sole focus on the day is to ensure everything runs smoothly and the couple have the best day! Running last minute button holes to family members and ensuring the acoustic singer has power to set up; it’s all part of what we do and we make sure we take care of everything so the couple and their guests can enjoy every moment!

So you’ve heard all about what a wedding planner and venue co-ordinator do and hopefully that’s given you a bit of an insight into what’s right for you and your wedding, but there are things that you can do to help make things as stress free as possible, without needing the added help of a wedding planner. Here’s our advice to helping you feel as relaxed as possible as you plan your day!

Communication– Communication is the absolute key to ensuring your day runs as smoothly as possible, if we don’t know about something, we can’t help. The last thing anyone want’s is a surprise on the day, so if you’re having sparklers, or you’re having a band playing for your welcome drinks, or you have a nephew that can be a bit of a handful just let us know, that way we will have a space ready for your singer when they turn up, sparklers at the ready when your photographer is ready to go and suggest a space that you can set up a “kiddies area” to ensure everyone is happy!

Budget– It sounds simple enough doesn’t it! Work out what everything is going to cost and go from there, but you really do need to do your homework on budget to ensure things are as stress free as possible and there are no surprises along the way. There will always be last minute things you haven’t accounted for, but by working out your budget at the beginning and checking in with it along the way, it helps you work out your guest numbers, menu choices and what drinks packages you want to go for.

Research– Do as much research as you possibly can, find the suppliers that you most click with and understand what it is you want for you day. Having confidence in your suppliers will take away 99% of the stress!

Check and double check– We do our best to put as much information together for you as possible, when you book with us we send across a co-ordination form and Handy Info guide, which has everything that we need from you to co-ordinate your day smoothly and any FAQ’s that you might have along the way! So when you’re up at 10pm trying to work out the seating plan you can refer to your Handy Info Guide straight away and see table sizes and barn sizes etc!

Hopefully not only have we answered your questions on who does what and when, but it’s also given you some tips on how you can enjoy planning your day!