Wedding Recap and Withdrawal

Wedding Coordinator NOT the person you met with?

So last night I helped out at my cousin's wedding at a really elegant historical venue.  They had a nice big staff for the wedding, and an in-house coordinator who offered "full service wedding coordination."  This person was terrible at her job.  There were supposed to be 18 ten-top tables to accommodate 180 guests.  more than half of them were 8-top tables.  I noticed this a few hours before the wedding started when I was putting my 180 DIY napkin rings at all of the place settings and had about 20 left over, but they argued with me that I must have counted wrong.  Then, just minutes before dinner began, they realized I was right and hurriedly put up some more tables so they wouldn't be short.  (of course there weren't any centerpieces for those tables, so I had to quickly find the bridesmaids and ask them if I could have thier bouquets to lay down on a square mirror and add  a couple of votives for some make-shift centerpieces. 
Anyway, the wedding coordinator didn't seem to be coordinating anything other than the services provided by the venue, despite thier advertisment as a "full-service" wedding coordinator who would oversee all aspects of the wedding.  She also was NOT THE SAME PERSON who sat down with my cousin and aunt at all of the planning meetings for the wedding, and seemed to know very little about what was going on all night.  The same thing happened to my best friend at a different venue (also a very elegant, expensive venue with large staff).  I'm just wondering.... how common is this? Have any of you signed on for a venue that advertises thier full-service wedding coordination only to have the person you plan everything with not be there on the night of the wedding and have someone else who is virtually clueless in charge on the big night?? 


 

Re: Wedding Coordinator NOT the person you met with?

  • Well thats sort of sketchy... Really ultimately it is still the Brides responsibility to verify the final table count with her coordinatior and the florist.  Venue provided coordinators anr not really the same as full service wedding coordinators, which take care of double checking everything. 

    Table count and a set up with sizes is something the bride should make sure they have a week or so prior to the wedding , so they can give the florist and all the proper count and do their seating arrangement. 

    I agree that changing from 10 to 8 person tables was not a good thing to do but still verifying that action was the Brides responsibility.  

    It is always the brides deal to have a final walk through and verify set up and details.  If She did that and they changed the deal thats one thing... but better verify where the problems originated from before blaming the coordinator... 

    Just saying...always get it all in writing... 
  • um, I want you to be my wedding coordinator! I never would have thought of what you did for makeshift centerpieces - great idea!
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  • Wow. That's terrible. Good for you for your quick thinking! It's very common for wedding planners to employ day-of coordinators, however this just sounds like shoddy service. A day-of coordinator meets with the B&G to make sure everything, down to the last place card, is what it should be. Not whatever happened here. Good to hear it wasn't a total disaster!
  • My coordinator was not the same person, however I knew that before we started.  We had one person who organized everything until the day of, then a different person who specialized in day of things. 

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  • I don't know any venues(Hotels etc) that seat 10 people at a table....it has to do with fire codes and the number servers to people.  I do know that they charge by the table..so perhaps your cousin did not listen correctly when they told her this and they were trying to save a few $ by having ten people at a table.......there are always 2 sides to every story and unless you were there when the plans were being made you may not have all the correct information.....
  • In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_wedding-recap-withdrawal_wedding-coordinator-not-person-met?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:12Discussion:1d3aadec-bf4a-487a-aa41-7b87a8194bc9Post:50945113-398b-4092-a18e-729df0bff3b4">Re: Wedding Coordinator NOT the person you met with?</a>:
    [QUOTE]I don't know any venues(Hotels etc) that seat 10 people at a table....it has to do with fire codes and the number servers to people.  I do know that they charge by the table..so perhaps your cousin did not listen correctly when they told her this and they were trying to save a few $ by having ten people at a table.......there are always 2 sides to every story and unless you were there when the plans were being made you may not have all the correct information.....
    Posted by flower_diva[/QUOTE]

    <div>I know plenty of venues that seat 10 people to a table...</div>
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