HELP What to expect from Hotel Coordinator?

totopuffster · March 2012

Hi every one, I am wondering for those of you who got married at a hotel and used the hotel's wedding coordinator, how was your experience?

I am getting married at the St. Regis Princeville in Kauai and I've been expecting the coordinator to take a lot more initiative. For example, it's 3 weeks to the wedding and she never asked me about the ceremony location and reception room layout, even though the hotel is setting it up, or the day-of schedule, and never tried to schedule a call with me. I always have to initiate. She'll answer my questions, but never ask any more helpful questions beyond that or provide list of tips and guidance. Everything I have to think for myself. I wasn't expecting full wedding planner service, but definitely very disappointed.

Am I getting shafted?

Confused,

Sandy

ktabin · March 2012

I would expect more by this point if I were you, especially since it's a high end hotel.

I am having my ceremony at the Grand Hyatt Kauai in 6 weeks and we were contacted a couple of weeks ago by the coordinator to go over the details and set up times for the rehearsal and a meeting with her when we first get there.

destiny1108 · March 2012

generally hotel staff take care of what they need to (layout and menu), they aren't planners who assist you with developing your program, making sure you have all of of your vendors in place, reconfirming vendors, etc, that's why most hotels refer WC

Tanq&Tonic · March 2012

How surprising! Can you ask her about her role and whether she is supposed to be doing those things? We had our reception at the Fairmont and we worked every detail with them for weeks -- table layout, dance floor location, final menu, guest rooms, etc. When we were checking out other hotels, they made it very clear whether the Hotel Coordinator was a one stop shop for us incouding day-of coordination, or if they only handled hotel details and referred out for a coordinator

kaesha · March 2012

I don't know if you're getting shafted or not. If all else fails, I always refer to the contract - what services did they say they'd be providing for you?

totopuffster · March 2012

Thanks every one for the responses! It REALLY helps me get some perspective. I think in the end, we just got a coordinator who is inexperienced and did not take enough initiative to.. uh...coordinate, and as a result stressed me out 3-4 weeks before the wedding. Actually, we signed a contract with ONE coordinator at the hotel but in the middle they switched us to a different one new to the hotel... which I knew was a bad sign but was hopeful things would work out anyway. Unfortunately, not so.

IN terms of the contract...

One of the selling points of going with the hotel when we first signed the contract was that we'd have a "Dedicated Wedding Coordinator" and we had talked about having this coordinator there on the day of the wedding to make sure everything runs smoothly. I asked if usually brides hire Day-Of coordinators and they said... no. But now that I have worked with the coordinator, I can't trust my wedding day to some one who doesn't take initiative, doesn't pay attention to details.

So far the experience has been more like what Destiny mentioned- food and layout, and very late in response even at that until 3-4 weeks before the wedding. I was expecting a lot more.

Let this be a warning to all brides getting married at a hotel... be VERY clear about how much the hotel WC will do for you, and make sure you find one that is experienced and don't let them switch it out!

HELP What to expect from Hotel Coordinator?

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