My own J-Lo: Part 2

The coordinators that I researched all basically showed three basic packages (with a la carte additions, of course!).

1. "Day of" - Usually complete wedding day coordination with a limited number of hours to consult with the bride and be present at the rehearsal.
2. "Partial" - "Day of" coordination with some understanding of a limited number of hours or responsibilities.
3. "Full" - the soup to nuts of wedding coordinating.

I got a really big kick out of how many coordinators named these packages kitschy names that went along with their business name. The whole Silver, Gold, Platinum was overused, and some were so funny because they were pretty forced. Without giving too much away and embarrassing hometown vendors, I’ll give you an example. I contacted, “Flower Wedding Coordinators” and their package names were, “Lilly,” “Rose,” and “Orchid.”

Once I had chosen my coordinator (who I’ll call Miss P from now on), we reviewed the packages in detail. My parents, the future Mr. Palindrome and I read the services and compared them vigorously. We found ourselves debating between Partial and Full planning. Since we haven’t booked a venue yet, most of our discussions revolved around the need of hiring a full wedding coordinator when our potential venue would provide one as well. My dad referred to this as “paying for the same service twice.” I saw it from a different perspective. I saw the wedding coordinator as acting as owner representatives. Yes, the venue may have a coordinator, but she’s working for the venue while my coordinator is working for me. I don’t want their coordinator having to involve me in decisions like where the presents should go after the reception – cue my coordinator!

The argument for the Partial package: My mom and I are very detailed oriented people and do event planning for our livings. My mom and I like being in charge. The cost was lower for the package. Ease of coordination so that no service was "paid for twice."

The argument for the Full package: My mom and I have full time jobs. Everyone involved in planning was definitively not excited to do many aspects of the planning (haggling with vendors for example). With the venue still TBD, we may very well be dealing with an out of town (OOT) wedding and the research would be very time consuming.

After some heated arguments, some tears, and a plan to move forward with kindness and renewed respect for all parties involved, I signed a contract for Full planning services. It’s already helped so much. Searching for churches near a candidate reception venue? Miss P! Calling references for another venue? Miss P! Keeping track of the budget? Miss P!

Love it! And I always, think of Franck when I tell people I hired a coordinator - I can't wait to pick out a kheck!