The short answer: on-the-day (or “day-of”) wedding coordination is a professional who takes over your finished plan in the final weeks before the wedding, confirms every supplier, builds the run sheet, and then manages set-up, timings, ceremony and reception cues and pack-down on the day. You plan the wedding. They make sure it happens the way you planned it.
When coordination starts
Despite the name, the work usually starts four to eight weeks before the wedding. That lead time is what lets a coordinator spot gaps, such as a supplier with the wrong arrival time or a ceremony set-up nobody owns, while there is still time to fix them.
Before the wedding
- Handover meeting. Your plans, priorities, family dynamics and must-have moments.
- Supplier review. Contracts, inclusions, arrival and finish times, and contacts for every supplier.
- Venue walk-through. Ceremony and reception layout, access, power, wet-weather options.
- Run sheet. A minute-by-minute timeline shared with suppliers and the bridal party.
- Supplier confirmations. Every supplier contacted in the final week.
- Rehearsal. Often included or available as an add-on. Check your package.
On the day
- Arrive early and meet suppliers as they bump in.
- Set up your personal items: signage, guest book, place cards, favours.
- Cue the ceremony: processional, music, readings, signing, recessional.
- Manage photos and group shots alongside the photographer.
- Run the reception timeline: entrances, speeches, cake, first dance, last song.
- Handle problems quietly, from a late supplier to a broken heel.
- Oversee pack-down and make sure your belongings and gifts go home with the right person.
What to hand over to your coordinator
- A list of every supplier with contacts, contracts and what’s been paid.
- Your rough timeline for the day.
- Ceremony details: order, readers, music choices, who walks with whom.
- Reception details: floor plan, seating chart, speeches, special moments.
- A list of personal items and where they need to go.
- The names of family members who need special care or attention.
- Anything that absolutely must or must not happen.
The coordinator’s emergency kit
Most coordinators bring a kit. Typical contents: sewing kit, safety pins, double-sided tape, stain remover, scissors, lighters, tissues, painkillers, plasters, phone chargers, spare batteries, cable ties and a stapler.
Questions to ask before you book
- How many hours on the day are included?
- Will there be an assistant, and is it the same person I meet?
- When do you start working with us?
- Is the rehearsal included?
- Do you set up décor, or only oversee suppliers?
- What happens if you are unwell on the day?
Planning a wedding and want the day itself handed over? See weddings or read planning vs coordination.
Rather hand it over?
Tell us about your event and we’ll take care of the details — from the first idea to the last song.
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