What Is the Difference Between a Wedding Planner and a Day-of Coordinator?

The difference between a wedding planner and a day-of coordinator, as we explain it at Weddings à la Carte, is simple: a wedding planner helps you plan your wedding, and a day-of coordinator helps you enjoy your wedding day. A planner is with you from the beginning, shaping the vision, the budget and the vendors, while a day-of coordinator steps in during the final weeks to confirm the details and run the day.

Most couples choose between full-service planning, partial planning and day-of coordination, and the right choice depends on how much you want to hand over and how much you want to keep.

Planning, Coordination, or Something in Between

What Does a Wedding Planner Do?

A wedding planner is with you from the beginning of the planning process. Rocío helps create your wedding vision and overall design, assists with budgeting, recommends and helps book vendors, and helps with venue selection, décor, layouts and floor plans. She builds your planning checklists and timelines, manages the details as they come up, and coordinates your vendors before and on the wedding day.

If you want that help for every piece, choose full-service planning. If you only want it for the pieces that feel overwhelming, partial planning gives you the same guidance while you keep the rest.

What Does a Day-of Coordinator Do?

A day-of coordinator steps in during the final weeks before the wedding. Rocío reviews the plans you have already made, confirms the final details with every vendor, and creates or finalizes your wedding-day timeline. She coordinates the rehearsal, oversees vendor arrivals, setup and décor placement, keeps the ceremony and reception on schedule, and handles last-minute questions or problems behind the scenes.

Day-of coordination is Rocío's signature service, and it suits couples who have planned their wedding but want to relax and enjoy their day.

Do I Need a Day-of Coordinator?

Consider one if any of these sound like your wedding:

• Your vendors are booked, and you do not want to spend the day answering their questions.
• Your venue has a coordinator. A venue coordinator usually focuses on the venue itself, while a day-of coordinator works for you across every vendor.
• Your wedding has several moving parts, such as a ceremony and reception in different places.
• Your date is close and one vendor is still missing. In that case, read about last-minute wedding planning or use the last-minute wedding checklist.

What Does It Cost?

Rocío prices by the level of support you choose rather than by a single package, and she puts together clear, realistic pricing after she reviews your date and details. The factors that move the price are laid out in how much a wedding planner costs in Florida.