Good question! So why would a couple need to hire an On the Day Wedding Co-ordinator?
Upthorpe Wood is a dry hire wedding venue, which means we provide the venue as a blank canvas and everything else is left to you on your wedding day. This gives you great freedom to do as you wish, creating your day exactly as you’d like.
Our standard weekend wedding venue hire does not include our in-house On The Day Venue Co-Ordinator, so on your wedding day, although we remain onsite, we step back and leave your wedding day to run as you‘ve planned. This means that we don’t look at keeping your day running to time or become involved with meeting your suppliers when they arrive, showing them to their set up locations, or give directions as to the running of your day.
We ask you to keep in mind that most of your suppliers probably won’t have visited the wood beforehand and have no idea of the venue layout etc. or where to set up. If that’s the case, then it’s vital that a member of your wedding party are on hand to direct all your suppliers on their arrival, maybe during set and and again on departure. Suppliers may include caterers, evening food trucks, photographers, florists, cake maker, DJ, band, entertainment, stylist, celebrant. Our advice would be to choose a guest who is happy to accept the role and preferably someone who is great at organisation.
If this all seems a little daunting, fear not... that’s where our in house On The Day Co-ordinator can step in, if you choose. Two weeks before your wedding day, we can run through your detailed timeline for the day. We’ll need to know supplier arrival and departure times, as well as your chosen set up positions for everyone. We will be around to meet your suppliers when they arrive, direct them to their positions, talk them through the specifics of your day and be around if they have any questions. We’ll show them around the venue and talk them through the order of the day and the various locations being used without interrupting yourselves and your day. We’ll step in and keep things running to time if necessary and be around to guide guests during the day. We’ll also be around on the wedding morning, when often couples aren’t onsite, to help answer any suppliers questions regarding set up.
An On The Day Venue Co-ordinator is on hand on the big day to oversea the logistics …behind the scenes, so you can take your foot of the pedal and enjoy the day you‘ve created with no worry. Often we’ve seen jobs, such as handing out confetti cones, turning on fairy lights, announcing dinner... the list goes on, delegated to close family members. These jobs can get forgotten during the obvious excitement of the day, without a Co-ordinator, it may then fall to the happy couple to sort out.
Your co-ordinator will be around to oversee everything on your big day from 9.30am until your evening entertainment is in full flow, usually until around 9pm. A wedding day is for everyone, our couple and guests alike, to be worry free, to sit back and enjoy the day to its fullest.
Within your Upthorpe weekend venue hire we include a member of staff who, on the day, will keep in the background but make sure bins are emptied, toilets cleaned and light the firepit for you when the sun sets. They will also be on hand for the Registrars during a legal ceremony. However they do not carry out the jobs of an On The Day Co-ordinator or Planner. On The Day Co-ordination certainly isn’t necessary for all couples and not every wedding needs co-ordinating, especially if you have lots of willing family members ready to help throughout the day but for those of you who want everyone to be stress free, please reach out with any questions.
hello@upthorpewood.co.uk