Wedding Coordinator Checklist: Your Event Success Roadmap (2024)

What is a Wedding Coordinator?

We should begin by addressing the elephant in the room. Well, a wedding coordinator is not the same as a planner, they are two entirely unique roles. In fact, coordinators rarely plan anything, they simplycoordinatewhat has already been planned.

In general, the work of a coordinator is usually done on the day of, or in the days leading up to the wedding. A time when things can get a little crazy, and you actually just need someone outside the marrying couple who’s good at metaphorically spinning multiple plates. Checking in with vendors, chasing deliveries and keeping track of the wedding timeline.

Feel prepared to take on the job? Let’s see what you should have on your wedding coordinator checklist.

Wedding Coordinator Checklist

We’ve broken this checklist up into different sections to better show you just what should be done and when. You may only be involved on the day, but it’s useful to see what a wedding coordinator would potentially have on their checklist in the days before.

In the Days/Weeks Leading Up to the Wedding

Chase RSVPs

Every couple will experience late RSVPs, it’s inevitable. Calling around begging for an answer from loved ones is never a fun task. Therefore it’s often a blessing to offload said job onto another person’s shoulders.

Help with Seating Chart

Using an online wedding seating chart tool, like ours, makes this coordinator checklist job effortless. Collaborating from wherever you are in the world, helping the frustrated couple seat those last couple of guests can be a really rewarding experience.

Confirm & Check-in with Vendors

No matter what point you join the wedding timeline as a coordinator, you will be expected to deal with vendors. Introduce yourself as early as possible in the process, and make sure they know if there are any problems, or they have a question, they should go through you.

In the days leading up to the wedding, and on the day, having good communication with vendors can make all the difference to the success of the big day.

Create the Wedding Timeline

Depending on your level of involvement in the wedding, you might not be expected to actually formulate the timeline of the day from scratch. But rather assist in its creation.

Organize the Final Stages of Wedding Stationery

The last thing the marrying couple want to be doing in the hours leading up to their wedding is picking up, or fixing errors with their stationery. Which is why it’s so useful to have a wedding coordinator who can take their checklist of paper goods, and ensure every item is present and correct.

Other Potential Wedding Coordinator Checklist Tasks

Every couple is different, and duties handed over to a wedding coordinator can vary widely. Here are some other tasks you could be asked to take care of:

• Picking up marriage documents
• Arrange vendor payments & tips
• Pick up all outfits needed for the day
• Create a rainy day plan
• Pack Emergency kit

Day of Wedding Coordinator Checklist

This is the big moment! Now is your time not to shine, but to go otherwise unnoticed. Working silently in the background, organizing vendors, keeping guests happy and putting out fires (not literally, hopefully).

You should know the timeline of the day really well, and feel confident that you’re aware of every event that’s supposed to happen throughout the day.

Keep the Couple Happy & Calm

Relinquishing the control of a wedding you’ve been planning for months is not easy for any couple. On the morning of the wedding, go visit them and offer reassurance that everything is ticking along nicely. They will be nervous, and potentially a little stressed. But it’s your job to suck it up, and ensure they have everything they need.

Control the Wedding Schedule

Weddings have to stick to fairly tight schedules, and it’s your job to ensure that this one does. This is one of the most critical tasks on a wedding coordinator checklist, as nobody likes to be the one to move a party along. But that’s literally your job, and you’ll need to keep the timeline in check with confidence.

Vendor Coordination

It’s a good idea to have each of the wedding vendors on your coordinator checklist, and literally check each one off as they arrive. That way, nobody gets forgotten. Check off when they’ve performed their service too if you want to be super organized. The same goes for rentals.

Be available for any issues with vendors, and make sure they know to come to you, or one ofyourhelpers when payment is required.

Guide the Ushers

You will have attended the ceremony rehearsal and noted exactly how guests will enter, and where they should be seated. With this information in mind, inform the ushers of their duties and make sure they’re guiding guests correctly.

Arrange Last-minute Pieces of Decor

Whether it’s transporting flowers from the ceremony to the reception, or arranging place cards and menus on the tables – it will be your job to perform those last-minute decor jobs.

Look After the Clearing Up

We saved the best job till last! Clearing up after the night before is never a popular task, for obvious reasons. But someone has to do it. You don’t necessarily have to get your hands dirty, but it’s important that someone is on-site making sure everything has been cleared away appropriately, and nothing has been forgotten.