Wedding Planning and Coordination
Peirce Farm provides a “Venue Coordinator” for the day of your wedding. The venue coordinator is not the same as a wedding coordinator or a wedding planner. The venue coordinator’s responsibility is to make sure the venue operates to its fullest on your wedding day. A wedding planner/coordinator on the other hand is there to focus on all aspects of your wedding day including communicating needs and requests to the venue coordinator. Below we have provided a list of the primary responsibilities of the Peirce Farm Venue Coordinator. We have also included a list of typical Wedding Coordinator responsibilities and highlighted in green some of the areas where these two roles overlap.
Peirce Farm Venue Coordinator
The venue coordinator and staff provided by Peirce Farm can assist with the following:
- Discuss the facility, scheduling, and specifics of the wedding day with your other vendors in advance of the wedding
- Meet with vendors to give site tours to assist them with their planning
- Receive and store any deliveries for your event
- Rearrange furnishing and equipment in barn to specifications
- Assist with setting up floorplan to specifications
- Direct parking of guests and vendors
- Greet vendors and instruct them as to where to set up i.e. wedding band, florist, and caterer, etc.
- Direct loading and unloading of vendor’s equipment
- Assist with setting up rented furniture and equipment if time permits
- Meet with catering staff to confirm food timeline
- Ensure that tent lighting and other equipment are set up properly and troubleshoot as needed
- Welcome guests and assist with parking, coats, directions to seating, bathrooms, their table, etc.
- Prevent or fix any problems that may arise during your event
- Remain easily accessible through the entire event in case there are any details you would like attended to
- Assist all vendors with facilities related questions or issues during the wedding
- Assist with cleaning spaces (Note: All personal items should be removed by the wedding party/family after the event. Peirce Farm staff will clean surfaces and remove trash from the mansion after the event)
- Assist vendor with pickup of equipment and items after the event
Wedding Coordinator
The following is an outline of some of the tasks that a Wedding Coordinator handles leading up to and on the day of your wedding. The highlighted items are areas where the Wedding Coordinator and the Peirce Farm Venue Coordinator overlap.
Two Weeks Prior to Wedding Day
- Meet with the couple to present timeline. Go over any arrangements the couple have previously made with vendors, and update timeline accordingly
One Week Prior to Wedding Day
- Send vendors a copy of the final timeline and make sure they have directions to the ceremony and reception locations
Rehearsal
- Work with wedding officiator to choreograph wedding ceremony, processional and recessional
- Alert wedding party as to where they need to be the following day, and at what time
Pre-Ceremony
At “getting dressed” location:
- Facilitate on-time arrival of hair and make-up stylists
- Instruct hair and make-up stylists as to where to set up hair dryers, brushes and any other equipment they have with them
- Coordinate hair and make-up schedule with wedding party and stylists and ensure that hair and make-up is completed in a timely fashion
- Coordinate any food deliveries
- Make sure personal flowers i.e. bouquets, corsages and boutonnières arrive on time
- Direct flower deliveries to their destination (if at venue)
- Blot personal flowers with paper towels and distribute to wedding party
- Direct photographer to parking and shooting locations
- Gather couple and wedding party and immediate family for photos
- Call out names on “must shoot” list for photographer
- Ensure that transportation arrives on time
- Direct transportation to waiting and pickup area
- Instruct wedding party as to when to depart for ceremony
- Make wedding party aware of any last-minute details
- Communicate with transportation driver and maid-of-honor/best man while wedding party is on the way to the ceremony location
Ceremony
- Set up programs and other ceremony items i.e. guest book, unity candles, kiddush cups, wine or yarmulkes
- Ensure that ushers/groomsmen arrive on time and are ready to pass out programs
- Ensure that personal flowers i.e. flower girl bouquet and groomsmen boutonnières have arrived at ceremony location
- Alert ushers/groomsmen as to when to begin escorting guests to their seats
- Ensure that ceremony musicians have arrived
- Direct ceremony musicians as to where to set up (if at venue)
- Confirm the music that ceremony musicians will play during the ceremony, as well as start times for each piece of music. Determine what hand signals will used to cue musicians
- Act as a liaison with the ceremony officiator and decide what cue will be used to signal the start of the ceremony
- Communicate with the couple so that they know how much time remains before the start of the ceremony
- Handle any emergencies that may arise
- Line up the wedding party for their entrances down the aisle
- Cue ceremony musicians when wedding party is ready to begin processional
- Gather family and friends for after ceremony photos
Prior to Reception
- Greet vendors and instruct them as to where to set up i.e. wedding band, florist, and caterer
- Arrange escort cards
- Make sure reception flowers/décor is set up according to flower order
- Ensure that tent and lighting are set up properly and troubleshoot as needed
- Meet with catering staff to confirm food timeline
- Set up guest book and pen, champagne flutes, cake cutting utensils
- Set up table numbers/names and menu cards
- Set up amenity baskets, hand towels, candles etc. in bathrooms
Reception
- Ensure proper flow of cocktail hour food
- Look over dining tables and make sure they are set up properly
- Along with catering staff, encourage guests to join the couple for dinner at the end of cocktail hour
- Help guests locate their escort cards and dining tables
- Locate the couple and assist with organizing their introduction and first dance
- Cue band/DJ when the majority of guests have found their tables and the wedding party is ready to be introduced
- Cue band/DJ, photographer, and videographer when important events take place at reception i.e. first dance, cake cutting, toasts and parent dances
- Cue wedding party/family members when they are about to be announced for toasts
- Alert catering staff to pour champagne just before the toasts
- Be aware of timing of catering service and make sure people are served promptly
- Prevent & fix any problems that may arise during your event
- Remain easily accessible through the entire event in case there are any details you would like attended to
- Set up favor table towards the end of the evening
- Pack up gifts/cards, miscellaneous ceremony and reception items and have them ready to be taken to a family members car at the end of the night
- Coordinate reception departure transportation
