Christina Formico 12/28/21 Christina Formico 12/28/21

Let's Talk About Venue Coordinators VS Wedding Coordinators

If your venue comes with a coordinator and you are wondering if you also need outside help, this blog is for you!

It has been a minute since we wrote a blog, but we wanted to come back with one that gives some clarity to a question we get all the time.. Do you really need a wedding coordinator if you have a venue coordinator? This topic was so easy for me because I have personally done both rolls, I worked for a number of years as a venue coordinator, and I had a scope of work that I handled, I saw time and time again, couples needing additional help, something a hired wedding coordinator would take care of that didn’t fit into my roll at the venue, that was a big reason we started Dos Goats Plans, we saw the need, and over the years, we have never not been needed at a wedding, reguardless of the venue coordinators. Every venue and every planning comppany sell different packages, we wanted to lay out what we see the most here in Minnesota. So if you have questioned this very topic yourself, just keep reading!

What Does a Venue Coordinator Do?

Your venue coordinator will be your person who you might meet with throughout your planning process after you book your venue. Your venue coordinator is going to get the details about your timeline, room layout, vendor information, and all the details that you have planned. A venue coordinator is great because they are the experts with the venue, and they know what to do and what not to do, they are typically there throughout your wedding day, ensuring everything with the venue is secure.

If the catering and bar go through the venue, then your venue coordinator is most likely helping with these things as well, assisting the bar, making sure catering is staff is doing what needs to be done. Non glamourous things are their duties as well, making sure the bathrooms are stocked and the venue is looking good for guest arrival. They should

Wedding Coordinator, Day of Coordinator, Month of Coordinator, Wedding Management…

Every planner out there has a different name for the service, but the gist of it, we are there to be your buddy during the planning process, run your day for you, be your point of contact, be your voice to the other vendors. Your coordinator, is the most important part of your wedding vendor team! One thing is for sure, your coordinator / planner is going to in most cases be your go-to person from the moment you hire them.

The reason why “Day of Coordinator” is outdated is because a coordinators job never starts on the “Day of” Any good coordinator is going to want to have a meeting with you at least 30-60 days out from the wedding to nail down the timeline, get an game plan in place for the decor, attend your final walk through, and solidify your vendors with you. Here at Dos Goats, we go a few steps further, doing an initial detail meeting and even a meeting 6 month out meeting, ensuring you have access to our recommended vendors, get your timeline started early, and show you access to our decor before you go and do that stuff on your own. We find that our meetings allow for a more vibey wedding planning experience, and to make sure you are as stress free as can be! We are also there to run your rehearsal, lining up the wedding party and making sure everyone knows where to be and when to be there. So you see, the term “Day of Coordinator” is just simply silly!

What does the Coordinator do on the day of the wedding?

Your coordinator is going to be at the venue while you and your peeps are getting ready, they will be there to oversee all of the vendors getting set up, as well as setting up your specialty tables (place cards, gift table, other specialty tables.) They will set up your center pieces, make sure the layout is perfection, and everything is set up the way you envision. They are also your advocate on the day, making sure that everything is done with you two in mind! They are running your timeline throughout the day, making sure all of the things get done in a timely order. If there are any hiccups, they make sure that you don’t have to stress about it. They are there for clean up, and making sure your gifts and decor go in the appropriate persons car. We like to say we are your stress shammies throughout the day, allowing you to be fully present on your day, not having to worry about a thing!

So do you need both?

The main difference between the two, one works for the venue and the other owns their own business, someone that owns their own business is going to always give you a more personable experience.

First, check with your venue, if they have a coordinator, ask for a breakdown of what the coordinator is actually responsible for. Most venues might actually require you hire an outside coordinator, while others will say that they handle everything for you and you don’t need one. We say, be diligent in your research. If the venue coordinator is in fact meeting all of your needs, you could possibly skip the outside coordination help, but if your ceremony is off site, you would benefit from both! Plus from our research and prior experience, we have always been an asset to a wedding day! One thing we tend to see with venue coordinators, the turn over is high, and often a couple will go through 2 sometimes 3 different coordinators through the planning journey… Sometimes this can be a bit of a pain because notes don’t always get transferred correctly, where as your Wedding Coordinator is by your side from the moment you hire them, and will be with you throughout the planning process.

Remember your friends at Dos Goats are always here to answer any and every question you have!

Christina Formico 7/24/20 Christina Formico 7/24/20

Let’s Talk Wedding Day Timeline Tips!

As wedding planners, it is our job to create timelines for our couples, and after 5 years, we have gotten really good at making them, so we wanted to share some tips for you incase you need help creating your timeline! We talk about things to think about like how long should your dance be?

Is there anything worse than a poorly timed wedding? Have you ever been standing around after a ceremony, not knowing what the hell is going on, and just twiddling your thumbs, waiting for dinner to start? Weddings have many transition periods that if not thought out properly can leave your guests feeling a little lost.

We strongly believe that everyone deserves a curated timeline for their wedding day, one that takes all your vendors individual timelines and puts them all into one, neat little sheet. While this is something that your wedding planners will do for you, we realize that not everyone might have little angels like us, so today, we are giving you tips and tricks on how to curate your wedding day timeline.

Start with the Ceremony!

When we are building your timeline, we think that the ceremony time is the most crucial time on there. This dictates basically the rest of your day, it helps us figure out when hair and makeup need to arrive, when pictures need to start and when you two will have some alone time after the ceremony… We always recommend starting with your ceremony start time and working backwards to create the first half of your day, then going ceremony and beyond to finish up the night! A well prepared timeline leaves no detail untouched, it notes when you need to be dressed, to what time the sunset is, so that you know when the best time is to get those dreamy shots!

Some things to think about when deciding on your ceremony start time…

Some venues have it laid out by blocks of time because they have multiple weddings in a day. Make sure you check with your venue!
How much decor will your ceremony space have, and what time can that decor be set up? Knowing what time you can get into the space is super important, and will dictate when things can get set up.
If your ceremony is outside, you will want to consider when the sunset is that day. You can look up sunset times on specific days on Google! If you are getting married off season when the sun sets early, you might want to consider an earlier start time to ensure you have enough daylight!
Is your ceremony and reception in the same place. If your ceremony is inside, does the space need to be flipped for the reception? If so, you might want a bit earlier of a ceremony time, because your social hour might be an hour and a half, compared to a typical hour.

Variables to your wedding can be endless and to stress about them is silly. We can only control what we can and for things we can’t we just roll with it and make it work! There is no need to get sad on your wedding day as long as you have a plan in place and professionals by your side.

Make sure you allocate enough time for hair & makeup and getting dressed!

Typically, the bride will get ready either 2nd to last or last, ensuring she looks mighty fine for that first look! Always make sure to ask your Hair & Makeup artist how long they predict each person will take.

We will make lines on our timeline for times that the wedding party needs to be dressed by, as well as the couple. This helps them stay on track!

Pro Tip: The more people getting ready, the earlier you must be awake! If you have more than 5 people getting Hair and Makeup, it isn’t a bad idea to have additional artists there to help!

Have designated times for snacky snacks! No one needs a hangry couple!

If you are getting ready at a venue, they may have snack options for you to order while you are getting ready, but beware, sometimes it is crazy expensive! Always ask if you can bring your own getting ready snack, sandwich platters, fresh fruit, and nuts are great snacks to keep you fueled! Don’t skimp on the water! Mimosas are great for getting ready, but hydration is fun!

Make sure you know what time vendors & people setting up can get into the venue.

Setting up a wedding takes quite a bit of effort, time, a good plan, and some patience. Having a timeline of not only what time everyone can be on site, but when each vendor plans on showing up, will be so helpful when it comes time to start setting the space.

We time out when the place cards will be set out, to when the gift table gets set up, this helps us allocate enough time between each activity, but if the tables for these activities is being delivered and not on-site, that can throw a wrench in setting those items up. If you have a room of 250 people, and you are setting up the napkins, favors, place settings, center pieces, lighting candles and so on, this can take on average 2-4 hours, depending on how many people are working on it. Your florist will need to know when the tables will be ready with linens so that they can set the center pieces. They will also have to know when they have access to your ceremony location to set that up.

Your vendors typically try to show up 2 hours prior to make sure they have things set up properly, but if you have décor and floral that is more extensive, you may need to add extra time to the venue rental.

Pro Tip! If your caterer is providing linens, you may need them earlier than they plan on arriving so that your other vendors can set stuff up. If you work with us, we will always pick these up for you so that our day gets started nice and early!

Extra Pro Tip!!! If your wedding is on a Weekday, ask the venue if no event is happening the night prior to your wedding, if you could possibly get into the space early and set up!

Deciding on having a first look or waiting to see each other at the ceremony, will determine what kind of social hour you are going to have.

We will never push you into doing a first look, if it is your dream to wait till the ceremony, but, there are many befits to doing a first look. Our main reasoning is because your day goes by FAST, and a first look allows you to spend time with your partner more on the day of! You will have more time during the social hour to enjoy with your guests, or wedding party if you chooses, and you can have some cute private moments together! If you want to wait till the ceremony that is ok as well, just make sure to allocate enough time during the social hour to ensure you get all your photo needs taken care of!

Consider guest arrival time and the ceremony start time.

If guest arrival is 15 mins prior to the ceremony start time, but they have to find parking, pay for parking, and walk to the venue, this can push back the start time, or even worse, they can miss the ceremony all together. We once assisted at a wedding that the guests had to take a tractor ride to the ceremony site and the turn around time was about 15 minutes and this wasn’t really allocated into the timeline, needless to say, that ceremony started a few minutes late. If you are worried about guests being late, indicate on the invites or your wedding website what the parking situation is, if there are shuttle options, and when guest arrival is and when ceremony start time is, that way no one has excuses!

How many hours do you have your photographer for?

Most photographers have packages that can be 6, 8, 10, 12, or full day coverage, knowing your package and hours of coverage will help determine certain aspects of the day you might want photographed. Let’s say you hire your photographer for 6 hours, but you want pictures of your wedding party before you get dressed, photos prior to the ceremony, and pictures of dancing, and sparkler photos… You will not have enough coverage to do all of this because your photo timeline would be starting at 11am and going till at least 30 minutes into dancing, so let’s say 8:45, that is almost 10 hours of coverage. Something to keep in mind when you are envisioning what photos you want captured on your wedding day!

Your ceremony is going to be no more than 20-25 mins unless its being held at church and it’s a “traditional ceremony.”

A receiving line after the ceremony can sometimes last 25-35 minutes.

Your social hour will typically be a 1 hour to 1.5 hours.

This time is used for photos after the ceremony, the signing of the marriage license, bustling your dress (this can take up to 20 minutes if you do not know what to do.) Time for the couple to enjoy being newly married and spending 5 minutes alone, and in the case of your venue needing a flip this will allow for plenty of time to get that done as well!

Make sure you have ONE-point person who oversees your timeline.

There are a lot of egos running around on a wedding day, and we have seen many times where a photographer or other vendor, might just try and push everything back an hour… AN HOUR! Having someone make drastic changes like this last minute can ruin your wedding day. Imagine pushing everything back an hour and BAM, you now cut your dance time in half because everything ran so behind. P.S. This is where wedding day management comes in real handy.

Speeches, Couples Cake Cutting, Sunset Photos, and Special Dances, and sparkler photos, should all have a spot on your timeline. (But are also easy to move around)

We will typically have the couple get seated for dinner and once the last table is served, we will start speeches. After speeches wrap up, we like to get the cake cutting photos and first dances out of the way, and then have the couple go off to do sunset photos because this will allow for the dance floor to open up for everyone. This is not always the way it goes, but it is the way it works best. Having it laid out on the time line, allows for someone to be aware that the special things will be happening, the point person will be the one to decide which one might be moved around. Checking to see how late your photographer will be on-site will also help determine when it is best to do these activities!

How many hours do you want to dance?

You want to keep the dance floor a vibe but no one really knows (or can agree on) how many hours the dance party should be, we believe a few things will determine this!

Are you doing a DJ or a Band…

For bands, you will probably do 3-4 hours of coverage, but they will take breaks in between that time, so you will want to make sure you can fit that 4 hours in…

For DJ’s

2 1/2 to 3 hours seems to be the amount of time a dance floor stays packed. If you have several people working on your timeline, they will all put their idea’s in, but what it really needs to come down to is how long do you have your photographer for? Because I know DJ’s like to start when the sun goes down, but if the photographer is only there till 8:30, dances need to get started by 8, and in Summer, that sun stays up till late. So if you start early, and want to stick to that 2 1/2 - 3 hour rule, you can always end the party before midnight. Have dancing 8-11:30pm. If you really want it to go till midnight, look at extending your photographers time.

Bonus Tip: Make sure you are giving yourself time to mingle with guests, after speeches, while desserts are out, is a great time to mingle!

Make sure you are clear on when everyone needs to be out by the end of the night.

Typically, last call is 45 minutes prior to the end of the night. The Wedding will end at midnight, and vendors have till 1am to clear the space. SOMETIMES, a space will have the event ending at 11 and the vendors have till 12am. Just make sure it is clearly stated on your contract!

We take timelines very seriously here at Dos Goats, and pride ourselves on keeping them flowing pretty much down to the minute, but we always let our couples know, this is our guideline for you and if you would like to change something up we totally can! And this is due to preparedness in the timeline and communications to all the relevant vendors(who are located one the timeline and will also have their own copy) to watch this or that because we may be running behind because of pictures, people showing up late…the list goes on.

We would like to remind anyone who reads this to know…this is YOUR DAY and to spend it how you want to!!! But as professionals we like to see a well planned out timeline!

But the day will flow how it will flow, a timeline is only really a suggestion to stay on track and ultimately make your day smoother being that you know where all the time is going, and remember to breathe throughout the day and not to get wrapped up in it and allow yourself to be present.

Need more timeline help? We now offer hourly consulting and can help you curate your perfect timeline or show you some samples as well, or maybe the thought of all of this is way too much and you are interested in our planning services, you can learn more about working with Dos Goats here!

Much Love, Christina & Adam

Christina Formico 3/25/19 Christina Formico 3/25/19

Getting Your Guy to be More Present During the Planning Process!

Today on the blog, we are giving guys a list of tips for helping guys get more excited to start wedding planning!

So, my wonderful girlfriend and I run a wedding planning business and as the male counterpart, it’s kind of funny that when I respond to e-mails, the client knows there are two of us and the signature is my name and the only one ever addressed is Christina, which I’m okay with and we joke about all the time! It’s always funny during our initial consultation, sometimes we get the comment of… oh you must “be along for the ride.” Again, this is so far from the truth, and they soon find that out when I’m throwing out design ideas and color pallets and logistical details that no one was thinking. We never take offence to this, living on a high vibe and educating them that guys can be wedding planners too.

Just writing this blog out, we realized that most guys are not looking at wedding blogs, so we are writing this in hopes that you brides out there are reading it and giving it to your guys to read.

When it comes to wedding planning, you always notice the bride is putting in more passion & effort than the groom, it is rare that the guys ever give too much input. We want to see guys get more involved which is why we created a list that men can read through showing them the awesome aspects there are to planning a wedding.

Planning is a GOD DAMN BLAST!!! The venue tours, all be it sometimes eat up your nights and weekends, can be a lot of fun, there’s something special about finding a place that you both feel a connection to instead of just her and the venue manager. Other planners can attest to this, when you show up the day of and the groom is all, oh I don’t remember that, or can we do this instead of that. All of these things were already covered and now that it’s the day of and your soon to be wife is about to rip your head off because you’re talking out of your ass since you don’t know what the plan is and now as planners we have to make sure you both make it to the alter and also the day. Men! Being present is so important in this process and you’ll be able to learn and make sure the budget is also somewhat intact at the end! If you want to see some awesome reasons to be present during planning, then just keep reading!

1. Venue tours!!! I know we kind of touched on this in the beginning, however this is very important. Don’t you want to have a say in where this special day will be going down?! I know that guys get left in the dust but do a little list of ones you find online just so you have an idea what’s out there. Guys unless you’re getting married every five years things have changed when it comes to where people are getting hitched and finding out what’s out there is so much fun!

2. Holy shit man the desserts!!! Weddings today are getting creative with desserts and we are here for it! The game is changing, and it isn’t just cake anymore! There’s everything from donuts on walls to cookie carts, and even custom ice cream (we know a guy). Dessert tastings are some of the most fun parts of the planning process. Below, the wedding cake was one flavor but the groom really wanted cookies & cream, so the bride surprised him with his own cake!

Photo Vow House Studios | Cake Sugar Rose Bakeshop

3. Color Schemes – This is one where guys usually don’t pay attention, but think about this, the colors are going to dictate what you wear and what you will be looking at all day. If periwinkle isn’t your jam, you should make that known, being a part of the process will make the color choices and décor reflect both of your personalities instead of just hers. To be totally honest, you may not get exactly what you want but at least you’ll know that you did your job by being present and throwing input into the ring.

4. Food, food, food, don’t be sitting there at your wedding wondering why you’re eating what you’re eating and it not tasting good. Now guys are usually present for this being that food is involved and hey don’t get me wrong it’s my favorite thing too. And with catering if you want to ask a question about off menu things, you aren’t going to be able to have any input after the contract and menu have been finalized.

5. The Bar – This is a place where you can really

6. The music!!! Do you want a band or DJ? The music selection really can make or break a wedding. You will either be dancing the night away or everyone will be hanging outside or at the bar and all be it a great evening if people are exchanging war stories all night along the bar but ultimately you will want to be able to cut a rug and have fun with everyone at your party (wedding) but its really a party!

7. Your clothing! Make sure you have a say in what you are wearing, we are huge fans of guys getting custom suits made for their wedding. You look more polished and you tend to be more comfortable. Ask us for some great vendors!

8. Hire a Day of Coordinator! You’ve done all this planning, sacrificed hours and hours to make sure you have everything you want on your day, all the vendors are paid, her dress is fitted and the wedding party and guest list is finalized…now let me ask you…do you want someone from your family who may or may not be able to be responsible all day and don’t you want to have everyone enjoy your day with you??? Encourage hiring some form of wedding management! Be it a wedding planner to help you throughout the process, or a wedding manager to help you with the last few weeks leading up to the big day and the day of. Coordinators are so helpful to ensuring you both get to fully enjoy your big day. You’re dropping a down payment on what is ultimately a party so don’t you want to have it go off without a hitch?! Any one of your friends that has been through the process, you can ask them, and if they didn’t have one, would they have liked to have one? We always find the answer to be yes if they didn’t have one.

The list could go on, but we know attention spans are short. We want make wedding planning fun, sexy and something that you two can do together, we will continue to spread the love and hope to see some guys during the planning process soon!