We talked last week about “Month of” Coordinators and I thought I’d share some common questions I hear about month of coordination. Feel free to send me any additional question that you may have!
Who needs a Month of Coordinator?
In my opinion, everyone who is having a large party. The day of your event, you don’t want to have to worry about anything. It’s worth the piece of mind to hire someone to deal with any problems that may arise. I spoke with one mom after the fact who said she wished she hired me. She said,”From the photos, it looked like a great party, I wish I got to go to it. I was too busy dealing with one crisis after another to celebrate.”
My venue/caterer has an event coordinator, can’t they do all of this?
Your venue or caterer event coordinator’s job is to make sure that their piece of the day goes smoothly, not to oversee the entire party. Depending on where they work, they may have other events that same day or weekend. They may not be able to devote the time to answering questions and helping you wrap up all of the details. Most will only stay at the party until their piece is finished, not until the bitter end. An independent coordinator is there to oversee every vendor and handle every problem is it arises from set up to clean up.
How far in advance do I hire a Month of Coordinator?
You can hire one as early as you want. I’ve been hired anywhere between a year and a half out to six weeks out. However, note that if you decide to hire someone very close to your event, you run the risk of them already being booked by someone else.
Isn’t this stuff included in your other planning packages?
All of my packages include the follow up on details the month prior. The major different is the amount of handholding you get throughout the entire planning process. For the month of package, our work together truly starts about four to six weeks prior to your event, even if you book your date farther in advance.
Do you just do day of coordination?
I believe that in order for the day of your Mitzvah to run smoothly, I need about a month’s preparation. I need to understand your family’s unique event needs and expectations, communicate with your vendors, help create a detailed event timeline and plan for contingencies. Yes, I’ll be there the day of your event, but I’ll have put in the work a month in advance to make sure everything is planned perfectly. I can’t just show up the day of your event and make it happen and I’d be wary of anyone who claims that.
Final thoughts
I believe that even if you’ve DIYed your way through your Mitzvah planning, a Month Of Coordinator is a vital component to double check that you’ve considered all the contingencies and that you don’t need to worry about a thing on your event day. You’ve spent so much time and money preparing, don’t you want to be to relax and have a great time?
