FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
You got questions, we got answers!
OUR VENUE PROVIDES A COORDINATOR, OR CATERING MANAGER, DO WE STILL NEED YOU?
The very short answer is yes. All of these positions have different functions. Here is another short version of our job descriptions:
Sales Manager - This person is responsible for the venue. This person is NOT responsible for reviewing your vendor contracts, finalizing your timeline with all of your vendors, making sure vendors bring what they have been contracted to bring or if it looks "good", fixing things that may go wrong with a vendor you have hired, etc. They often might even be selling the property during the day and you won't see them very often.
Catering Manager - This person is responsible for food and beverage and their staff related to. They might handle bringing their rentals, but they aren't responsible for running your wedding day in any other way except for food and beverage.
Wedding Coordinator - We are responsible for EVERYTHING. Making sure the venue coordinator executes their job and their property according to your contract, making sure food and beverage and their staff are doing what they are contracted to do, managing family and guest experience, making sure the couple feels 100% from the beginning to end, and handling all the details and logistics with EVERYONE involved leading up to the day until the very end of the night. We make sure your day goes exactly how you need it to go. We are your liaison and our primary job is to represent you, we have your BEST interest in mind, not the venues or the food, so we have the ability to be the bad guy for you when we need to be to execute your perfect day!
I DON’T NEED A WEDDING PLANNER, I HAVE A FRIEND WHO SAID SHE WOULD HELP AT MY WEDDING. THAT'S THE SAME RIGHT?
A coordinator is an investment in making sure your wedding day is beautiful & flawless while taking that stress & duty off you and your family. Just like you, your friends & family want to enjoy the day and celebrate with you rather than working your event for you.
HOW DOES THE CONTRACT AND PAYMENT PROCESS WORK?
When you decide to contract with us, we request your legal first and last names and we will draft an agreement to you within 24 hours. It will be delivered electronically through our personal client portal.
For Planning Packages, Day of, Elopements, Micro Weddings, or Styling: We require 50% payment to secure the date and the remainder is due (3) days before your wedding (along with any travel fees included.)
We accept Square, Venmo, Zelle, Personal Check or Cash. We will send you a reminder when payments are due via Square or email.
DO YOU TRAVEL? IF SO, WHAT ARE YOUR FEES?
Absolutely! We love to travel. To start, 60 miles of travel is totally in all of our packages.
I consider weddings within 1-2 hours “local” to me, an Atlantic Highlands, NJ resident. For weddings that are within 2 hours of my house, clients pay for mileage outside of the 60 miles included in their wedding package. I charge $0.58/mile (what the state of New Jersey recommends). So, if the wedding is 85 miles from Atlantic Highlands, NJ, the client pays for 15 miles (85-60) at $0.58/mile ($8.70). In addition, there is a $60 fee for fuel roundtrip.
If a wedding is over 120 miles away from Atlantic Highlands, NJ, I require a one-night hotel stay on the night of the wedding. If it is more than three hours away, I require a two-night hotel stay local to the wedding venue (the night before and the night of), in additional to the mileage mentioned above.
HOW MANY PLANNERS WILL BE AT MY WEDDING, AND DOES IT COST MORE TO BRING MORE STAFF?
We never charge for additional staffing. We make the decision of how many staff we will need to execute your wedding. If we need more than 1 person, we will bring staff to assist us to execute seamlessly.
WHAT IS YOUR PLAN B/RAIN PLAN EXPERIENCE?
Our rain plan experience is, don't put that out there, it WILL not rain on your wedding day! Now... in the event that it does, we will discuss with you in advance what your intentions are. We want to make sure you are prepared so we aren't scrambling, but we also don't want you to spend money on your Plan B if you don't NEED to. We want you to feel confident in the decision being made, we will NEVER call it without your approval. It's your day, we are there to make sure it's perfect.
HOW DO WE GET AHOLD OF YOU AND DO YOU CHARGE EXTRA FOR ADDITIONAL TIME TO TALK?
Communication is important to a well executed day. We do not, and have NEVER, limited communication with our clients. We communicate via email, phone, or text. We normally respond within minutes or same day. If you message us on the weekend and we are busy with events, you might not hear from us until Monday.
HOW FAR IN ADVANCE SHOULD I BOOK YOU?
It’s never too early! If you plan on getting married during “wedding season,” the earlier you inquire the better. We are currently accepting weddings for 2024 and 2025.
WHAT IF YOU GET SICK?
Our timelines are one of a kind, they are so "grossly" detailed that a 5 year old could do your wedding, however, we don't want a 5 year old to replace us on your big day. In the event we are sick, we will send one of our team to replace us - by the way - this has never actually happened before, but we want you to feel confident we have a Plan B option for us too.
WHAT IF YOU HAVEN'T WORKED AT MY VENUE?
That has always been a non-issue for us. We have worked at "new" venues all over the country. Our operations and functions of our job are still the same. Our job is NOT to support the venue, it's to support our couple - if anything, we keep the venue on their toes wanting to have a great performance with us.
WHAT DO YOU WEAR AT THE WEDDING?
We don't need your guests to notice us and we certainly don't want to make it difficult for a photographer to be able to remove us from a photograph.
A typical outfit would be - dress top, black dress pants, and nice/clean flat shoes.
DO WE HAVE TO FEED YOU?
You only have to get a vendor meal for us if and only if we are onsite all day through the reception.
CAN YOU SETUP OR TAKE DOWN MY TABLES AND CHAIRS?
Because it is labor intensive to move tables and chairs, we do not do this job. However, if it is a small amount of chairs (under 30) we are happy to assist with this. We have been known to move tables and chairs, but it is in relation to making sure things look aesthetically pleasing as opposed to a full setup.
HOW MANY WEDDINGS DO YOU WORK PER WEEKEND?
Our general rule of thumb is: one wedding per weekend. There, of course, are exceptions to this when applicable.
DO YOU CHARGE FOR AN INITIAL CONSULTATION?
Our initial consultations are complimentary. This is a time for you to get to know us and make sure they are the perfect fit for you and your family.
DO YOU ONLY PLAN WEDDINGS? WHAT ABOUT OTHER MILESTONE EVENTS?
While we specialize in wedding coordination, we absolutely love planning the other most important days in your life! We love working with bridal and baby showers, milestone birthdays, retirements and many more!