An on-site wedding co-ordinator is often used as a selling point 
for wedding venues, and they can certainly make planning your wedding much more straightforward. However, is a venue based wedding planner always a good idea? Here we look at the pros and cons of using a wedding planner or co-ordinator provided by your venue, instead of hiring an independent one.
Pros of using an on-site wedding co-ordinator
The main advantage of using your venue’s wedding planner is the intimate knowledge they will have of your chosen venue. They will know exactly where the light is good for photos at certain times of the day, they can suggest the best place to hold your champagne reception, and they will be able to tell you which table layout works best for your wedding breakfast.
Venue based wedding co-ordinators will have an extensive list of local suppliers who should already have experience of working at your venue. They may have made arrangements with those suppliers to offer a discount to couples marrying at that venue.
Having arranged numerous weddings at your venue, your co-ordinator will have the experience to tell you what works and what doesn’t, and give you ideas based on what previous couples have done. They will have dealt with every eventuality and will have back up plans in place if the weather doesn’t turn out as you expected, or if the ceremony runs late and you have to delay dinner.
Finally the cost of an on-site wedding co-ordinator will be included in the price of the venue, or in the wedding package you have chosen, so you won’t need to include a wedding planner as a separate item in your wedding budget.
Cons of using an on-site wedding co-ordinator
You may find that a wedding co-ordinator attached to a venue is less creative with their wedding arrangements than an independent wedding planner. Once they have found a formula that works at their wedding venue, they may recommend that to all couples marrying there, and if your friends or family have got married at the venue previously you may end up with a very similar wedding.
Venue based wedding co-ordinators may not have the same need to keep current on wedding trends, so you may be given out of date advice on the latest wedding fashions. They may also use standard suppliers without regularly reviewing their prices so you might not get as good a deal as if you went to the suppliers direct.
If you are selecting an independent wedding planner, you have the chance to talk to a few different people and pick one that you get along with well and that really understands your vision for the wedding day. A wedding planner will be present on the day so it should be someone you enjoy spending time with. If you use your venue’s wedding co-ordinator, however, you can’t guarantee that it will be someone you even like.
Finally the cost of a venue based wedding co-ordinator will usually be hidden in the price of your wedding venue so you won’t know how much you are actually paying them. You may think that your wedding package is reasonably priced, but if the venue is paying your wedding co-ordinator a large salary they will have to skimp in other areas.