The wedding industry has created approximately 400 titles for people who appear to do similar things.
Planner.
Coordinator.
Month-of coordinator.
Event manager.
Designer.
Venue coordinator.
Wedding stylist.
Naturally, couples are confused.
The easiest way to understand the difference is to look at when each person enters the process and what they are responsible for.
What does a wedding planner do?
A full wedding planner helps manage the wedding from the early planning stages through the wedding day.
That can include:
venue selection
budget development
vendor recommendations
contract guidance
planning meetings
guest logistics
rentals
timelines
floor plans
design decisions
vendor communication
wedding-day management
The planner looks at the wedding as an entire project rather than one individual service.
If you want someone helping you make decisions throughout the process, this is usually what you're looking for.
What does a wedding coordinator do?
A coordinator typically enters the process much later.
The couple has already booked most or all of their vendors and made the major planning decisions.
The coordinator then takes those plans and turns them into an organized wedding day.
This might include:
building the timeline
confirming vendors
reviewing logistics
creating floor plans
running the rehearsal
managing setup
keeping the day on schedule
troubleshooting
At Dereves, our Event Management service begins several weeks before the wedding rather than literally one month before.
Because there is usually too much to properly understand, organize and troubleshoot in a few days.
What does a wedding designer do?
A wedding designer focuses on what the wedding looks and feels like.
That can include:
colour palette
floral direction
linens
rentals
lighting
stationery
furniture
tablescape
ceremony design
floor plan
visual details
Design is much more than choosing a Pinterest board.
A strong wedding design considers the architecture of the venue, guest flow, scale, proportion and how each visual element relates to the next.
What about the venue coordinator?
This is one of the most common points of confusion.
A venue coordinator is responsible for the venue.
They may help with:
venue food and beverage
venue staffing
room access
venue policies
in-house rentals
venue timelines
They are incredibly important.
But they are not necessarily managing your photographer, florist, stationery designer, transportation, hair and makeup team, entertainment and every other moving part of the wedding.
Your venue coordinator is managing the venue.
Your wedding planner is managing the wedding.
Those are different jobs.
Do you need all three?
Not always.
Some planning companies also offer event design.
Some wedding planners coordinate the wedding day as part of their planning service.
Some floral studios also provide design direction.
At Dereves, planning, floral design and event design can live under one roof.
That means the planning decisions and design decisions are made together rather than being treated as separate projects.
Which service is right for you?
Choose full planning if you want support from the beginning and do not want to independently manage the entire planning process.
Choose event management if you are comfortable booking and planning the wedding yourself but want a professional to organize the final logistics and manage the day.
Choose event design if you have the logistics under control but need help creating a cohesive visual direction.
And if you want all three?
That is often where the wedding feels most seamless.
Because the person thinking about where the bar should go is also thinking about how it looks.
The person choosing the ceremony layout understands how the flowers need to move afterward.
And the design is being built around the actual logistics of the wedding rather than existing separately from them.
Wedding planning and design in Toronto
Dereves offers wedding planning, event management, floral design and event design throughout Toronto and the GTA.
Our approach is collaborative, design-led and highly practical.
We want the wedding to look beautiful.
But we also want it to actually work.