The importance of your in-house wedding co-ordinator

It never ceases to amaze me how undervalued in-house wedding coordinators and wedding managers can be by their employers, considering the extent of their dedication to their role.

The wedding department is so often seen as the ‘little sister’ department to room sales or corporate events. Meaning that less investment is made in wedding marketing. It often falls to the wedding coordinator.

Therefore, not only do they have to wear a great many hats, they often end up working well over their contracted hours.

The role is a vital one. Taking enquiries, answering any and all queries, conducting show rounds and making those crucial sales.

Not to mention managing potentially difficult and demanding clients. Helping them plan the biggest day of their lives and making sure all the information is in place for a smooth-running day.

Those tangible efforts are easily tracked by looking at annual wedding revenue. But, do you give any thought to the intangible benefits this vital employee brings to the property?

You might think that being office based, your wedding sales team doesn’t have that much contact with the outside world.

In fact, if your co-ordinator/manager is doing their job fully, they are one of the most public-facing members of staff on the team. Consider the contact they have with clients and suppliers. And the wider industry through planning weddings and contributing to the wedding social media (which we strongly recommend they do)!

Their daily brand and network building work is utterly invaluable to the business! And making sure that those weddings, attended by 100+ guests each time, run flawlessly makes for great ongoing PR and goodwill.

So, have I impressed upon you how important this role is? I do hope so.

I have private consulting venue clients who absolutely understand the importance of this role and nurture their team. And it’s no coincidence those wedding managers love their work. That passion shines through in their ability to sell their venue to produce great results.

And recruiting and retaining the best team also significantly increases your Exit Value from any venue business.

Are you looking to recruit a new team-member? Then don’t just look out for the strong sales skills and fantastic organisational abilities that are the bedrock of the role. Passion counts for so much more than experience in my book!

The role is so rarely 9-5 and we all know it’s hard to give 100% when working long hours if you don’t love what you do. Moreover, great co-ordinators and managers have to dive into the wider wedding industry.

This involves keeping fully up to date with wedding trends, building relationships with new suppliers and researching popular design ideas, all through reading related blogs and magazines.

Without this essential daily research, how can they possibly undertake their marketing duties and represent the wedding brand 
effectively? How can they relate to couples, understand their visions for their days and help them find the right suppliers?

If you’re an ambitious wedding venue and you’d like to ‘kick it up a notch’ with the type of quality weddings your venue deserves. Then get in touch for my Private Consulting Programme for wedding venue leaders. 

Final piece of advice for now! If you already have an awesome wedding coordinator or manager then make sure you let them know today (and regularly) just how much you appreciate their work. Go on!

Image credits:  Grupo Bambu // Cheat Sheet // The Very Last Detail // RSA House // RSA House