Do You Need a Wedding Coordinator?
If the answer is yes - we can recommend one of the best in the GTA biz! | September 1, 2023 | 5 minute read
We were able to let loose (clearly) during our wedding events because we knew Saamah, our wedding coordinator, was there to take care of things!
If you haven’t been able to tell yet - I enjoy organization & control. So it was a natural decision that we would plan our wedding ourselves, and I would lean heavily on Google Sheets for operational & emotional support.
But as much as we knew we wanted to plan our own wedding, Rohan & I also knew we would need a capable leader to take over day of coordination & vendor management duties. We didn’t want these responsibilities to fall on our parents, siblings, friends or bridal party members either because we wanted them to enjoy our wedding & knew many of them would be needed for portions of ceremonial events.
We met with a few different wedding planning companies that did not impress us. For example one wedding planner forgot to write a 1 in front of 2:30 on their agenda & missed our 12:30 pm appointment by 2 hours… which doesn’t bode well when you’re applying for a position that is primarily about scheduling & your ability to keep things on track!
So I turned to a few friends & friends of friends for recommendations and referrals - and then along came Saamah of S JAY Events.
With Saamah’s help all our big events with large numbers of guests moved along seamlessly & on schedule each day!
Saamah was everything we were looking for in a day of coordinator! She was strong, confident, organized, passionate and a natural leader. She also had a wealth of experience coordinating South Asian cultural events & various different types of religious ceremonies. Upon our first Zoom call itself I trusted Saamah implicitly with my Google Sheet docs.
We also knew Saamah would be capable of coordinating unruly uncles who may be reluctant to leave the bar & take a seat during speeches. We needed her on our team, and decided to hire her for our 3 hall events. Also fun fact: it turned out Saamah & my big brother (who was also our MC) had met years ago when they co-MCed their mutual friends’ wedding together, so they made another power duo collaborated during our events to help make sure all communications to guests were frequent & clear.
With Saamah’s help - we are very proud to say - all of our events were extremely well organized, stayed on schedule and encompassed all the small details that Rohan & I meticulously planned! Guests were also always aware of where they should be so they didn’t miss a chance to see all the ceremonial activities and fun going on, especially at the Hindu ceremony. Our reception also started on time, such that we were able to open the dance floor & buffet on schedule - and thus have all night for eating & dancing! Saamah was also excellent at welcoming guests & interacting with all of our family and friends with a great attitude & respect - even when they needed reminding to take their seats! Saamah’s skills came in especially clutch during our Sangeet - where we had over 10 performances & speeches by our family & friends to coordinate! With Saamah’s expertise, working closely with our amazing Sangeet DJ who we adored - DJ KOW - the whole night’s entertaining itinerary was executed perfectly!
And being the overly-organized planner I am myself - Saamah & I also worked together seamlessly. Included in Saamah’s services was the creation of itineraries, and assistance with securing any last minute details or props. And I created a few extra guides & documents that helped enable Saamah to conduct her duties on the days of our events with a bit more ease. These guides included a bridal party guide (complete with pictures of all bridesmaids, groomsmen and other family/friends with roles in our ceremonies), copies of our carpool plans, key song list (songs chosen for entrances etc) so she could recognize it if the DJ played something incorrectly, key photo shot list (to make sure all key family members were included in post ceremony photos), and more.
We were able to enjoy cocktail hour at our reception without any worries while Saamah ensured everything was ready inside the hall
In the end we’re extremely happy we hired a coordinator & more specifically that that coordinator was Saamah! But in case you’re on the fence about whether you need one for your wedding too - here are a few questions you can ask yourself to help you decide:
Will you have a lot of vendors on site at your event that might require direction (ex photo, video, caterers, decor) the day of?
Could you use an experienced eye to help draw up realistic itineraries, and help think of scenarios you may need to plan for that you may not have thought of yet?
Do you have a large number of guests that might be tougher to coral, which may in turn affect your scheduled start times?
Would you like an experienced planner to join you at final venue walk throughs & help think of all the things you need to confirm / ask with the venue before the big day (when you might be preoccupied with other thoughts!)?
If you answered YES to most of these questions then you should contact Saamah at S JAY EVENTS for your big day!
If it weren’t for Saamah’s diligence to make sure we got all the big group photos we wanted we may not have ended up with gems like this - courtesy of Flashing Lights Photography!