When couples first enquire about our On The Day Management service, they often tell me the same thing: “We’ve got everything organised.” And honestly, I believe them. Most of our couples are incredibly organised. They’ve spent months planning their wedding, researching suppliers, creating spreadsheets, pinning to Pinterest, and carefully thinking through every detail. But no matter how organised you are, there are always real wedding issues that no one sees coming. And that’s exactly where we come in!
Us being your wedding coordinator isn’t about planning your wedding for you. It’s about dealing with all the weird, random, and very real things that happen on a wedding day so that you don’t have to. These are the moments that don’t make it onto Instagram, but they happen at almost every wedding in one way or another.
While Instagram would have you believe our days are spent fluffing dresses and directing suppliers, the reality can be quite different. Here are 10 very real reasons to hire a wedding coordinator.
1. To Brush The Knots Out Of Your Hair
Let’s start with one of the real wedding issues. You’ve spent hours getting ready, and your hair looks perfect. The photographer is happily snapping away, the veil is veiling in the breeze, and the photos are stunning.
Then all of a sudden, you’ve just spent 20 minutes outside in a field having photos taken, and your hair has developed a knot the size of a tennis ball.
We’ve brushed knots out of brides’ hair, untangled veils from jewellery, rescued hair accessories, we’ve got your lipstick on hand for a touch-up and generally acted as emergency hair and makeup assistants throughout the day.
2. To Take The Stitches Out Of Your Jacket
This happens more often than you might think. Did you know that the stitches on the vents on the back of your jackets and coats are supposed to be removed?
We’ve had it numerous times, a groom arrives looking fantastic, and we give them the once over, make sure buttonholes are all aligned, shirts tucked in, ties all matching, then they turn around, and the vents are still stitched, or a label still attached, or a pocket sewn shut.
Mild panic, but fear not, out come the small emergency scissors from my trusty bag. It’s one of those tiny details that nobody notices until somebody notices.
3. To Unblock A Portaloo
We cannot stress enough that not every part of wedding coordination is glamorous.
If you’re having a marquee wedding or an outdoor wedding, there is a fairly high chance that, at some point, a real toilet-related issue will happen.
A blocked toilet, running out of toilet paper, and a lock that won’t work and often no soap! These are not things you need to be dealing with whilst enjoying your wedding day! You keep singing away on the dancefloor with your guests while we deal with the loo situation.
4. To Make Sure Your Guest Book Is Actually Signed
We can’t tell you how many beautiful guest books we’ve seen sitting untouched at weddings, even if a bridesmaid has been assigned the responsibility of making sure it’s filled in.
Couples spend ages choosing them, designing them and deciding on the perfect place for them, but then everyone gets distracted by chatting, drinking and dancing, and completely forget they exist, and then it’s the end of the night, and it’s only your mum, maid of honour and a random cousin who have left you a message.
We proactively and gently encourage your guests to sign it throughout the day, and move to the appropriate spaces where they are, so you actually have something lovely to read and remember the day by!
5. To Round Up Guests For Group Photos
Another real wedding issue we see on the day is family photos. Family photos should take twenty minutes, but sometimes they take an hour! Why? Because someone has disappeared! Uncle at the bar, grandma in the toilet, brother catching up with a mate he hasn’t seen for 5 years!
Photographers shouldn’t be spending half their time hunting people down, and they don’t have the time to, they want to get your photos done so you can enjoy your guests, canapes and drinks! It’s also not up to you to be tracking them down/calling them, or shouting across a courtyard.
We’ll find them, and normally pretty quickly!
6. To Carry All The Random Things Nobody Else Wants To Carry
At some point during every wedding, people start handing things to the bride. A card, your handbag, a mini fan, hand cream, your phone, lipstick, sunglasses, a room key, and a half glass of prosecco that you just don’t get to finish! Then all of a sudden you’re carrying half your wedding around with you, and it’s all a bit much, you start leaving things on tables and can’t remember where your room key is at the end of the night!
No fear, we are here, we become the keepers of all the random things, so you don’t have to.
It’s not a big job, but it’s one of those small things that make a massive difference. Because you should be holding a drink during your drinks reception, not your room key!
7. To Pin Buttonholes Back On
Buttonholes are wonderful, until they’re not. Unfortunately, it is quite common for a buttonhole to go floppy, or get caught up in a hug and need to be pinned back onto a jacket.
And these moments usually happen just before a ceremony starts, before family photos or just before someone walks down the aisle. Thankfully, safety pins and wedding coordinators are both pretty resourceful.
8. Fixing Your Dress
“Chief fluffer” is a title we hold with pride. We will fix and fluff your dress and veil before you walk down the aisle, in the photos, before you make an entrance. We will help button up when you first get your dress on, bustle your dress ready for your first dance, take off your veil when you’re done with it, and make sure the strap hasn’t slipped off your shoulder!
But we will also FIX your dress, and by fix we mean actually fix, whether it’s been torn on a loose floorboard or caught on some wooden panelling, or maybe the fit on that seam just wasn’t it. We will snip those frayed edges, stitch a hole, pin a strap, and tape that dress to your body to make sure no one is any the wiser. Real issues that no one even considers are going to be a problem.
9. To Light 100 Candles
Pinterest makes candlelit weddings look effortless, but what Pinterest doesn’t show you is the person or people running around with a lighter trying to light about 100 candles just before guests enter the room.
Candles don’t light themselves, and neither do lanterns, pathway lights or fire pits. So whilst you’re enjoying your drinks reception and having photographs taken, we’re usually behind the scenes making sure everything looks exactly as you imagined. It’s one of those jobs nobody notices, until it doesn’t happen, and an unlit tapered candle just looks a bit sad,
10. To Pack Everything Up At The End
This may not be considered a real wedding issue, but this might be one of the most important jobs of all, especially for London and dry hire weddings!
At midnight, when you’re dancing, celebrating and enjoying the final moments of your wedding, somebody still needs to think about the cards, gifts, guest book, leftover cake, signage, decor, flowers, and leftover favours. The random bits and pieces that you’ve spent months creating and planning, and then at the end of the day, are just there. But where does it need to go? What do you want to keep? Family members, with one too many drinks, are left to clear it up and be responsible for it all. Things get lost or forgotten and are put in a random place. We’ve even heard of cards and gifts going missing as well, which is really sad!
But with a coordinator, these things are looked after, put in your room before the end of the night. All in one place, easy and ready for you to take home with you the next day.
The Real Reason
The funny thing is that most couples don’t book an on the day coordinator because they think they’ll need someone to brush their hair, fix buttonholes or unblock toilets. They book us because they don’t want to spend their wedding day worrying, and that’s really what we’re there for.
We’re not there to take over a venue and boss people around. This isn’t about stepping in and replanning because you’ve planned your wedding badly. Couples book us because weddings are full of moving parts, real issues, unexpected moments and hundreds of tiny jobs that nobody thinks about until the day arrives. And you only get one chance to experience your wedding day, so yes, you should be spending it drinking champagne, hugging your favourite people and making memories.
You shouldn’t be looking for a missing guest or worrying about suppliers arriving on time or wondering who is going to tidy the room at the end of the night – that’s our job!
If you’re still unsure about whether or not you need a coordinator, book in for a consultation. We love to talk to all couples about their wedding days and see how we can really help. We still have some availability for 2026, and are booking a lot of 2027 couples now! So book a consultation with Chloe for On The Day management or Hannah for planning. Still planning? Then head on over and listen to Hannah on the pod, for all the latest tips, trends and submit your questions.