Couples search for "wedding planner" when they want someone to handle everything. They search for "wedding coordinator" when they have heard the term but are not sure what it means. As a professional, you need to be clear about which one you are - and communicate it in a way couples can actually understand.
What a wedding planner does
A wedding planner is involved from early in the engagement - sometimes from the day after the proposal. Their role is comprehensive: helping set the vision, choosing the venue, sourcing and vetting vendors, managing the budget, reviewing contracts, building the timeline, and executing the day.
A full-service planner is essentially the couple's project manager for one of the most complex, expensive, emotionally charged events of their lives. They make hundreds of decisions on the couple's behalf, anticipate problems before they happen, and are the single point of contact for every vendor involved.
Full-service planning is the highest-touch, highest-fee service. In major Canadian cities it typically runs from $4,500 to $10,000 or more. Read the breakdown in our wedding planner pricing guide.
What a wedding coordinator does
A wedding coordinator - specifically a day-of or month-of coordinator - comes in after the couple has already done most of the planning themselves. Their job is to take over the plan someone else built and execute it.
In practice, "day-of" coordination typically starts four to six weeks before the wedding. The coordinator reviews all vendor contracts, confirms logistics, builds a detailed run-of-show timeline, leads the rehearsal, and manages the wedding day from start to finish.
They are the one on a headset at 6pm making sure the caterers know the cocktail hour is running ten minutes behind. They are not the one who chose the caterer - that was the couple.
Partial planning is the middle ground
Many planners offer a partial planning package - sometimes called "month-of" or "60-day" planning - that bridges the gap. The couple handles the big decisions early (venue, date, rough vision). The planner steps in three to five months before the wedding to manage vendor coordination, finalize contracts, build the timeline, and execute the day.
Partial planning is often the best value for couples who want professional help without paying full-service rates - and for planners who want to offer a middle tier without committing to a twelve-month engagement.
Why your positioning matters
If you call yourself a "wedding planner" but only offer day-of coordination, couples will expect more than you deliver and feel misled. If you call yourself a "coordinator" when you offer full-service planning, you are underselling your value and attracting clients with lower budgets.
Be specific on your website and in every inquiry response about what your services include and exclude. Clear positioning reduces awkward conversations, manages expectations, and attracts the right clients.
“The couples who hire the wrong type of planner for their needs are almost always the ones who end up disappointed - regardless of how well the day goes.”
Which role should you start with?
If you are new to wedding planning, day-of coordination is the best place to start. The scope is contained, the risk is manageable, and you can do several coordinations a year while building toward full-service planning. It also teaches you how weddings actually run, which makes you a better planner when you do take on full-service clients.
Once you have a few coordinations under your belt and have built vendor relationships, add a partial planning tier. Full-service is the last step - take it on when you have the experience, the network, and the systems to manage a client for twelve-plus months without dropping anything.
See our full guide on how to start a wedding planning business for a roadmap of the full progression.