The Venue Coordinator is not a "Planner or Coordinator" at all....

So at the last UNF Bridal Show I heard a lot of Brides saying…"I don't need a Planner my VENUE provides one for me" and to this I say...Ya Right!!

A "Venue Coordinator" is not really a coordinator at all but more of a "Sales Person" for the establishment. You probably called "The Sand Castle Club" (this is totally made up by the way..at least as far as I know of) and talked to "Jessica" during normal business hours and requested information on renting the facility. Jessica was so nice and helpful emailing the Wedding Packages, writing up the Contracts, picking out the menu, showing you the facility, choosing the linen colors...but come on that is her job!! "Jessica" is not going to be the one to create your timeline, answer your 3am emails about which flowers would look better on the tables or should you do a bouquet/garter toss. Not to say that she doesn't care about your wedding "details" but she doesn't get paid by YOU to care about those particular "details", she gets paid a Salary or Commission on how many functions she books at "The Sand Castle Club". Jessica's job is to makes sure the "details" relating to the facility are accurate and that the kitchen gets the appropriate head count for the menu and what the menu consists of. She also has to place and order for those linens and make sure she has on the appropriate number of staff for your Wedding. She will right up what is called a B.E.O which has specific instructions on table setup, if you are having a bar and what kind of liquor gets stocked in the bar, start and end time and contact information for you, your parents or Planner. At the end of the day Jessica will hand off this B.E.O to a Banquet Captain or Maitre d' to handle the setup, run and breakdown of this event that you call Your BIG Day. Your "Venue Coordinator" is not going to email or call your vendors to ask "IF or what time they will be arriving or departing". They will not have an extensive "emergency kit on hand" or run out to get you something that you may have needed. Like I said, the "Venue Coordinator" is not there for YOU they are there for the Facility that is paying them to book the place!!

So now you are probably saying I sound harsh but it's completely accurate from my personal experience. Every facility that I have ever been to has NOT had a "Wedding Planner or Wedding Day Coordinator" on staff.

So now let's talk about the

comforts of contracting

The Wedding Assistant....

What exactly does a 

Wedding Assistant do for you?

The Big Day Package

*** The better The Wedding Assistant knows your wedding, the better we can advocate for YOU on YOUR BIG DAY. So please provide as much information as possible ***

         
 Asking the Details
Finding out your wants, needs & expectations of YOUR BIG DAY, making sure you have " all  of your bases covered ". I want you to ASK ME QUESTIONS if you need to...... this is YOUR DAY! Your Assistant will review all wedding day details and plans to keep everything organized and running smoothly on the day of Your Wedding.

 Unlimited Email and Phone Calls
Email is the preferred method of contact since it is available 24 hours. Phone calls or texts are preferred during normal business hours. (*Weekends may not apply due to other weddings*)


Wedding Venue Walkthrough
About a month prior to Your BIG Day, your Assistant will accompany you on your walk through and final meeting with your venue to finalize details of the location, timeline of events and ensure that everyone is "on the same page".

Wedding Day Timeline
Your Assistant will be working with you to create a detailed and customized timeline. When done, this timeline will become the “schedule” for your day - telling your vendors, The Wedding Assistant. It’s very important to keep all of your vendors on the same page. Timeline will be provided via email to all vendors as needed to insure the execution of Your BIG Day. Wedding timelines are never exact but I try to ensure we follow a schedule.

Oversee the Vendors
Your Assistant is there to mediate between Bride/Groom, vendors and families, answer questions, field emergencies and make sure everything runs to your specifications. We prefer The Wedding Assistant be the point of contact for your vendors and guests if questions/problems arrive on the day of your wedding. "TWA" will obtaining from you all vendors names, cell phone numbers and email addresses that will be used on your wedding day for easy contact should the need arise. We will oversee the set up and decoration at the ceremony and/or reception as per specific agreements. Ensure decorator, florist, DJ set up as per your instructions. insure that YOUR WISHES are carried out from set-up to breakdown.


Wedding Day Coordination (max 10 hours)
Your Assistant can oversee the Setup and Breakdown of the Ceremony and/or Reception, line-up your wedding party, cue musicians, manage the change-over (or cocktail hour), ensures that your reception runs smoothly (and all vendors are present for the big moments), and will help make sure your important wedding materials and memories (gifts, guest book, pictures) get back to you safely. Emergency & first aid kit with helpful items will always be on site throughout YOUR BIG DAY

So many little things you don't think about until you start putting together Your Wedding Day Itinerary or until you realize on Your BIG Day that your parents and wedding party cannot seem to remember all those things you spent so much time practicing, planning, & discussing.

It is my sole priority to make sure the vendors do as is stipulated without them interrupting you on your most special day. I have no alliances to anyone, with the exception of two people – the Bride and Groom. I am here to advocate for YOU!

Still unsure if you need
The Wedding Assistant??

Then ask yourself the
following questions…

If the answer is YOU, your parents, or a member of the wedding party, then you need a Wedding Assistant. (These people deserve to enjoy the day, not be stressed working it)

o  Who will greet every vendor (which will likely arrive around the same time as each other and during the time you & your party are busy getting ready and taking pictures before the ceremony) and tell them where to put what?

o  Who will call the vendors if the vendors don't arrive on time?

o  Who will monitor the vendors to make sure everything is set up correctly and tries to fix it if it is not?

o  Who will give the toasting flutes/cake knife/first tier cake box to the caterer?

o  Who will distribute the bouquets, boutonnieres or corsages?

o  Who will make sure people are where they need to be for pre-ceremony pictures?

o  Who make sure the reception tables are setup (place cards, favors, menu cards, disposable cameras)?

o  Who will set out the guestbook?

o  Who will give the programs to the ushers, make sure the ushers are in place at the time they need to be, and help them if they have questions about seating?

o  Who will make sure the groom and his party are accounted for & in their room before the ceremony?

o  Who will make sure the parents know where they should be and what they should be doing before the ceremony?

o  Who will monitor the flow of people to make sure you and your fiancé don't see each other? Who will tell you the status of your guest’s arrival and let you know when everyone is ready to line up?

o  Who will make sure everyone lines up as they should when they forget everything you practiced at the rehearsal?

o  Who will cue the musician?

o  Who will guide your party as to where they should go after the recessional to wait for pictures?

o  Who will make sure your guests move in the direction of the happy hour or reception?

o  Who will help coordinate your grand entrance to the reception?

o  Who will the caterer check with throughout the night to confirm that the schedule for dinner, toasting, and cake cutting is still as planned?

o  Who will create your timeline?

o  Who will watch the clock to keep your reception activities on schedule?

o  Who will coordinate adjustments to the schedule or flow of the reception if things don't start on time or don't happen the way you expected?

o  Who will deal with any catering or DJ issues during the reception?

o  Who will distribute any farewell bubbles, rice bags or rose petals for the Grand Departure?

o  Who will make sure things run smoothly after you and your husband leave the reception?

o  Who will monitor to make sure your guests are not forgetting their favors on their table when they leave?

o  Who will make sure any things that need to be picked up by vendors at the end of the night don't leave the venue and are ready for pick up (e.g. large vases)?

Once Upon a Time...

Once Upon a Time... Isn't that how all good stories begin? Oh where to start...from the beginning I suppose. (well I will leave out some stuff)


Once Upon a Time there was a little girl named Tabbatha. She was a talkative young girl who never seem to fit in. She asked way to many questions, love to decorate and organize and didn't care what people thought of her, well at least in front of their face. She was an overly sensitive child that would wear her heart on her sleeve and was eager to help out anyone who needed it. She started working at a local restaurant by the name of Crawdaddy's after school and on weekends at the age of fourteen, with a work permit of course. She was finally doing things on her own.

School days were pretty normal...their were the friends, the boyfriends, the teasers and the bullies so when High School came around she opted to go to a school where she could start fresh. Andrew Jackson High School sounded glamorous and there option of graduating a whole year early sounded even better. It was here at Andrew Jackson that Tabbatha would major in Medical Magnet and went on to become a Certified Nursing Assistant getting her credit hours at St. Catherine's Nursing Home in the Alzheimer's Unit and Wolfson's Childrens Hospital on the Cancer Floor. The life that she thought that she wanted suddenly became to "real" at a very young age. The death around her made her very nervous and shifted her life into...well the unknown. What she thought she would go to college for was now just someone else's dream. 

This young girl was turning into a woman and growing up wanting to escape the DRAMA of High School. For three years she busted her butt and even took Summer classes to get all of her "School Credits" done. She did graduate from Andrew Jackson (a whole year early I might add) with her C.N.A License and a 3.2 average in 1998.




In June of 1998 she got a job at a local ★☆★☆★ star restaurant by the name of River City Brewing Company. She didn't realize it then but this would start to turn her life but it would take about 11 years to do so. 

In October of 2001 she met Andy Ronnekamp, the love of her life and they eventually married on the "Fantasy Cruise" to the Bahamas on February 5, 2004. They now have two children together, Zoey & Kaia. 


(I guess I will skip through part of the story of all the chores, diapers, cooking and cleaning and start where life as she knew it changed.) It was at RCBC that she learned all of her background in organization of weddings and events from setup to breakdown but one wedding in particular hit a nerve. On March 13, 2009 there was a wedding that took place at RCBC and Tabbatha immersed herself in helping this couple's Dream Wedding and it was B-E-A-UTIFUL. The following day the LIGHTBULB literally went on over her head. She thought..."Why don't I do this....I can do this and I will do this". That is the point that "The Wedding Assistant" was born, well at least the idea of it anyway.


And this is where I say the "real Tabbatha" took over.... the confident, independent woman that started turning a thought and a small dream into her new reality. 


My name is Tabbatha, owner of The Wedding Assistant. I have worked so hard at researching and questioning my potential career, from business cards to websites...I did it all. I jumped in with both feet and didn't look back. Believe it or not my first clients came from Craigs List. This probably was not the most glamorous way to start but hey, it was a start! Amber's wedding took place in August of 2009 and Jennifer's soon followed. I was now convinced of my Passion for Planning. I got my LLC in October of 2009 as well as my Jacksonville Business License. I purchased my Business Liability Insurance in January of 2010. As the weddings started coming in my confidence level shot through the roof. I was now proving myself to...well myself!! 

www.jeanmoree.com

In 2010 things started moving very quickly and I LOVED it! Client after client and meeting after meeting with the "BIG Vendors" of the industry, my world was now all about weddings. My goal was to be a Certified Wedding Planner by 2011. I wanted to go to UNF and take the Certified Wedding Planner Course that was 300 credit hours but then I stopped... I thought I really like my "niche" that I created with The Wedding Assistant known as the BIG Day Coordinator. Do I really want to be a full planner after all?? I still waiver back and worth on this subject, depending on the day. (FYI - you DON'T need a certificate to practice wedding planning and their is no degree in it either) I do pride myself on doing things the right way, which is why I made my business legal and purchased insurance and I am sure at some point I will probably end up being a Certified Wedding Planner but for now I am taking things one step at a time but ALWAYS moving forward.


So now here we are in 2011...and OH what a year, well half a year so far, it has been. I am now associated with the Best of The Best and organizing things that I never imagined. I have BIG things happening ( I won't name any names because I don't want to jinx anything :o) I have signed up for a total of three Bridal Shows this year. I am re-launching with a new website, logo, information, prices and new packages on August 1, 2011. I am again finding myself in awww. It's amazing to me, by helping out all these Bride's and Vendors, I finally am understanding the true meaning of self worth and pride. (I am sure my fellow vendors know the exact feelings I am talking about). So now here I type my first rambling blog.... as a woman,  a once upon a bride, a wife, a mother, an entrepreneur and now a new chapter of my life, PROUD OWNER of The Wedding Assistant. Thank you so much...EVERYONE!!

~ ❤ ~ 
Tabbatha

www.foxfotostudios.com