With the continuously booming wedding and events industry, there are so many events coordinator nowadays, and the price range bracket for their services is also vast, making it easy to procure one regardless of one's budget.
So why did we need one? Read here.
So we dove in the web and sourced for coordinators. This was our second big task. We decided to get full coordination packages so we can have somebody to assist us particularly in logistics and sourcing for other suppliers for our destination wedding. At this point, we already have a list of destinations, but no finality yet.
1. Our first choice: Coron, Palawan.
2. Cebu
3. Boracay
The other two were our back-up. We felt it may be too expensive to have it in Coron once we have other suppliers to hire. The problem with Palawan was that good suppliers were not yet available, and for us, the skills and caliber of those we found based there were not yet at par with Manila's. Cebu and Boracay already have good local based suppliers, but Boracay's a bit too mainstream for us, and we just love Coron's beauty more.
Guess which is which?
After a couple of emails and inquiries, this was our first challenge. No coordinator from all we've inquired fitted our bucket. Others were already booked for the date. We were already considered "late" in planning as it was just 11 months to go, while others already started years ago. For other available ones, they were just too expensive. Their coordination price alone already ate a chunk of our budget, and it's not yet including OOT fees, meals, accommodation and transportation. It's just not worth it. We thought we overestimated ourselves and we needed to rethink of our theme.
Luckily, a bridal fair was just around the corner, the Themes and Motif's Bridal fair last March 2019. So we decided to visit this as our last resort before we change our theme. We decided we needed to hire somebody here, as it's already too late on our part and we might not hire anybody satisfactory if we drag this further. Prior to the fair, we listed down important questions applicable to our dream wedding to prepare and interview them. First question should always be about date availability, because if they're not available, what's the point to ask the other questions? For other questions we prepared, read here.
We were there at the fair as early as opening time. There were more than 50 coordinators stationed, and we seriously dropped by each one of them to interview. We spent a whole day in this fair, with hundreds of leaflets and papers in our bags and a paper and pen in our hands. For those who did not leave a good impression, we skipped them, such as the one we saw unprepared during opening. Coordinators are supposed to be always early & prepared, right? It might just be our OC talking, but punctuality is a major quality for a coordinator, and it should always show, especially if they are after potential clients.
The whole day felt like we're interviewing applicants for a position. Once we finished, we sat down and immediately evaluated our options. Another thankful happening that day! We initially thought we'll be overwhelmed by the many coordinators, but one stood out, the Monina E Events & Marketing coordination team. Most coordinators answered our questions in "We can do it" way, with some obviously had no prior experience in destination weddings. Others also appeared cheap, but got a lot of add-ons and additional fees on top. Others have specific limitations and restrictions such as number of physical meetings, ocular trips, actual start date of planning, etc. even for full coordination. Some do more than 1 event a day, which was a minus for us, as we highly prefer the main team and contact person to be present all the time.
We literally sat like this in every coordinator station during the expo.
On the other hand, Monina's team answered in a "We did it" manner, which peaked our interest with them. Moreover, they were already in the industry for 24 years as of this writing, their rates are reasonable and within average, and their services and how they present themselves were more client-oriented. There were no indication of limits in meetings, they start to work immediately with you after booking regardless of package and such, they only do one event a day and they were able to show us their actual past portfolio beyond the fliers & marketing materials. Also, when we talked with the lead coordinator, she was very professional and friendly, we immediately felt a connection and chemistry with her. This was an important factor! We searched for the team over the internet for client reviews and found them to be generally excellent. 24 years of experience is definitely a big plus. Bingo! Looks like they're the one.
It was around dinner time when we got back to Ms. Monina, asked additional questions, then booked their team. One of the questions we had in mind was with 24 years of experience and good client base, why have we not heard of them before? We also did not saw them in the internet during our research. Her reasons are simple. They did not invest much in marketing. They only join fairs. They thrive through client referrals and word of mouth This to us is such a thrifty, classic yet very strong and reputable marketing! This made us realize further how lucky we have found them that day.
Team Monina's station setup during expos
What a nice way to end this tiring but fruitful day. We're so happy and relieved we accomplished our mission, and recruited a good team for our dream wedding. We just had to wait for the final contract and price with all details and inclusions for our destination wedding, which they were able to immediately send within the next days. Who doesn't love a responsive supplier?
***All my posts are in no way sponsored or paid. I narrate our wedding planning adventure like a diary, with only actual facts and experiences.***
Chapter 2: Wedding Coordinator Hunt
Days to go: 11 months
Wedding Planning Progress: 10%
Wedding Planning Team:
1. Bride & Groom
2. Wedding Coordinator: Monina E Events & Marketing
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