Two services that are often confused, but serve very different stages of the planning journey. Understanding the distinction could save you from hiring the wrong one — or hiring neither when you need one.
The terms "wedding planner" and "day-of coordinator" are used interchangeably by many couples, some vendors, and a surprising number of people offering both services. They are not the same thing. And the difference matters — both for your budget and for how your wedding actually runs.
What a wedding planner does
A wedding planner is involved from the beginning. They help you set a budget, structure your priorities, identify and vet vendors, negotiate contracts, manage timelines across many months, and make decisions on your behalf throughout the planning process. You are essentially hiring someone to carry the mental and logistical weight of your wedding alongside you.
Full planning is a significant investment — and a significant time commitment from your planner. It makes the most sense when a couple has limited time, high standards, and the budget to delegate fully.
What a day-of coordinator does
A day-of coordinator (also called an on-the-day coordinator) steps in after you have done the planning yourself. Their job is to take everything you have built — your vendor relationships, your programme, your timeline, your vision — and execute it without you having to manage anything on the day itself.
In practice, a good coordinator starts working with you 4–6 weeks before the wedding. They review your contracts, confirm every vendor, build the final day-of timeline, conduct a venue walkthrough, and then run the entire day so you are never the one on the phone when something goes wrong.
Side by side
Which one do most Nairobi couples actually need?
In my experience, the majority of Nairobi couples self-plan. They find their own venue, book their own photographer, manage their own suppliers — and they do it well. What they consistently underestimate is the gap between having everything planned and having everything run smoothly on the day.
That gap is where a day-of coordinator lives. It is not that the planning was wrong. It is that even a well-planned wedding requires someone whose sole job on the day is to watch every moving part and intervene before problems become visible to guests.
If you have the time and inclination to plan your own wedding — and many couples genuinely enjoy this process — what you need is not a full planner. What you need is someone to run the day you have built.
exactly for this.
You plan it. We run it. Day-of coordination for couples who have done the work and want the day to reflect it.
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