Wedding Coordinating and Itinerary

We are often asked about wedding “Timelines”, “Itineraries” and “Coordinating”. Depending on who you talk to, you might get many different answers describing these services. So we thought it would be a good idea to explain what they mean to us at Digital Music Services. Keep in mind, another company may have a completely different meaning so it’s always best to ask.  Let’s dive right in…

What is a Timeline?

A timeline is a document that is usually created by a wedding planner, day of coordinator, or someone associated with the wedding and sometimes even the Bride. It list all of the major activities of the wedding day and has an expected time that each task should begin.

For example:
10:30 am – Hair and makeup for the bride and bridesmaids.
11:00 am – Photographers arrive.
  1:00 pm – Lunch

What is an Itinerary?

It is exactly the same thing as a timeline but without the times assigned to each task. If we call both of them the “schedule” you’ll have a better idea of it’s purpose… Keeping everyone on time!

What is Coordinating / Directing and how does it help you?

Since our DJ reception packages called “Gold” and “Platinum” include a Reception Coordinator (not a day of Coordinator), we thought we should cover it in greater detail. Included in our reception coordinating is a detailed Itinerary that we create prior to your wedding day. We ask many additional questions that will cover your entire reception and not just music questions. Then we create a reception Itinerary draft copy. We send the draft to you for review and once it’s approved, we email it to all of the vendors in advance that will be with us all night, including the venue. This process gets everyone on the same page long before your wedding. It also encourages each vendor to let you know if they see a problem with the itinerary. If there is a problem, we solve it and resend the updated itinerary long before your wedding day. So you start getting value out of this package weeks before your reception.

Summary

This “Team” approach allows us to all come together and keep your stress levels at a minimum. During the reception the DJ is DJing and our Coordinator executes the approved itinerary and makes sure everything flows smoothly from one part to the next. Our Reception Directing is a steal, considering that most day of coordinators are between $1,500 and $2,500.

If you’ve looked at our reviews on the Knot or Wedding Wire, you’ll see comments over and over again about how we were able to lower the stress and allow the newlyweds to have a blast. It’s because of this proven system that we developed 10 years ago.

What most couples don’t realize is that if you plan your own wedding as most do, but don’t find someone capable of running the show during your reception, you’ll still be planning it yourself all the way to your exit. Since weddings are very detailed and complicated, family members are not really suited for this task. Having someone on your team to make sure things go smoothly and knows exactly what YOU want, is super important to allow you to enjoy your reception instead of working your reception.