by Danielle Andrews Sunkel, President of WPIC Inc.
Photo by Richard Emmanuel, Decor by Designing Trendz
So often, when I look at photos of Wedding Coordinators working a wedding, I just have to shake my head. What are you thinking? You were hired because you are a professional, dress like it!
Ladies:
Wearing a cocktail dress and stilhetto heels while Coordinating a wedding not only looks unprofessional, it inhibits you from doing the job you were hired to do.
Photo by Nikko Lim Seating Chart by Marble Weddings
You are a Wedding Coordinator, not a Night Club Hostess. You were hired to do a job that requires lots of movement, if your attire is hindering you from doing your job, why are you wearing it??
Photo by Richard Emmanuel
The ideal outfit for a Professional Wedding Coordinator is a pant suit with a shell camisole underneath. A longer, flowing skirt works great too. You can bend, stretch, run when you need to, carry and move items, kneel down to pin on the ring bearer's bouteniere, jump up and pin on a groomsmen's bouteniere without worrying about flashing someone.
Weddings are not casual affairs, so anything you wouldn't wear to a job interview, should not be worn to a wedding. Yoga pants, t-shirts, flip-flops, sundresses or anything of the sort, should not be worn to a wedding, whether you are the Lead Coordinator or an Assistant.
If you are Coordinating a very formal affair, then you wear the suit for the ceremony and it is of course appropriate to change into an evening gown for the reception.
Men:
No fedora, it takes attention away from the bride and groom!
Photo by Barry Cardoso, Decor by The Wedding Decorators
As long as you are wearing a tasteful suit and tie, you are good. Always make sure you get your suit tailored to you, a suit only looks good if it fits properly.
Photo by Purple Martini, Decor by Design2Decor
Invest in a really great tie, like a jacquard or brocade tone-on-tone and tie a Windsor knot. You want to look successful, put-together and dare I say it, dapper.
If it is a more casual wedding, lose the tie or just wear nice dress pants with a dress shirt and tie. A tuxedo with bow tie is overdoing it. You are not the centre of attention, nor should you be, but its okay, its just for the day!
Plus-sized Planners:
Draping yourself in yards of loose, flowing fabric only makes you look bigger.
Photo by NikkoLim
It is even more in important that the curvy planner dress well. We are already battling a stereotype. You should wear fitted, structured, quality clothing.
Photo by Barry Cardoso
Don't know what would suit you? Igigi.com has a great tool called the ShapeStylist, that helps you first determine your body shape, then suggests clothing styles for you based on that body-shape.
You may have to start shopping on-line. Stores that cater quality clothing to the Plus-sized professional: Laura Plus, Igigi, Nordstrom and Wide Widths (Fashion Boots). A fantastic store I discovered in Ireland, Evans, ships to Canada in 7 days and only costs £8 (Duties extra).
Shoes:
Save your joints, leave the fabulous shoes at home.
Male, Female, Plus-size or Petite, every Wedding Coordinator needs to wear proper, professional shoes. These should be close-toed, have a rubber sole for traction (you will be running across slick dance floors at times), no more or no less than one-inch high (to properly protect your joints) and broken-in.
A fourteen-hour day, is not the time to wear new shoes, trust me, I did this once and ended up with blisters on top of blisters and 3-inches of blood going up the back of each pant leg. Walking on a Cloud, Natralizer, Ecco, Rockport all have dressy shoes that easily fit the criteria, remember its not a fashion show, you are working.
Photo by Nikko Lim
If you know what is flattering on you and how to pull outfits together, than Shopstyle is fabulous. They put all the great on-line fashion finds in one place for you. Its like having an on-line personal shopper!
Thank you to the many WPICAlumni who appear in this Blog post, you look fabulous ;)
Great article and very timely for me. I'm relatively new to the industry and find myself struggling with what to wear on the day-of. Fortunately, I can breathe a sigh of relief after reading this knowing I've been on the right track. Thanks!
Posted by: Carolyne Allan | 07/28/2011 at 03:17 PM
Wow! looking in those photos makes me remember my wedding day last year and I'm so thankful for my wedding planner who made my wedding day a fairy tale come true.
Posted by: Navy Blue | 09/14/2011 at 01:49 AM
Looks really great! Nice photos!
Posted by: Flower Delivery Melbourne | 04/26/2012 at 09:09 PM