WARNING: Long post!
whatkat, wow, amanda's at PHP 95K now for full coordnation? that
is a lot!
if funds will permit, at the very least, i would still recommend getting an on-the-day package with amanda. one of the first few questions my shangri-la events coordinator asked me was if i was getting amanda. it didn't strike me at that time that
she was also a "coordinator" and that i maybe wouldn't really need a third party coordinator. but my suggestion is if you want to use the shangri-la coordinator, be on the safe side, and get in writing all the things you will need her to do. for example:
1. months before the wedding, will she bug and bother some of your suppliers that don't reply to your emails as fast as you want them too?
2. will she handle transportation? will she schedule which van will go to which hotel to pick up which certain number of guests at which time? if your entourage is getting ready in shangri-la, will she also schedule the earlier pick up for them? if you have a church ceremony, will she properly organize transfers to shangri-la so that your 85 guests do not riot and scramble for the vans? will the transfers be efficient so as to not leave the guests in the sweltering heat for too long?
3. will she be open to using an outside transportation vendor? or will she just use the more expensive in-house shangri-la vans?
4. since you don't want your vendors frazzled, you will want them taken care of properly as well. will she handle their caticlan/boracay transfers seamlessly? will she make sure they are checked in at their own hotels and have everything they need? will she make arrangements for their transportation on the day-of? will she personally make sure all their meals are delivered and not just give them meal allowance money? will she inform you if so and so supplier's flight into caticlan is running late? will she tell you when all suppliers are safely in boracay? after the event, will your suppliers come up to you and rave about how well they were taken care of?
5. will she make a time schedule on the day-of which includes what time the make up and hair stylists arrive, what time this bridesmaid or your mother gets started with her make up, and who goes next on the hair stylist's chair after so and so?
6. will she have a team of several people helping her? the night before the wedding and you change your mind about seating arrangement for table 10 while you are in station 2 somewhere, will she have a member of that team reach you within minutes and take the scratch paper with changes from you? and on the day of the wedding, will her team be sporting and coordinating with each other using those cool hands-free microphone/headphone thingamajigs?
7. on the day of your wedding, will she be shadowing your every move from sun-up to sun-down, hand you tissue without you even asking for them, fan you when it gets too hot, hold your lipstick and compact for you, and other whatnots? will she be able to do the same for the groom?
8. will she be able to deliver food and drinks to the male and female entourage as they're getting ready on the day-of? will she be open to sourcing meals outside, or can she only order food in-house?
9. will she be able to make sure the seating arrangement for the ceremony (church or beach) is followed to a T? will she be handling the processional line?
10. during the ceremony, will she be able to cue when so and so music starts or cue lectors/offerers when their time is almost coming up? most importantly, will she flawlessly cue you as to when you're supposed to make your grandest of entrance? diva-sounding as it is- this would have been a make or break for me. if the wrong bridal march song was played or if the church doors were opened a few seconds too early or too late, or if any other little mishap happened- it would have set a sour tone for me for the entire event.
11. during the reception, will she be able to supervise the flow of the program? will she make sure the guestbook is passed around at the proper time? if you have a wishing tree instead, will she guide people to it? if you have a birdcage for enveloped gifts, will she keep an extra eye out for the cash and checks in it?
12. for the principal sponsors and parents of the couple, will she give VIP attention and guide them to their seats? if one of your guests get sick, will she inform you at a proper time without worrying you? will she tell you that food has already been sent up to that particular guest's room, and that she will continuously monitor how guest is doing?
13. will she take all wedding paraphernalia (table numbers, place cards, drinks menu, favors, missals, entourage list, pillows, Bible, rings, offerings, etc.) from you and make sure they end up where they're supposed to go? will she take care of gathering them all back- and together with an itemized listing and all your boxed and enveloped gifts- surrender them all to you after the event?
14. will she send you your official marriage certificate a couple of months later?
i realize that some couples here are not having a church ceremony, but one of amanda's best benefits was that she was able to handle our marriage license application sans a personal appearance. being an overseas couple, that alone saved as the cost of two international and domestic round trip tickets- not to mention PTO hours from work.
another benefit we got from her was straightening out the price of shangri-la rooms. we couldn't reach the 10-room requirement so that guests could get a lower rate. but we had amanda put it in writing that our guests would still be able to get that lower rate using the local resident rate. we had a UK citizen whose wife was a UK immigrant, but we finagled their rate down to a local resident rate just the same.
we really didn't want to "talk money" with any of our suppliers. we had amanda do the dirty work for that. and being that the reception cost swallows the bulk of the budget, perhaps the coordinator employed by the hotel/resort would not completely have our best pecuniary interests in mind, if you catch my drift. shangri-la wanted to have a separate (and more expensive) buffet line for kids; amanda talked them out of that. we didn't feel comfortable with the PHP 800/pax for the cocktails; amanda had them revise the menu and obtained a lower PHP 500/pax rate.
and it's just numbers, and of course it's all relative, but will she exchange 221 emails with you like amanda did with us?
but of course- numbers don't lie. if the budget will not permit amanda's services, then treat your shangri-la coordinator well, find out her birthday first and foremost, and send her a nice gift.
i would've seriously done that had we found ourselves on that road.
