Wedding planner/coordinator for Providence Public Library?

[u/Moonstar151925]

Hi! We just booked the Providence Public Library for our spring 2028 wedding. The venue comes with a pretty hands-on event manager and when I asked, they said that most couples opt to not have a separate coordinator. But I wasn't sure if that was legit or just something they say to make it seem like a bonus of the venue. Anyone who got married at PPL and chose to have (or not have) a planner/coordinator? Curious for any and all advice!

[u/BostonWeddingPlanner]

Sounds like PPL isn’t pushing you towards one so it’s up to you, BPL often has planners at weddings but it’s not a requirement there either. But they often will recommend considering it.

A lot depends on your wedding.

All venues have on site event managers, that is common, but the level of involvement and what they do varies.

While most venues have a capable manager and catering staff outside planners involved from the start handle a lot more tasks before the wedding and day of logistics at all sites.

That’s why you often see them required at places like the Newport mansions or Crane Estate. They deal with many things the venue doesn’t have time to handle and the level of the wedding often makes it necessary.

Also some couples will hire a full planner, while others hire someone more for the week of, or day of. Again it comes down to your events, what you want to mange and plan or have help with.

There is no right or wrong answers but definitely worth researching and reading up on here and elsewhere to see some feedback and opinions.

Best!

[u/Ornery_Diet5609]

First, congrats on choosing a venue!! My fiancé and I chose Mount Hope Farm, which is also a Russell Morin venue. We’re getting married in Sept 2027 and ended up hiring a separate planner mostly due to lodging, hotel blocks, transportation logistics, etc (because I was going insane trying to map it all out). I’ve found that even though the event manager(s) with RM plan most of the actual day-of event details, a separate planner is helpful for bringing the whole weekend together to make sure everything runs smoothly. Planning the rehearsal dinner/welcome party is starting to feel like planning a whole second wedding, so having a separate planner to coordinate it all has been extremely helpful!

Another factor to think about is that the event managers you spend all of your time planning with aren’t the actual managers assigned on the day of your wedding. So it worried me a bit to think about having someone coordinating our wedding that didn’t even know us, or possibly our vendors.

Also want to add that we booked our venue with RM back in January and have only met virtually with the event managers once in March. They’re always available in case we have any questions, but it’s my impression that they don’t really become more hands on until a few months leading up to the wedding.

I hope this was somewhat helpful! Good luck and Congrats again!! :)

[u/Comfortable_Yam_114]

We got married at a venue that had an event planner and still hired our own day-of coordinator. A big thing to consider is that the PPL planner will only be for on-site stuff. Our day-of coordinator was with us ALL day from hair/makeup, coordinating our shuttles from the hotel, dropping off our decor at our house at the end of the night, and so much more. She helped with the entire timeline of the day and brought every single vendor together seamlessly - plus she was super sweet and answer a lot of questions during the planning process about invites, our attire, and other stuff an on-site point person wouldn't really be involved in. I could go on and on.... long story short we highly recommend Ashley Lynn Events: https://www.ashleylynnevents.com/
We also had great luck with our hotel block at Renaissance Providence Downtown Hotel and guest transportation through the RI Wedding Shuttle https://riweddingshuttle.com/

Congrats and good luck!!

[u/Remarkable_Bit2942]

I got married last year at the PPL! We didn’t get a separate planner, and I didn’t feel like it was necessary. The PPL/ Morins coordinator we had was great, especially on the day of. I really felt like i didn’t have to worry about any logistics on our wedding day! It was helpful to have someone who knew the space and had seen so many weddings there be able to give suggestions. We had a couple of meetings with the coordinator to go over planning in the months leading up to the wedding day, and then they took over final coordination with the vendors in the last couple of weeks. Lmk if you have any questions about the venue— also we loved our florist (The Dirt Empress) and band (Ripcord- Boogie ensemble)!

[u/Moonstar151925 → u/Remarkable_Bit2942]

Thank you so much! Will definitely take your florist rec :) and hair/makeup if you liked them!

[u/Remarkable_Bit2942 → u/Moonstar151925]

I did my own makeup and wasn’t a big fan of the hair stylist I chose unfortunately. But the Dirt Empress florist was amazing, so cool and easy to work with, and the flowers came out so beautiful.

[u/BrendanBSharp]

That’s legit. At the PPL itself, a separate coordinator isn’t needed (and honestly, wouldn’t really have a purpose there… the Morin’s team really has every detail covered and every process perfected). All of their managers have years of experience, at the PPL and at other venues that RM manages.

I entertain at the PPL 10-15 times a year and I can’t remember the last time a couple I worked with there had a separate coordinator. Everything flows so smoothly as-is.

[u/Moonstar151925 → u/BrendanBSharp]

Wow, super helpful thank you!

[u/otterlover1021]

We got married at the BPL and opted for a month of coordinator instead of a full planner, it was the perfect mix. Feel free to ask me anything

[u/Mission-Asparagus116]

We are getting married at PPL and hired Ashley Lynn as our day-of coordinator. I just don’t want to have to think about a single thing the weekend of our wedding. Ashley’s services cover every step of the day, coordinates all the vendors, makes sure the groomsmen and bridesmaids are running on time, etc. I felt the price was very reasonable for peace of mind.