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Our new sponsor Stephanie Gatton spent the better part of her twenties as a theatrical stage manager. Then her friends started asking her to “stage manage” their weddings. Turns out that the organization and laser-focus on minutiae of stage managing prepared her extremely well to become an event planner!
New Yorkers, and New York-adjacent-ers, here's why you need this New York wedding planner even if you have a venue coordinator already, even if you're on the fence about getting one, and especially if you're looking for a wedding planner who loves offbeat couples so much that she's offering you a discount…
I have a venue coordinator, do I need my own planner?
Venue coordinator vs. a day-of coordinator: What's the dif!?
I began to explain the difference between using a venue’s “inclusive” coordinator versus a day-of coordinator (or DOC, for short) that you bring in yourself.... Read more
That’s great! Most venue coordinators are great at their jobs. But you know who the venue coordinator has to answer to? The venue, and not you. Or, as Stephanie put it:
It’s like when you’re buying a home — the seller has a broker and the buyer has a broker, and you would never think of combining the two brokers into one service, because they each have very different goals in mind. There’s an invisible line in the sand that venue coordinators won’t cross. But I tell my couples “I’m here for you.”
When do you absolutely need a kick-ass logistical goddess?
…If you'd love someone to take care of the most important parts of your day so that you can, you know, enjoy the most important parts of the day.
…If you just so happen to be getting married in one location and holding your reception in another location.
…If you have no skills when it comes to finding or instructing vendors.
Then you may really want a kick-ass logistical goddess, such as Stephanie, to execute everything flawlessly for you!
Day and freaking MONTH-OF Coordination
Stephanie offers Day-Of Coordination services, as well as general consultation only for those on a more limited budget… but where she can really provide value is her Month-of Coordination Package. With this package, in addition to handling the rehearsal and day-of, Stephanie will come on board four to six weeks prior to the wedding in a consultation capacity — happy to answer any questions you may have, or point you in the right direction if you’re unsure of next steps.
(So you down-to-the-wire couples: Get on that!)
Offbeat Discount
After having been an Offbeat Bride and Tribe member throughout her entire wedding planning process… Stephanie Gatton is pleased to offer fellow readers 20% her Month-of Coordination package for ALL 2017 weddings (January 1 – December 31, 2017). Just mention you found her on Offbeat Bride!
Finally, when you book Stephanie Gatton Events… you get Stephanie Gatton! She runs her business efficiently, (which keeps costs down for you). But that means that she has to be really selective when booking. So you do yourselves a favor, and contact Stephanie ASAP to snag a spot on her calendar!
Offbeat Wed Vendor
This page features vendors from our curated Offbeat Wed Vendor Directory. They're awesome and we love them. If you're a vendor let's get you in here!
About the Author: Megan Finley Horowitz
When Megan's not writing, traveling, and sleeping, she's eating like the fate of the world depends on it. (You're welcome, world!) You can snoop into her personal life over on her website The Dash and Dine!
Stephanie is worth every penny because of the amount of stress she saves the bride and groom. As a vendor, I had to marvel at the way she pulled off Plan C as a backup to the backup rain plan at a wedding in October. She has a way of finding solutions on the fly while getting everyone to move in a forward direction while keeping things upbeat and positive. So excited to see her featured here.
Thanks SO much, Angie! I loved collaborating with you – can’t wait to do it again. And yes, lovely brides and grooms to be – my powers of anticipation (especially for what COULD go wrong before it does!) are strong. Feel free to take advantage of them so you don’t have to stress!
xoxo,
S
For any misfit couples (or triads, or families) interested in a non-traditional funky wedding, and want to hire a non-traditional funky lady as a wedding coordinator, I can heartily recommend Stephanie. While I have never gotten married, I have been with Stephanie at various moments that needed coordination (including her own wedding!) and frankly feel that this is her calling. And in this current political climate, Stephanie particularly stands behind people whose love pushes boundaries, and that is something to celebrate.
Stephanie acted as our day-of coordinator and helped enormously in keeping us on track and focused in the months leading up to our wedding this October, and making sure everything ran smoothly for the wedding weekend itself. We are two perfectionist theatre designers used to running our own productions, and she became our totally trusted “external brain” – keeping all the practical information together so that we could focus on the artistic stuff. Stephanie handled our obsessive detail-oriented needs with clarity and finesse, taking much of the burden of organization and scheduling off our hands, to our great relief. She even helped Orli find an amazing makeup artist when hers disappeared!
Her clear, warm communication was a real gift when coordinating between our multiple venues and vendors, friend-helpers and family. Her work coordinating everyone’s schedules was amazing, ensuring that all helpers, décor items, guests, bride and groom ended up where they needed to go. When we changed our rain plan at the last minute, Stephanie calmly took charge of working with both the ceremony and reception venues to make sure everyone was on the same page. It’s no overstatement to say that without her, things would have been a mess, and we feel very lucky to have had her on our team. Her calm and positive attitude were invaluable in allowing us to actually relax and enjoy our wedding day, knowing that Stephanie had everything under control.