Overall: We invested a lot of our time searching for Hana, and working with her to carry out our…read moresmall wedding. While we do appreciate her time and all the work she did, we cannot recommend Hana as a wedding coordinator because of her unprofessionalism. Please read below for why. For more questions, please reach out to us: noobebe0710@gmail.com.
We hired Hana as our Day-of Coordinator for our wedding with 40 guests on October 5, 2024. We only hired her for Day-of Coordination and not Full Coordination since we were on a budget, and I, the bride, took on most of the planning with the help of my groom. We chose her over fourteen other candidates we thoroughly interviewed, where we spent about an hour for each interview. At the time of interviewing and hiring Hana for the job, she was very enthusiastic and thorough in explaining her role and the additional things she could assist with. Here are her assigned roles from our contract:
I reviewed how each role went during the wedding: P for positive on what she did well. Our constructive feedback is below for what could've been done differently.
P: She was fun to work with and very easy to reach before the wedding, even during times when she was sick. I was living out of town and the groom was living in Austin while planning, and most of our communication was virtual. She always tried her best to execute the vision we had for our wedding.
Timeline management: Ensure the wedding stays on schedule
P: On our wedding day, she was punctual and ensured she was the first person at the venue, making sure everything was organized.
Rehearsal: Attend and coordinate the wedding rehearsal with the officiant to make sure everyone knows what to do when
P: During our Rehearsal Lunch on October 4, 2024, she helped us coordinate our wedding entourage along with the DJ, which was very important to us since we wanted our plans to be executed smoothly.
Venue walkthrough: Oversee the final walk-through of the venue
P: She attended the venue walkthrough on September 19, 2024 and met with our photographer.
Decorations: Ensure all decorative items are in place
P: She did well when directing the setup for the wedding ceremony. She also assisted other vendors with logistics, whether it involved decorating or setting up for the reception.
Vendors: Manage vendors when they arrive and confirm their setup locations and arrival times
Ceremony: Line up everyone for the ceremony and cue the officiant and musicians for key moments
P: She was able to tell us our officiant was late and she tried her best to contact him. He arrived on time.
Reception: Coordinate the couple's entrance into the reception
Cleanup: Oversee the breakdown and cleanup of the venue
P: She made sure the venue was clean as the wedding concluded. She helped direct what happened with the wedding decorations during the cleanup afterward. Our decorations went to different cars. Even if some of our family members didn't give her the keys, she carried decorations to the cars. She tried her best to make sure the decorations went to the correct car.
Communication: Keep everyone involved informed so the day runs smoothly
Areas for improvement:
For example, she could have contacted our other vendors such as our wedding cake vendor and DJ during the wedding planning process to ensure better synchronization on the wedding day. We understand that we only hired her for Day-of Coordination and not the full service, but we hired her believing that she would still assist with "some part" of the planning. It was very important to us that she proactively contacted our vendors so we wouldn't have to worry about the logistics. We also wish she had given clearer instructions to the vendors about our specific requests and expectations. Although my husband and I also discussed our expectations with her, it should've been written into the contract.
Unfortunately, it didn't feel like she made much effort to contact them in advance. While we provided the vendor's contacts the day we hired her--almost two months before the wedding--there was no evidence that she reached out to them in a timely or consistent manner. This lack of communication became evident when our DJ made a few mistakes during the latter part of the wedding ceremony and parts of the reception. While we know this isn't entirely Hana's fault, we strongly believe that better coordination with the DJ could have prevented these mishaps.We also should've advocated having a meeting with Hana and DJ a week before the wedding to go over the final timeline since DJ Abner had a big role in the timeline.
After the wedding, we tried reaching out to Hana for clarifications and feedback. We called, texted, and emailed her multiple times to set up a simple discussion, but she didn't respond promptly--or at all--for several weeks. When she eventually did respond, her email was not apologetic, nor did she acknowledge any responsibility for the mistakes or mishaps.
