By Olha Barabash. Updated October 9, 2026
Full planning, partial planning and wedding management
Full planning begins before the venue is chosen and carries the whole wedding, from the venue and vendors to the design, the budget, the guests and the day itself. Partial planning begins once some decisions are made, such as the venue, key vendors or the design direction, and takes over the rest. Wedding management, often called coordination, begins in the final months and runs a wedding you have planned yourselves. The later a planner begins, the less they can shape, and the more they must accept what is already in place.
Full planning
A full planner is involved from the first decisions: the date, the venue, the size and shape of the wedding. They assemble the team of vendors, manage the budget and the contracts, lead the design, plan the guests’ travel, write the run of show and run the day. For weddings of two hundred guests or more, weddings across several days, destinations and weddings with more than one tradition, full planning is almost always the right choice, because every decision affects the others.
Our full planning and design page explains how we work.
Partial planning
Partial planning suits couples who have already made some decisions themselves and want a planner to take over from there. That might be the venue, a few key vendors such as the photographer or florist, or other choices that are already settled. The planner reviews what is in place, fills the gaps, leads the remaining decisions and runs the day. The earlier partial planning begins, the closer it comes to full planning.
Our partial planning page explains how we work.
Wedding management
Wedding management is often called coordination, or day of coordination. It is for couples who have planned the wedding themselves and want a professional to run it. Despite the name, a wedding cannot be run well from the day itself, because the vendors, the timeline and the details all have to be confirmed beforehand. That is why we step in at least sixty days before the wedding, at a select list of venues we know well. We confirm every vendor, write the run of show, lead the rehearsal and run the day. At that stage we can refine the plan, but not rebuild it.
Design as a separate service
Design can also stand on its own. We offer wedding design and creative direction separately, for couples whose planning is already in hand and who want one person to design the whole experience, from the invitation to the last hour. See wedding design and creative direction.
How to choose
- Choose full planning if
Your venue is not yet booked, your guest count is large, the wedding spans several days or countries, or it carries more than one tradition.
- Choose partial planning if
Your venue, or several key vendors, are already booked and you want an expert to lead from here.
- Choose wedding management if
The wedding is fully planned, it is at one of our select venues, and you want someone to make sure the day runs as you designed it.
What we offer
Almost everything we do is full planning and design. For some couples we offer something narrower: partial planning, once the first decisions are made, wedding management at select venues, and design and creative direction on its own, for couples whose planning is already in hand. The first conversation tells us which one fits.
From Olha
Couples usually come to us 12-16 months before their weddings, but over the past one to two years, we’ve seen an increased number of couples planning on shorter notice, closer to eight months.
Olha, in the press
“A buffer budget is the conversation no one likes to have, but it’s so important to be honest about it from the beginning.”
Wedding Decisions Couples Stress About Most (And How to Make Them Easier)May 2026
Questions couples ask
What does a full-service wedding planner do?
Everything from the venue search to the last guest’s car home, including the vendors, budget, contracts, design, guest travel, run of show and the day itself.
Is wedding management enough for a large wedding?
Rarely. At two hundred guests or more, the decisions made months earlier shape the day, and a manager arriving in the final months cannot change them.
Can we switch from wedding management to full planning?
Often, if there is time. A planner will review what is in place and tell you what can still change.
Can you step in just for the day?
No. A wedding cannot be run well from the day itself. We step in at least sixty days before the wedding, at the select venues we know well.
Not sure which you need? Tell us about the wedding.
Tell us about your wedding, and we will take it from there.