What is a Day-of Coordinator Agreement?

This template is written for event and wedding planners and their clients, so that both sides can see what was promised, what it costs, and what happens if circumstances change.

The form collects 19 details across 6 areas: parties and contact details, scope and deliverables, payment and financial terms, dates, timing and duration, event logistics, and legal protections and risk. The entries describing the event do the most work, because every later clause about price, timing and completion refers back to them.

The running order and the supplier schedule is what settles most disagreements here, which is why it is worth attaching rather than leaving in an inbox. Events have a hard deadline and no second chance. The clauses that matter are the ones dealing with cancellation, postponement, final numbers and what happens if a supplier fails to appear.

Complete the fields, read the assembled day-of coordinator agreement in the preview panel, then download it in PDF or Word format. The document follows widely used contract conventions, though it cannot account for every state rule or industry requirement — professional review is sensible before signing anything substantial.

What matters most in a day-of coordinator agreement

Full planning versus day-of coordination

These are very different services and the scope must say which is being provided, including how many meetings and site visits are included.

Who contracts with the suppliers

State whether the planner books suppliers as the client's agent or in their own name. It determines who is liable if a supplier fails.

Authority on the day

Give the planner defined decision-making authority within a budget limit so problems can be solved without chasing the couple.

When you need a day-of coordinator agreement

  • When the event needs defining: Write down what is included and what is not. A specific description is what turns an extra request into a chargeable variation rather than an argument.
  • When the cancellation tiers and what is refundable at each has value: Where something is still owed after the event date, that obligation needs its own words. Anything expected to survive the end of the agreement has to say so.
  • When money changes hands: Record what the client owes, when each planning milestone falls due, and what follows a late payment. These are the clauses relied on most often and left vague most often.
  • When a deposit or advance is held: Record the amount, what it secures, and the conditions and timescale for its return. Deposit disputes are among the most common disputes there are.
  • When someone else is paying: Where a third party funds or guarantees the arrangement, they should be named and their obligations spelled out. A guarantee that is only implied is not a guarantee.
  • When the parties are in different places: Naming the governing law and the forum in advance prevents a costly preliminary fight about where any dispute is even heard.

What to include in a day-of coordinator agreement

This generator collects 19 details. Here is what each group covers and why it matters when the document is relied on.

Parties and contact details

These entries decide who can enforce and who can be enforced against. Where either side is a company, use the registered name — a trading name is not a party.

Client Name
The full legal name of the client commissioning the work. Use the registered company name rather than a trading name so the party is identifiable if the agreement is ever enforced.
Client Address
The client's registered or principal business address. This is the address used for formal notices, invoices and any legal service of documents.
Vendor Name
The supplying business's legal name as it appears on its invoices and registration.
Vendor Address
The vendor's business address for purchase orders and notices.

Scope and deliverables

Set out what the planner is delivering and, just as importantly, what is excluded. Most of the cost overruns in this kind of work start as an unstated assumption here.

Description of Services
What the provider will actually do, described specifically enough that a third party could judge whether it was delivered.

Payment and financial terms

Say what happens when the client pays late. Without interest and a right for the planner to suspend, the deadline is a suggestion.

Total Fee
The full amount payable, broken into deposit and balance so both sides know exactly what falls due and when.
Deposit
The upfront amount securing the booking, and whether it is refundable. Say plainly what happens to the deposit on cancellation.
Payment Schedule
When each payment falls due, tied to dates or milestones. A clear schedule is the most effective protection against slow payment.

Dates, timing and duration

Where the planner depends on the client for something, say what happens to these dates when it arrives late. Otherwise the delay attaches to the wrong party.

Effective Date
The date the agreement takes effect. This can differ from the signature date, and it is the date obligations start running from.
Event Date
The date of the event, including the year. For multi-day events list each date covered.

Event logistics

Check these details against the venue's own rules before promising them. Venues impose access windows, noise limits and insurance minimums that override the booking.

Event Type
The kind of event, which drives staffing, licensing and insurance requirements.
Event Location
The venue name and full address, plus the specific rooms or areas being used.
Guest Count
The expected number of attendees and the deadline for confirming final numbers, since pricing usually depends on it.
Setup Time
Access times for setup and breakdown. Venues frequently charge for overrun, so agree the window in writing.
Performance Hours
The exact hours of performance or service, and the rate for overtime beyond them.
Cancellation Policy
The refund position at each stage before the date. A sliding scale tied to notice given is fairer and more enforceable than a flat no-refund rule.

Legal protections and risk

Decide who carries which risk and who insures it before an incident, not after. Afterwards, both readings of the silence are self-serving.

Force Majeure
Which extraordinary events excuse performance. Post-2020 clauses commonly name epidemics and government orders expressly rather than relying on general wording.
Insurance Requirements
The cover each party must carry, the minimum limits, and whether the other party must be named as an additional insured.
Governing State
The state whose law governs the agreement. Choose a state connected to the parties or the work, as a wholly unconnected choice may not be respected.

Completing this day-of coordinator agreement

Reading it as the other side would

Before signing, read the day-of coordinator agreement from the counterparty's position and look for anything you would exploit. If you find something, so will they.

Keeping the version straight

Date the document and mark superseded drafts clearly. Two unlabelled versions in circulation is a surprisingly common cause of genuine, honest disagreement.

Making the counts checkable

Where the price depends on planning milestones, keep a contemporaneous record as they are delivered. A count reconstructed at invoice time invites a challenge that a running record would have prevented.

Dates that drive obligations

Use calendar dates rather than relative triggers such as "on approval", which cannot be measured. Dates determine when obligations start, when they end, and when someone is late.

Defining the event date

Say what has to be true for the event date to have happened and who confirms it. An undefined completion test is the reason obligations sit open long after the work is finished.

Common mistakes to avoid

  1. Using approximate dates. Use calendar dates rather than triggers like "on approval" or "once ready". A date that cannot be located on a calendar cannot be used to show that someone is late.
  2. Not planning for a date that cannot be moved and no substitution clause. This is the failure that recurs in this kind of arrangement. Name it in the agreement and say who carries the cost when it happens, because working it out afterwards means negotiating from a weak position.
  3. No dispute step before litigation. A short escalation clause — a conversation, then mediation, then proceedings — resolves most disagreements far more cheaply than starting at the end.
  4. Not saying what happens on breach. Distinguish a failure that can be put right within a cure period from one that ends the agreement immediately. Treating both the same way makes the clause unusable.
  5. Keeping no running record. Track what is actually delivered as you go, planning milestone by planning milestone. Reconstructing the position at invoice time invites a challenge that a contemporaneous record would have prevented.

How to use this day-of coordinator agreement generator

  1. Fill in the form. Enter the 19 details requested. Where an entry depends on a count — planning milestones, dates, amounts — put the number in rather than a description of it. Nothing is sent to a server — the document is assembled in your browser.
  2. Read the preview. The preview updates as you type and is editable, so you can adjust the wording before downloading — useful where a date that cannot be moved and no substitution clause needs a sentence of its own that the standard clauses do not cover.
  3. Download and sign. Download in either format and circulate for signature. Diarise the dates the document creates, particularly anything that has to happen before the event date.

Day-of Coordinator Agreement — frequently asked questions

What is the difference between full planning and day-of coordination?

Full planning covers the entire process — budget, supplier selection and contracting, design and logistics over many months. Day-of coordination begins a few weeks out: the coordinator takes over arrangements the client has already made and runs the event itself. The fees differ substantially, and the most common source of complaint is a client expecting full planning from a coordination contract.

What records should I keep alongside the day-of coordinator agreement?

The running order and the supplier schedule, the signed document itself, and a contemporaneous note of anything agreed afterwards. Most disputes turn on what was agreed at the time, and the party who can produce a dated record is the party who wins that argument.

What usually goes wrong with a day-of coordinator agreement?

Date that cannot be moved and no substitution clause. It is the recurring failure in this kind of arrangement, and it is rarely addressed in the document because both sides assume it will not happen to them. Name it, say who bears the cost, and the negotiation happens now rather than from a weak position later.

Which state's law should govern this day-of coordinator agreement?

Choose a state with a genuine connection to the parties or the subject matter — where a party is based, or where the work or property is located. A choice with no connection at all may not be respected, and for property or employment the local state's rules will often apply regardless of what the contract says.

What makes a cancellation policy enforceable?

It has to reflect genuine loss rather than operate as a penalty. A sliding scale — non-refundable deposit, then an increasing share of the balance as the date nears — mirrors the real cost of turning away other bookings, which is why it holds up far better than a blanket no-refund rule.

What does the force majeure clause actually cover?

Only the events it names. General wording about circumstances beyond a party's control has been read narrowly by courts, which is why clauses written since 2020 tend to list epidemics, government orders and venue closures expressly. Add the specific events that would realistically stop performance in your situation.

Do I need event insurance as well as this contract?

The contract allocates responsibility; insurance funds it. Many venues require proof of public liability cover as a condition of access, and event cancellation cover is worth considering for high-value bookings. They do different jobs and you generally want both.

What should the cancellation policy say?

Use a sliding scale: the deposit is non-refundable, then a rising percentage of the balance becomes payable as the date approaches — for example fifty percent within sixty days and the full fee within fourteen. It reflects genuine lost opportunity, which is exactly what makes it enforceable.