Coordinator advice

Ritanlorn

FI and I are trying to decide if a wedding planner/coordinator is right for us.  We just started planning and we have to stick to as small a budget as possible.
In your opinion:
Is a planner worth the money?
Can a good planner actually save you money over doing everything yourself, or does she just save you some headaches?

Thanks in advance,
Rita

mandasue178

I think a day of coordinator is a really good thing to have if your venue doesn't provide one. You need someone to do timing and if possible run the rehearsal so that you don't end up yelling at an out-of-line cousin or something. Mine was provided by my church and promised to be mean for me if needed. She made my day much easier. She also made sure that everyone was in their place and all of the last minute details were handled. 

I personally wouldn't pay someone to do the planning unless I had a huge budget and no time or interest in doing it. If you plan things out in advance you can spread the DIY projects (and the money required for them) out so that you can deal with them in little bits instead of all at once. 

You can have a great wedding on a very reasonable budget with tons of personal touches if you just use your resources and plan carefully without paying a coordinator to do it for you.

MarieSD

I can only say that for me, getting a wedding planner was worth it.

My situation was - I moved down here to TX when I got engaged to my FI. It was a huge life change that included giving up my (good) job, trying to find another, leaving all my friends and family. I've never been interested in weddings (FI wasn't either) and I stress too much about everything. The last thing I wanted was to be unemployed and crying over which color linens to pick to FI in our first few months of living together.

So while the wedding planner hasn't done anything I couldn't have done on my own or saved me a TON of money, she has taken away all the stress of the planning and found me what I think are rock-solid vendors at prices I can afford.

I only hired her a few months ago and my wedding's not for a while, so I can't offer proof, but I'm happy with what I spent on her so far. Also, because I'm on a budget, I also had to find a very affordable planner. So while I can say mine was worth every penny, she is also at the lower end of what planners in the area charge. I couldn't have afforded a $3-4k planner, for example.

Ritanlorn

I can't afford 3-4K for a planner either. We want to keep the entire wedding under 7K.  Do you mind sharing with me who your planner is?

Thanks,
Rita

MarieSD

I'm using Events by Dayna. I originally saw her on theknot's local resources page.  http://www.theknot.com/Vendors/Events-By-Dayna/Profile/WCS/006/222753/profile

MarieSD

Oh, and Rita, here are a couple of threads on day-of-coordinators that others have recommended, and how much they cost. Keep in mind that this is the price range for a DOC, so a DOC + planning package will cost a bit more.

http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_texas-dallas-ft-worth_day-of-coordinator-recs?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:102Discussion:997ddc85-02fb-4058-a813-f919d332617dPost:6569a248-be42-4d61-8a28-fb36d86d534a

http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_texas-dallas-ft-worth_wedding-coordinatorday-of-coordinator-cost?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:102Discussion:6273791d-f75e-44f6-89eb-dd18245ac9c3Post:0d710044-cd47-4b9b-9b56-11648df6bf8f

linzcw04

In hindsight - I would not have gotten a coordinator. I ended up doing just about everything myself and the things she did do my mother, MOH, or myself could have handled just as well. I would highly recommend a day of though if your venue doesn't provide for it. Most do though I think....but after the ceremony and before with helping to set up - mine was worthless! Just make sure that you get everything in writing if you do decide to hire outside the venue. GL!

MarieSD

FYI - I also think this planner has very reasonable prices, and another person on the boards used her for her wedding and really liked her. http://www.alamodesoirees.com/