POLL: Day-of Wedding Coordinator

jaymers99

Hi girls - I'm thinking about getting a day-of coordinator and was wondering:1. Did you hire a day of coordinator, assign a family member/friend as coordinator, or just wing-it?2. How much did it cost (if you don't mind sharing)?3. Was it worth it?TIA!

bulin

1) Yes, I hired one2) $800 for DOC but I upgraded to a $1400 package and she will take over 3 months prior to wedding day3) I think it is totally worth it, even though my wedding isn't till next year.  I have been in contact with her about vendors, ideas, and everything and she has been really helpful.Two of my cousins are getting married and have asked if I would be their coordinator, which didn't happen yet.  I think it is ok if you are super organized.  However, I told them that since my labor is free, they can't get mad at me if something goes wrong.  I personally did not want to put anyone in this situation and wanted all my family and friends to have a good time and not have to worry about anything.  If you are organized and all they have to do is ensure payments are made then it's no biggie.

kaesha

I didn't, and I'm glad I didn't waste the money! BUT, I come from an extremely organized on-time family and we orchestrated a plan of attack for the day and assigned roles. It wasn't difficult to do, you just need to anticipate all the possibilities.

Angelshann

I actually hired my best friends sister to be my DOC. She is extremely organized and planned her entire wedding. I am paying for her roundtrip airplane ticket from Seattle to Honolulu. It has already been worth it. We talk on the phone a couple times a week and we email back and forth. She has made me think about things I would have never thought of. I am very confident she will be so very helpful to me the day of my wedding.

diorgrl8

i didn't hire one to save money. I plan on delegating pretty much everything the day of...and the week prior i'm organizing my bridesmaids and our family to do stuff... just gotta have an organized game plan

Snarling Fox

1. Did you hire a day of coordinator, assign a family member/friend as coordinator, or just wing-it? I'm using a coordinator. We initially looked at just a day-of but since our venue is Lani, we didn't want to deal with some of the details 2. How much did it cost (if you don't mind sharing)? I think we're paying around $1400 3. Was it worth it? So far - YES!! I know I still have a few weeks to go to give a truly honest answer but so far, it's been great. I did the bulk of the planning, choosing vendors, interviewing, etc. However, now in the last month, my coordinator has been going over my contracts, made up our timeline, has already been in contact with the caterer, baker, and dj, and has gone over lots of the small details that I wouldn't have thought of. She's also handling all the equipment rentals and overseeing the setup. A big part for us having a DOC was to ease the work/stress level. Good luck!!

soon2BMrsRDavis

1. Did you hire a day of coordinator, assign a family member/friend as coordinator, or just wing-it? i did hire a day of coordinator. it was the best thing i ever did to be honest with you! 2. How much did it cost (if you don't mind sharing)? 1050 plus tax 3. Was it worth it? kathE was worth every penny and more. i don't think i would have been able to survive without her. she was able to wrap up all of my loose ends and take over the vendors that were difficult for me to get in touch with. it was beyond helpful. kathe was able to meet with me 4 different times once i arrived in hawaii and dealt with all of my questiosn and my "hurricane"freak outs. i honestly felt like i was saying goodbye to one of my friends when i left her that night and i think that says a lot. i trusted her completely to have my best interests at heart and knew she was always looking out for me. i only had a wedding of 40 but still i would not have been able to do it without kathe!

tifani27

I would say this if you are very organized AND really good at researching AND have an authoritative personality, then you don't need to hire one. I am all of the above and have written out exactly what we will go over at the rehearsal as well as an itenerairy for the day before and day of the wedding by the hour. Some same I'm a little OCD but I didn't think that $1000 plus was worth it for someone to tell people when and how to walk down the aisle. You can find all the vendors if you just do a some research and that is FREE, you can also pretty much find all the answers to your questions if you are fluent with the internet. As long as you have no problem delegating and telling people what to do, then you should be fine, and just think what that $1000 plus could buy you?!?!?!?! Not saying that the girls who did it are crazy because if I wasn't a lil OCD and on a tight budget, I would think about hiring one.

eacerna

1. Did you hire a day of coordinator, assign a family member/friend as coordinator, or just wing-it?I hired a WC - Dianna from Hawaii Wedding & Events. I am very organized BUT i didn't want to worry about anything on my wedding day. I had two venues - church for ceremony & Moana Surfrider for the reception so there are a lot of coordination involved. I didn't want to delegate to any of my friends. I didn't want to burden any of our friends and family with any responsibilty and we just wanted them to enjoy the day/their trip to Hawaii.2. How much did it cost (if you don't mind sharing)? Ahh..honestly, I can't remember. I have to look at my wedding binder :-/. I guess $1800 or something? 3. Was it worth it?TOTALLY! For me, having a stress free and fun wedding was worth every penny. Also, the peace of mind of having somebody there, not just fo rthe day but throughout my wedding planning was priceless :-). Originally, my DH wasn't too keen on hiring a planner. In the end, when he saw how things came together and we were able to enjoy the weeklong activities with our guests and the actual wedding day, he agreed that it was worth hiring one :-).

ringobubblegirl

1. Did you hire a day of coordinator, assign a family member/friend as coordinator, or just wing-it?   I had 2 friends as the Day of Coordinators and the hotel provided a wedding planner.  Sandy at the Fairmont did a great job and it was such a relaxing day.  One of my DOCs managed my 'must take photo list' while the other set up at the restaurant (different venue from ceremony).  2. How much did it cost (if you don't mind sharing)?  Just a nice tip at the end of the day.  :-)3. Was it worth it?  If I had a wedding anywhere else besides a hotel, I would've totally hired a DOC.  Unless you only have 10 guests, a wedding is a production with many moving parts.  You definitely need someone there to oversee things because something will go wrong and you don't want to stress over that on your wedding day.  I had a ton of spreadsheets and tried to keep it as organized and easy as possible for my DOCs.  Looking back, my friends did a great job, but if the budget permitted, I would've hired a professional just so they could've had fun.  They did end up having a little TOO much fun after the cake was cut.  :-)

jaymers99

Thanks everyone...I appreciate your input!

destiny1108

We ended up going with full service planning with Hawaii Weddings and Events which of course included the day of coordinator too.  It was worth every penny and more!    There were so many things that I hadn't thought of, and she offered creative ideas to incorporate special things we enjoyed.   All of our guests were traveling to Hawaii so we wanted them to enjoy the day and not be "working".     Our full service package was $3950 but she had day-of packages that were about $900-$1600 depending on whether it was one, two or three months in advance to wedding.Definitely worth it!