day of coordinators

Calypso1977

did you have one, adn if so, what did you pay them?

i  learned that my florist does this on the side for $60 an hour, adn was shocked that people actually pay this amount (although in a $30K budget, i suppose its peanuts).  she told me the last wedding she did, they paid her to sit through the ceremony.  her "coordinating" basically consisted of putting out the programs, "timing" the girls as they walked down the aisle, door duty, and setting up the receiving line.   she was there 3 hours and made nearly $200 to do stuff that people (IMO) should be able to figure out on their own.

that said, how successful do you think one could be putting an ad out there on craig's list offering to do this type of stuff?  would you hire a DOC off of craig's list if they were slighly less than the going rate for a pro (and can you really be a pro?)?

salt78

I did. She came with the wedding. If I hadn't been in that situation though, I still would have wanted to have one though...she was completely necessary for someone who is as scatterbrained as I am.

TurtlesAllTheWayDown

I did and I paid her $500 plus tip. That included 2 meetings with her. She also contacted my vendors with her day-of timeline and to confirm when they would be there. She and her assistant set up my reception decor (table linens, centerpieces, cocktail tables, guest book, card box/table, escort cards). She organized the baker, who delivered the cake and the DJ.

At the reception, she let us know when things were happening. She'd say, "it's such and such time, do you want to get people seated for dinner?" Then she asked when we wanted to do the first dance (and saved the day on that when the DJ had the wrong song), when we wanted to do the cake cutting, etc. For everything I was thinking, "Oh, that's happening now?!" Seriously, I was pulled in so many directions that I probably would have forgotten to cut the cake if she wasn't there. Worth every penny.

I hired someone who was in my budget and recommended by my local board. I've heard horror stories - I wouldn't hire someone without a recommendation.

salt78

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_day-of-coordinators?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:de4ac047-ec36-43d7-8442-2f0338446c60Post:5f02e065-428a-43ea-bcc1-c0b192584018">Re: day of coordinators</a>:
[QUOTE]would you have considered hiring someone like me, off of craig's list?  or would you want a "pro"?
Posted by Calypso1977[/QUOTE]

<div>I'd hire you as long as I was sure you were actually a DOC and not some creepy man coming to my house to murder me.</div><div>
</div><div>Along the same vein...many of the people that have Etsy shops aren't "professionals", but it doesn't make any of their stuff any less awesome. I buy most of my jewelry from Etsy as opposed to some big jewelry store. </div><div>
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Calypso1977

it just got me thinking.  i certainly dont expect it to be a business that i could actually quit my job doing, but it sure would be nice to make and easy coupla hundred here and there.

number55

I have a friend in the wedding decor/planning business. I didn't need full DOC stuff done (like what Mery got) but I wanted someone on site on the day of to do some stuff for me so that I wouldn't have to worry about it. I paid her $250 cash to: set up my centrepieces, make sure candles were lit at the right time, take floral arrangements from the ceremony to the reception site and some other odds and ends. Frankly, she was worth every penny. She worked for about 6 hours (showed up at 11am, left around 5, maybe 5:30?) and while she didn't work solid for those hours, her being there gave me someone to delegate to, someone who wasn't family (although earlier in the day my brother helped me lots) and wasn't in the WP. 

amcmahon4020

I'm a freelance make up artist who does a lot of weddings, and being a wedding professional isn't easy! It's a lot of work, Calypso! The florist you spoke to sounds like she doesn't really know what she's doing-being a coordinator is more than just putting out the programs!

You have to be in control of everything. You have to create a schedule, master that schedule, keep to the schedule (which is a lot harder than it sounds), organize things/people/decorations/food/dj/photographer/MC, deal with any little or not-so-little blips with the venue/caterer/bride/groom/family/guests, all the while making things appear as seamless as possible to bride, groom, and guests.

WildRumpus

We hired one. She's $30/hr, and she's going to earn/be worth every penny of it-she will be coordinating/meeting all of the deliveries throughout the day, like the tent, tables, chairs, and food, as well as being sure everyone is where they're supposed to be, when they're supposed to be there. She'll also be helping w/ cleanup. Sure, I could have done all of that on my own, but I would have been a blubbering, snotty mess by the end of the day. The amount of stress she's going to be taking off of me is well worth it.  I don't know that I would hire someone off of craigslist to be perfectly honest. Experience goes a long way with me-I don't like being someone's guinea pig.

TurtlesAllTheWayDown

If I were to become a coordinator, I'd offer up free services until I could build up some recommendations.

marissa_claire

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_day-of-coordinators?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:de4ac047-ec36-43d7-8442-2f0338446c60Post:86c4cd18-7c4e-4bd0-9ea6-11038633f4eb">Re: day of coordinators</a>:
[QUOTE]If I were to become a coordinator, I'd offer up free services until I could build up some recommendations.
Posted by msmerymac[/QUOTE]<div>
</div><div>Ditto.  I would offer your services to your friends until you have a reputation and recs for this.

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cm42878

i called around and found a woman and her daughter in my area who charge 700 dollars to be DOC. They show up about 1.5 hours before the ceremony and make sure that the wedding goes off without a hitch and stay until you have your first dance and cut the cake at the reception. We are talking maybe 4 hours total. I had a hard time not laughing at her! Luckily my mom has a dear friend who is in charge of all of our decorating the day of and I am making my timeline myself.

Julz629

I paid $300 for a DOC for 8 hours the day of the wedding, plus a 2-hour prep meeting, unlimited emails, and coordination with my vendors the week of the wedding.  Worth every penny!!  She showed up at 1:30 for my 5pm ceremony and did the following --

• ensured everything was delivered on time
• handed out tips and final payments to vendors
• made sure ceremony AND reception sites were set up properly (ceremony was nearby, but outdoors in the park)
• got flowers to parents/grandparents/GM/dads
• made sure bridal party was in the right place at the right time
• gave cues to officiant, string trio, DJ
• made sure DH and I were in the right place at the right time the entire reception
• carried gifts to a designated car at the end of the night
• basically made sure we followed our timeline to a T

I would never hire someone from Craigslist.  However, I would have been willing to hire a friend of a friend, or someone looking to get into the business.

noodle_oo

We did!  I was on the fence about needing a DOC, but it was one of the best decisions we made!  We had 2 women there to help with *everything* and they totally made the day go smoothly and stress free for me.  The main DOC met with us multiple times prior to the wedding and helped me with several crisis in the week before the wedding.  It was wonderful to have someone to help since we pretty much planned the wedding alone (no parental help) and so we didn't want to be stressing over details ourselves on the day of.

Would I hire someone off craigslist?  Probably not.  Too risky for something so important.  My SIL hired a DOC who was AWFUL, so I'd never take that risk.

NuggetBrain

I went with a DOC kind of last minute, and it was the best thing I ever did.  She cost me $500, and she took over everything from a week before the wedding until the end of the wedding day (9 pm).  She made all the final vendor contacts, handed out the final vendor payments, was the go to person for any questions from the BP or vendors, created a schedule for the bridal party for the day of, went through the rehearsal with us, set up the reception and ceremony site, not to mention little things like pinning the bodice of my dress up for me when it started to fall unexpectedly and calming the flower girl down during the rehearsal when she got nervous (she made it into a game, and it was the best thing she could have done.  Isabella did fantastic the next day.)  She even tied ribbons around the little bubble containers for us and found us a  runner and bathroom baskets.

I do wish she had of stayed later to do clean up and stuff with me, and transport the gifts to the hotel room, but I was on a budget, so she cut a few hours afterwards out (we had more than enough folks who were willing to help us throw things into a car and go). 

Another DOC I looked at was about $800, and she did all that stuff plus had a helper, and even did things like decorating the bridal suite with rose petals and having the dress pressed for you, etc.

LizHZ

We have a full-on coordinator and she's amazing. As someone who's done lots of event planning and manages events on a regular basis, I feel pretty strongly that I don't want my mother or another of my relatives missing out on parts of the wedding to manage it (although that's not the main reason we have one).
Our coordinator and the others we met with all do DOC as well, and I think all charged $700 or $750 for it. Their "day-of" packages really aren't day-of, though- they all contact your vendors a month before the event and coordinate everything from then till after the reception ends.One of their main reasons for that was that if someone misses something then hires them for only day-of and something goes massively wrong, the mistake appears to fall on them and could damage their reputation as a planner. 
I'd probably be more likely to hire a 'non-professional' if they'd at least interned with or assisted a professional event coordinator for awhile. 

andamu

A couple of girls on my local board are getting their feet wet as DoCs by doing it for other Knotties (whether for free or reduced cost, I don't know).  They've already built up a good reputation on the board, and after they met people at G2Gs, I think those people were then willing to use them.  A good way to build up experience.

srkropf

If I had all the money to blow on a wedding, I would use one. However, since ours is a small wedding of family and friends that we know, I have faith that they can grab a program and a seat without assistance. Also, I think our photographer will help with timing, so I really don't see an absolute need.

ECI1151

Our venue has a preferred DOC that you can choose to use for the ceremony, reception, and we meet with her 4 weeks prior to the wedding so she can coordinate everything with all of the vendors. Its $200 but in my opinion is is well worth it and we are definitely having her for our wedding. I have been to weddings with coordinators and without coordinators and even though I'm sure plenty of people have had amazing weddings without a DOC the weddings I went to without a DOC just didn't seem to run as smoothly.  

As far as hiring someone off craigslist goes I probably wouldn't but that's just because I get paranoid and would prob never purchase anything or hire anyone off craigslist but I'm sure there are plenty of people who would.