Do I need a DOC/ cost?

carolbee

Hi - so I hear a lot of girls are using planners or DOCs...to be honest, I don't have much DIY and I am using high recommneded vendors, so I wasn't planning on the DOC.  Of course, I want the day to be perfect and that always gets me on edge.  Can someone explain what the benefits might be and if you had a DOC, what the cost was?
TIA!

futuremrsdavies

I'm using a DOC.  Cindy from All about you Events...she quotes you a price based on what you think you would want her to help you with.  I personally asked her to do my DOC bc although there is a person from the venue, I wanted someone who only had my interests at heart.  She knows how I'd like the tables to look, where everything should be, all the contact info and payment details for my vendors...basically she is the one that will handle all the drama and stress rather than me. 

My suggestion is, if you think you need one or want one, contact them and get a feel for what they can and would be willing to do for you...then decide if you think its worth it.  You may meet them and think, nah, I can handle all this.

cindyn9178

I personally don't see what a DOC is needed for, but everybody looks at that differently, it is just personal preference.
If there had been any issues on the day of our wedding, either myself or someone else could've handled them without a problem.

I gave my venue a detailed list of how I wanted everything setup, and they did it perfectly. They set up weddings all of the time, so its not like they don't know what they're doing. I can understand if you are having the wedding somewhere that YOU physically need to set it up. Then obviously, having the help of a DOC would be useful.

I carried all of the contact info for my vendors with me, just in case, but never needed it. I could've given that to a family member of I wanted to.

There was really zero drama and stress on the day of the wedding. I know things can go wrong, and we all want the day to be perfect, but we just didn't feel it was neccessary to hire and pay someone to handle that potential drama for us.

Plus, I'm a control freak and would never feel comfortable giving that much control over the wedding day to someone else. I'd personally rather handle things on my own.

ETA: Just remembered one thing that kind of 'went wrong". When the flowers were delivered to my house, I realized that the guy's bouts weren't with them, as we had discussed. It just took me calling the florist to find out she had them delivered to the church (even though I told her not to do that). But in the end, it was an easy phone call that I handled myself in 2 seconds.

DoubleAS

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_new-jersey_need-doc-cost?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local Wedding BoardsForum:90Discussion:bb6ff98c-7653-435c-8500-48f8af48c883Post:ba8ec77c-681e-4db9-b819-baa1b843f8e0">Re: Do I need a DOC/ cost?</a>:
[QUOTE]<strong>I personally don't see what a DOC is needed for, but everybody looks at that differently, it is just personal preference. If there had been any issues on the day of our wedding, either myself or someone else could've handled them without a problem. I gave my venue a detailed list of how I wanted everything setup. </strong>Posted by cindyn9178[/QUOTE]

I agree with all of this... Although, if you're getting married @ a venue that doesn't have options available such as a maitre'd (most have this at least), bridal assistant, baq. manager there at the time of your wedding, etc. I can understand this.  Iron out the available options first :)

futuremrsdavies

I guess my reason for feeling like I wanted one was seeing the Dj not show up until 5 minutes before the reception for my MOH's wedding,  She tends to get overwhelmed and this would have made her loose her mind.  Her DOC handled the situation and she never knew there was an issue until after the wedding was over.  As I said, it really is all about what you want to handle and feel like you want help with.  My facility will only set up pre-assembled centerpieces....and so I thought I'd make my life easy...but again, its not for everyone and everyone certainly doesn't need one.....I probably didn't need one either...but I feel better having one.

abunger

FI and I discussed this issue ad naseaum this fall... and we ended up deciding to hire a DOC to help us.  As futuremrsdavies mentioned, I called a few and simply discussed what coordination services entail, and what the day might look like if we hired them.  I got a much better sense for all the little details that would go into executing our specific plans.

We are both professional, organized and competent people, as are our immediate family members.  So I have no doubt that we would be able to handle what ever situation might arise.  However, we want to enjoy the day, and we want our family members to do the same.  It was a personal choice to spend the money (I did my homework) on coordination services.

As of right now, several months away, I don't regret the decision at all.  We have unlimited contact with our DOC, who has helped us research some vendors (very helpful for us since we are planning from out of town, work long hours, and travel constantly), and provide some creative ideas (also needed). She has helped us consider options for other services we need/want and I have every confidence that as the day gets closer, she'll help us make sure we are well-prepared, and be well positioned to run the day. 

I talked to about 4 different DOCs and am happy to share notes if you are interested - just pm me.

shoebie

Im using cindy from all about you as well (contact info in my planning bio) For under $400 to have peace of mind and not be bothered all day at my wedding with little things that go wrong and there will be things that go wrong was enough for me.

nessaalwayz

I'm using Laura Savio from Every Last Detail Planning. I agree that a DOC is not ALWAYS needed but I am really Type A and a perfectionist so I figured for $300 it wasnt bad....

Someone had told me - you spend thousands of dollars to make your day great, why not fork over a couple hundred as insurance? 

cindyn9178

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_new-jersey_need-doc-cost?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local Wedding BoardsForum:90Discussion:bb6ff98c-7653-435c-8500-48f8af48c883Post:9c406da7-fd29-47db-8086-cb38a929cafb">Re: Do I need a DOC/ cost?</a>:
[QUOTE]I guess my reason for feeling like I wanted one was seeing the Dj not show up until 5 minutes before the reception for my MOH's wedding,  She tends to get overwhelmed and this would have made her loose her mind.  <strong>Her DOC handled the situation and she never knew there was an issue until after the wedding was over. </strong> As I said, it really is all about what you want to handle and feel like you want help with.  My facility will only set up pre-assembled centerpieces....and so I thought I'd make my life easy...but again, its not for everyone and everyone certainly doesn't need one.....I probably didn't need one either...but I feel better having one.
Posted by futuremrsdavies[/QUOTE]

I'm just curious, what did the DOC do to handle that situation?

It is totally understandable if the only thing your facility will setup are the centerpieces. We were lucky enough that they setup everything for us - my candles, rose petals, menu cards, etc.

Giaspo

I had a DOC and it was worth every penny.  I had a bunch of bloopers go wrong as well, that we didn't know about until after... for example:

*my car got a flat in the parking lot and the DOC called Triple A, then supervised until the tire was changed (my mom offered to do this but she wouldn't let her). 
*The candle holders that the florist brought didn't fit the candles, so the DOC and the Maitre D cut ALL the freakin' candles down to the appropriate size. 
*There are so many other little things that she did so we didn't have to... paid all the vendors, greeted random family members and guided them for the formal pictures, made sure we stayed on time, set up was correct, took care of the checks, etc. etc. 
*She also managed a lot for us the week prior... our DJ was MIA and I was panicked about this; she managed this situation so I didn't have to. 
*Our linen rental company got washed out in Hurricane Irene and she found another for us (at a better price). And coordinated the delivery of the linens to our venue.

I can honestly say I was a guest at my wedding.  I didn't worry or manage a thing; I basically showed up and everything was done.  Like Abunger said, it's a personal choice.  If you don't mind "managing" the day or have family members that don't mind, then it isn't necessary.  Someone has to be the go-to person for everything. 

Good luck!

LissyM83

It's definitely a matter of personal preference. I'm the type of person who worries about every last detail so my FI and I decided to hire one. I  also don't want anyone in my family or BP to have to handle anything on the day of. It's also nice that she'll keep all of us on a timeline... I have a large BP and I know that can be chaotic at times. For $400 I'll have peace of mind on the day of and imo, it's worth every penny.

saylorandtoby

we used a doc and it was worth every penny! one of my bm's used same one, but was more ona budget and used a smaller package, which was for ceremony and settingup recpetion stuff and was happy. eventsbyentertainme.com is the website.

KH 2012

ues as we get closer and closer i feel like i need one too. for under 400bucks it will be the cheapest vendor at teh wedding!  and wull give me piece of mind!