Is a Day-Of Coordinator worth it?

kgd7357 · November 2013

I'm debating on hiring one. Did anyone use one? Did you think it was worth it?

mommapizano · November 2013

We are using one (we are getting married this Saturday). I have personally found her to be SO helpful. I would definitely look into several coordinators and see what they include in their package and talk to them to make sure you find a good fit.

Event though it wasn't full wedding planning, she was available to us via email or phone through the whole process and provided us tons of direction and tips along the way. Our wedding is destination for us, so it was nice to have someone who could give us the inside scoop on vendors. We have also met with her a few times and she always offered to follow up with any of vendors and even meet with them if necessary. She's been wonderful! I am very happy that I will turn over all of our details and decor on Friday and not have to worry about anything!

tammym1001 · November 2013

I hired a DOC. I haven't gotten married yet, but it's already put my mind at ease to know that I won't have to worry about the little things on my wedding day. That was my main reason for hiring her. I just don't want to have to worry about if someone got the unity candle from the church or if one of the vendors can't find the reception hall or whatever stupid little things would come up throughout the day. I just want to enjoy myself.

chelcee22 · November 2013

Same here. We have a DOC and it has definitely made me worry less about what will happen because I know she'll be there to handle it professionally. I say definitely worth the money.

kgd7357 · November 2013

@mrspizanotobe

Definitely let me know how it goes, and if you still think the DOC was worth it!

alm&mdm · November 2013

I'd love to hear feed back on it too! I've been debating skipping it.

mommapizano · November 2013

Yes I'll let you all know how it goes

Lauderdale Pink · November 2013

To be honest, for my daughter's wedding, I found it was worth the extra money to hire a month of coordinator. She came with us to final fittings, final show of flowers and cake, and final coordination of venue and food. On the day of, she was so well versed in exactly what we wanted and how things needed to look, she was able to solve a multitude of problems without ever involving us. I had no idea any of the problems had even arisen until about a month after the wedding.

I have coordinated many, many events so was very insulted when our venue made a coordinator part of the contract or no deal. I cannot begin to tell you how grateful I was for this person.

16maybeless · November 2013

We have one. Not a full wedding planner, but a day-of coordinator. Our venue (an historic mansion with lots of rooms and outdoor spaces) is kind of tricky, and I don't have a bridal party. So we need someone to keep things on track and coordinate between vendors.

southernbelle0915 · November 2013

I hired one for my wedding (I'm married now - 3+ months and going strong!). It was SO WORTH IT. I didn't do the full-on wedding planner because I really wanted to do it myself. But the day of, I wanted to relax and forget about logistics. I had a few conversations/emails with her and met with her once at the venue to go over stuff. I gave her a map, a schedule and told her where I wanted everything. She was great.

I'd recommend this to anyone who can/wants to afford it.

lschwar2 · November 2013

We have a full-on wedding planner and so far it's been 100% worth it. She'll be there the day of the wedding, with an assistant, and the catering manager from the hotel will be there to coordinate as well. I can't imagine having done any of the planning without her, but I'd say that at the very, very least, a day-of coordinator is unquestionably necessary. If possible, I'd get someone who will come to your rehearsal too (not sure if that is typically included in day-of services).

annathy03 · November 2013

We're not having an official DOC, but anything we book through our venue directly (upgraded linens, DJ, cake, etc) they handle. They charge the service fee like food and beverage on it, so it costs more than booking it ourselves, but they take care of the coordination and paying them so we have less to worry about.

kgd7357 · November 2013

I'm looking at two that I think are both a bargain for DC. One that does Day Of, which includes a 6 week out site walk through, full rehearsal coordination, and all the day of services including cleanup and packaging gifts for $900. The other one is strictly Day Of, and she will ensure that everything is set up correctly, and the the ceremony and transition to reception runs smoothly, then she will leave when cocktail hour is done for $300. Do these sounds like reasonable prices?

KatWAG · November 2013

I think they are a huge bonus. Of course, you could have a great wedding without one. But I have been to too many weddings that didnt have a DOC where the bride was stress and everything was disorganized.

southernbelle0915 · November 2013

kgd7357 said:

I'm looking at two that I think are both a bargain for DC. One that does Day Of, which includes a 6 week out site walk through, full rehearsal coordination, and all the day of services including cleanup and packaging gifts for $900. The other one is strictly Day Of, and she will ensure that everything is set up correctly, and the the ceremony and transition to reception runs smoothly, then she will leave when cocktail hour is done for $300. Do these sounds like reasonable prices?

That's a steal!! If you're a planner by nature and you're not having anything super complicated or elaborate at your reception, save the $600 and just do the day-of planner. If not and you want the extra help, go for the 6 wk planner.

itzMS · November 2013

I fired our first DOC for sucking (didn't do anything or ask any questions without being prompted first)

The second DOC, my DH almost fired her on our wedding day. She was a total bitch, but got things done.

It's a tough role to fill, for sure.

A DOC is totally worth it if your wedding is large (150+) or logistically challenging.

We paid $1,200 for ours including her assistant. 12 hours of work the day of, the rehearsal, and 3 planning meetings.

offthemarket915 · November 2013

We have a planner that came with our venue, but we would have hired one otherwise. She'll be worth her weight in gold, if only to keep FI's family on schedule. They are notoriously late and very unorganized, but I will not spend any time worrying about that because of her

laurieloveramos · November 2013

Yeap, agree with you

Giaspo · November 2013

We had one and it was worth every penny. She came with an assistant and worked closely with the maitre-d from the venue. Basically s/he is someone who will act on your behalf to manage your wedding and if things go wrong. Plus, their expertise gets things done a lot more quickly. For example, a week before our wedding, a hurricane flooded the furniture rental place. Somehow she found a new place with tables, linens and lounge furniture and coordinated the delivery seamlessly. Other things went wrong too and we had no idea. I'm not sure where you are, but $900 sounds really good! Go for it... you won't be disappointed and your family will thank you.

JoanE2012 · November 2013

We didn't have one and have no regrets. The coordinator at our venue was also amazing, so that helped tremendously. And all our vendors were professionals and well respected in the business.

I just never felt like one would be beneficial to us. Of course, maybe if something went wrong I'd feel differently. But everything went smoothly with no hiccups.

CaliMel11 · November 2013

Our venue requires one, and the lady that is the wedding event planner also does the day of stuff. From the reviews I read, she is awesome, and I really liked her assistant as well. Both have really great personalities.
I'm actually relieved we "had" to hire one, because it's not necessarily something I would have done on my own, but just knowing that they'll make sure everything runs smoothly is a weight off of us.
Also, our DJ works with the venue and has a timeline so together they make sure everything is on schedule and going how it should, which is doubly nice.

OjitosVerdes · December 2013

If there is anything I'd do differently, I would have hired a day of coordinator.

This depends greatly on your venue, however - some come with built in coordinators that do an awesome job.

That was supposed to be the case with my venue, however there was major communication fail and misunderstanding as to how involved she was really going to be. As a result, my poor bridal party and mom ended up scrambling to get some things set up the day of, and a lot of little details fell through the cracks, which really upset all of us.

I'm still happy with how the wedding turned out and am not dwelling on those things, but in hindsight wish I could have "handed off" my day to someone I trusted to make sure everything was done exactly as I had envisioned.

Blergbot · December 2013

I have my first consulation tomorrow. Can't wait to hand over the task of finding a toilet rental company!

kgd7357 · December 2013

OP update: We totally decided to go with one. I found one that really is just day of (vice month of) for $250 in DC (I think this is magic). After meeting with her she seemed the perfect amount of pushy (to make sure things get done) yet very organized. What really put me over the edge was one of BMs saying that I didn't need one b/c the BMs could help me set up the day of. I'd rather them drink mimosas with me while we get our hair done vice setting up flowers.

Thanks for all the input!

CaliMel11 · December 2013

Yay! Congrats on getting one. That's a super good price too.
I know what you mean about just wanting people to relax and enjoy themselves instead of running around stressing out about everything.

16maybeless · December 2013

kgd7357 said:

OP update: We totally decided to go with one. I found one that really is just day of (vice month of) for $250 in DC (I think this is magic). After meeting with her she seemed the perfect amount of pushy (to make sure things get done) yet very organized. What really put me over the edge was one of BMs saying that I didn't need one b/c the BMs could help me set up the day of. I'd rather them drink mimosas with me while we get our hair done vice setting up flowers.

Thanks for all the input!

That is an amazing price for D.C.! I think you'll find it's worth it.

CrazyCatLady3 · December 2013

I'm bumping up this thread for more input on pricing. I was quoted $2,000 for DOC in NYC...this would include meetings one month out, running rehearsal, and the typical day-of duties. We are having a small-ish wedding, the ceremony and reception are in one place, and we are not doing a rehearsal, so I asked if they would do it for $1,500. Waiting for response. Does that seem reasonable? That's probably on the high end of what I'm willing to pay since we are not having a really big wedding.

pumpkinsandturkeys · December 2013

That seems reasonable for NYC, from what I've heard. Here in Ontario, ours run about $1000 just for DOC. We're having a really small wedding and our venue has an Events Director and other event staff to assist us with things, and it seems as though they'll handle most of the day-of stuff. I just really don't feel like shelling out a grand for someone to manage a wedding and dinner for 30 - 35 people.

CrazyCatLady3 · December 2013

pumpkinsandturkeys said:

That seems reasonable for NYC, from what I've heard. Here in Ontario, ours run about $1000 just for DOC. We're having a really small wedding and our venue has an Events Director and other event staff to assist us with things, and it seems as though they'll handle most of the day-of stuff. I just really don't feel like shelling out a grand for someone to manage a wedding and dinner for 30 - 35 people.

I think you'll be good with that many of people. We are only having about 85, but I had dinner with one of my BMs who got married 2 years ago w/ 100 guests and she convinced me I really should have a DOC. My venue also has an events coordinator but I think she will be wrapped up in food service etc. and maybe too busy to direct our ceremony vendors and the flow of the various things with the DJ.

kgd7357 · December 2013

I recently went to my cousin's wedding in NYC and her DOC was $5000. She also ran the rehearsal. I thought this price was nuts, but she had a very extravagent wedding ~200 people over $100K, so she really didn't want things to go wrong. Things went wrong anyway. They put the programs on the reception chairs not the ceremony chairs, and they were really nice fancy programs that no one ended up seeing. And no one did a sound check on the ceremony mic, so no one could hear it. I think if you can get under $2000 in NYC you are doing well. Also, try Thumbtack.com. You can write exactly what you need, and you can get a custom bid for services, which can save a lot.

CrazyCatLady3 · December 2013

kgd7357 said:

I recently went to my cousin's wedding in NYC and her DOC was $5000. She also ran the rehearsal. I thought this price was nuts, but she had a very extravagent wedding ~200 people over $100K, so she really didn't want things to go wrong. Things went wrong anyway. They put the programs on the reception chairs not the ceremony chairs, and they were really nice fancy programs that no one ended up seeing. And no one did a sound check on the ceremony mic, so no one could hear it. I think if you can get under $2000 in NYC you are doing well. Also, try Thumbtack.com. You can write exactly what you need, and you can get a custom bid for services, which can save a lot.

Wow I'd be pissed if I spent $5k for a DOC and there were oversights like that.

Is a Day-Of Coordinator worth it?

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