Wedding Blog

nope. i didn’t want to make any of my friends, relatives, or someone else who would most likely otherwise be a guest have to work at my wedding. i know what a headache coordinating a wedding is and didn’t want to put anyone through that.

now if someone had volunteered, i might have taken them up on the offer. still, i’d prefer a professional to make sure the day goes as smoothly as possible.

my budget is not huge by any means, but i made sacrifices in other areas to be able to hire a coordinator.

I think that a day-of-wedding coordinator seems like something that, for me, is a definite must. I previously thought it was optional, but I don’t really think so anymore (in most cases). I can’t imagine who would or how to wrangle my guests, coordinate vendors (florist, cake baker, etc.), direct the rehearsal, etc. We’re only having 50 guests or so, and I certainly wouldn’t want to ask any family member or friend to do all of these things. Plus, I just feel better having an experienced professional doing all of this behind the scenes action. I’m VERY hands on and have been described as “OCD,” so hiring a day-of-coordinator works best for me. I wouldn’t want to stress about that kind of stuff on my wedding day.

I get that same headache & knot-in-my-stomach feeling when I start thinking about the logistics of the day. My mom semi-volunteered my aunt (and I officially asked her) to be my day-of coordinator. She is very organized and likes bossing people around (but in a good way), and she would definitely enjoy helping out. My mom will be playing the same role in my cousin’s wedding a month later, so I guess that’s sort of like payment. But now that you bring it up, she might also enjoy some monopoly money in a gratuity envelope.

I think it’s worth it to have someone. There were tons of little things that my coordinator had to do that I would not have wanted to handle on the wedding day. Like making sure everyone was accessible for pictures, keeping track of all the bouquets since bridesmaids tend to leave them everywhere, etc.

Whenever she saw me, my husband, or my mom with more than 2 envelopes she took them and put them away, just all these little things that I didn’t have to worry about. She kept to a timeline because I told her that I wanted to be in the cocktail hour for at least a half hour. That was important to us, and she had to really keep everyone on a tight schedule. It didn’t make her popular, but it made me, my mom, and my husband happy, and I’m glad that it wasn’t a friend or a family member that had to be softly aggressive with vendors, bp, etc.

I am looking to get experience as a wedding planner but I’m in MD! When’s your wedding- if it’s after classes end I might be able to fly down there.

I picked someone from my office that is super detailed, very patient and just a great person. I asked her if she would help out with the details for the day of…like making sure the programs were on chairs, the escort cards are all laid out, etc. She was excited that I asked but was a little worried that she wouldn’t do something right for me and it would “mess up my big day”. I brought her over to the house and should her all the lists and pictures and samples we had — after she saw our prep, she was totally not worried and saw our vision. We are going to pay her like $250 and for her hotel room. She is excited and so are we!

Lydia - definitely!! when is your wedding and where’s it going to be at?? yay - i’m getting excited!

the internet is definitely my best resource to date! Thank you Al Gore - haha

I asked one of my close friends to coordinate the reception and the fiance of the best man to coordinate the ceremony. I wanted them to be part of the wedding, plus the are super organized!

I’m trading website design for day of coordinationi. It makes me really happy, b/c I wouldn’t otherwise be able to afford it, but it will make things a lot less stressful.

if i were in dallas i’d do it.

I’m a coordinator in SF and still have some days available if anyone in the Bay Area is looking for a day-of-coordinator. I love wedding bee so happy to help the gals out there.

Being a professional, I of course see the virtues of why you want a professional.

HOWEVER if you can’t afford one, I think at least designating someone who is organized and will be able to get everyone in the right place at the right time is IMPERATIVE. Before I was a coordinator, when all of my cousins were getting married (and I was still in college) my mom and my aunts all traded off being the “day-of” for the bride (when it wasn’t their daughter). They made sure programs were being handed out, that bridesmaids and groomsmen were lined up and that everyone made it down the aisle in a timely manner. Granted, their roles were mainly focused on the ceremony, but they also were there to help the bride if she needed help with a bustle, going to the bathroom, etc.

If you’re getting married at an offsite venue (i.e. outdoors, at a vineyard, etc) — basically anyplace that doesn’t have an on-site caterer like a club, restaurant, hotel, etc, you REALLY should have a coordinator b/c there is so much to do in terms of coordinating the rentals (tables, chairs etc) which the bride shouldn’t be thinknig about on the big day!

And, there are a lot of tricks we coordinators know that your average Joe or Jane don’t (like how to get stains out of wedding dress, fixing a bustle, cue-ing the band and getting a wedding back on schedule when perhaps a cocktail hour has gone to long…

But if you can’t afford a planner, BY ALL MEANS, try to find someone who can at least be there for you on the big day. I don’t recommend a bridesmaid b/c those girls often already have a ton on their plate and don’t necessarily want to be coordinating w/ vendors and such while still attending to their “maid” duties. They’ll really want to cut a rug by the end of the night….

You can always check with some of the wedding associations like the Association of Bridal Consultants (www.bridalassn.com) and ask for a referral to a novice member or a junior member who is just starting her business and needs the experience and opportunity to build her portfolio.