Weddingbee

I had contemplated hiring a day-of-coordinator ever since I got engaged. I’ve been to weddings with and without coordinators, and while all of them were equally beautiful and fun, the brides who had hired wedding coordinators just seemed so much more relaxed and a lot less frazzled. And I want that. I want to be able to kick back, have fun, and fully enjoy my wedding day.

Mr. Peony wasn’t too thrilled at the idea of paying someone to do this. “Just let our bridal party take care of everything - that’s what they’re there for,” he said. But I want our bridal party to have fun too! They can help out all they want before the wedding, but I want them to have a blast and be able to fully celebrate with us on our wedding day without any worries. In addition, with a wedding of 250 guests, a charter bus, high possibility for rain (April showers), and a remote location in Westchester, I felt that the chance of something going wrong would be more than what we could handle. I told him that I would be willing to pay for a DOC out of my personal budget just for the peace of mind they would give me on our wedding day.

I started looking for a DOC a couple of months ago, but didn’t have much luck. One person was very rude in her email, saying that her company only works with weddings with budgets over $50k. Another was nice, but politely told me that her day-of service only includes communication within a month of the wedding date, not before (which I personally thought was ridiculous - how is she going to get to know my personality, style, likes and dislikes if she refuses to talk to me before that one month period?). And all were very expensive, starting at $1,500 and going up to $3,000 just for the day-of services.

Luckily, Mrs. Bee came to the rescue with a short list of affordable DOC’s that came highly recommended by internet brides. In that list was Christine Viola of Exquisite Affairs Productions.

I immediately liked Christine. She was always the fastest to respond to any of my questions, and also the nicest. I could tell that she was passionate about her work and that she really cared about her brides. And her prices, by far, were the best I found.

I met with Christine yesterday after work. She was sooooo nice and personable and immediately made me feel at ease. She told me that even if I hire her for just her day-of services, she will still keep in touch with me regularly with reminders, updates, and advice. She believes that getting to know each other before the wedding, even becoming friends, will make the day that much smoother for both her and the client. She also mentioned that her approach with vendors is unobtrusive - she will stay out of their way unless they’re not doing their job or I have a problem with them.

Christine even gave me some recommendations for vendors during the course of our conversation. She was honest and gave me a bunch of money-saving tips as well….all before booking! When I mentioned that we had hired Danny Weiss as our photographer, her eyes lit up and proceeded to tell me that she’d worked with him before - she loves him! She recommends him to all her brides and was genuinely excited to hear that we’ll be working with him.

Needless to say, I booked her. She asked me if I wanted to go home and think about it for a bit, but I whipped out my checkbook and gave her a deposit on the spot.

I booked Exquisite Affairs Productions’ “Something Blue” package, which includes the following:

• Unlimited contact via telephone and/or email.
• Full consultation, preparation, and confirmation with client two weeks prior to the wedding day.
• Provide a timeline and checklist for the day of the wedding.
• Confirming all vendors are scheduled, prompt and in place before the wedding and on the actual day of the wedding.
• Arriving at the bride’s preparation or ceremony location (discretion of client) and depart at reception completion.
• Will be the sole contact for vendors on the day of the wedding.
• Distribute remaining vendor balances and gratuities (discretion of client).
• Supervise all activities from nuptials until reception completion, assuring that all vendors are in order and on schedule, including bridal party and photo session coordination and management.
• Inspection and confirmation of venue layout and set-up.
• Full access to our preferred vendors (discount may apply.)
• Provide the “Super Something” Wedding Day Emergency Kit

Their 2008 price for this package is $600. Other packages can be found here, with “Something Old” for $700, “Something Borrowed” for $450, and “Something New” starting at $1,100. These are all 2008 prices, since Christine is no longer booking full wedding packages for 2007.

After booking Christine, I felt a HUGE load slide off my shoulders. If you’re thinking about hiring a DOC or a full wedding planner, I would definitely recommend her. Go tell her Miss Peony sent you.

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