Wedding Blog
I’m stuck. I have no idea whether I should hire someone to help on our big day (or if I can even find one available and within our budget three months out). They must have some sort of Procrastinators Appreciation Discount right? 
So, Side A : We hire a DOC, and Side B: We don’t. I made a list of pros/cons, and am still undecided.
Side A: We are getting married at a ‘non-traditional’ venue, so there is no one in-house that would be in charge of me or my event. Which makes me think I need someone to be there to ensure things run smoothly.
Side B: Our event is going to have a pretty relaxed feeling, as we have invited family and close friends. If anything goes wrong I know I could ask any one of them to help out and be able to hopefully laugh about it later. Our guests won’t care that our flowers are/aren’t the perfect color, or if our DJ plays a song we asked him not to. This makes me think we don’t really need to spend more $$ to have someone there.
Side A: I have never planned an event befor. I have a good idea of what needs to happen, but I’m sure there are a ton of things I am forgetting or have no idea that I am supposed to do.
Side B: There will be a ceremony, we will end up married, and there will be alcohol at the fabulous party after… how bad could it really be?
Side A: I want to be able to enjoy the day and not have my family (mom) worry about what needs to get done next.
Side B: If nothing goes wrong, I will probably feel like I wasted $$.
I have been going back on forth on this decision for six months now, and still have no conclusion. So I turn to you:
Are you hiring a DOC? Why/why not?
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Share this post: To DOC, or NOT to DOC…
you can earn more money but you only get one wedding. I went with a DOC since i wanted to relax. even if nothing goes wrong, you can’t put a price on peace of mind. (except i did and it was $500)
We asked a family friend (who we’re not super close to - wouldn’t have made the guest list otherwise, and she was okay with that) to sort of be our DOC. Her only child - daughter - eloped, so she has always wanted to do the big wedding thing! So she will be our unofficial DOC, and we won’t have to pay her a big fee (of course we’ll get something to thank her) and she is super excited just to do it!
After talking to our DOC about all the last minute, day of stuff that needs to be done- I am so excited that she will be there for me on the big day. See if you can find someone trying to break into the business. We’re getting our DOC free that way!!
We are going with one for all of your side A reasons. I found ours on Craigslist and since they are just starting out they are doing our wedding free of charge!! I’m sure you could find one in your area. you might even just be able to consult with one to ask them questions and hopefully that could help you decide if you want to hire one.
Good luck!
We’re not having one. I might regret it later, but I have a feeling that there are a bevy of friends that are planning to step in and step up if needed.
Our event wouldn’t be us without a little controlled chaos!
I hired a DOC. Our florist also offered DOC, so I took her up on it. I was like you and undecided for a long time, but ultimately decided that the peace of mind was worth it. For floral (5 attendants on each side of our bridal party, sit down reception for 175) and DOC, she charged a bargain price of $600. SO worth it. She certainly came in handy a couple of times, but even if everything had gone perfectly smoothly, it still would have been worth the peace of mind.
Definitely going with a DOC - There are a million things that are going to be on her plate for the day-of and I don’t think I would want to do it without her help! While getting ready, taking pictures, mingling and chatting with guests I won’t have to worry about ANYTHING!
Ahh, the dilemma, right?? Well let me just say this: if you hire a DOC and nothing goes wrong, don’t assume this means you didn’t need him/her!
A good DOC (and let me stress the importance of getting a good one!) will do thorough preparation BEFORE the wedding day… there is SO Much more involved than just showing up! They will help you iron out your timeline, and since they are experienced, they will be able to guide you on what makes sense. They will often review all of your contracts to make sure everything is in order and then confirm all of your vendors the week of the wedding to make sure they are all on the same page and know when and where to arrive and what to do. They will run the ceremony rehearsal (this can be very important especially with lining everyone up and sending them down the aisle!)
On the day-of, they will be running around making sure that everything is in place and that everyone is where they are supposed to be (at the right time!) and keeping the flow of the event moving on time.
If the wedding goes off without a hitch, it is a job well done on their part! It is because they were on their feet for 10 hours making sure that you didn’t KNOW that anything went wrong, and you will love them for this!
Ok, full disclosure here…. I am a wedding planner
I went to a wedding in October where the couple got married in a beautiful State Park. The location was truly beautiful and unique. HOWEVER, the bride (mostly) and groom did everything DIY. And the night before and day of the ceremony, we (the guests) spent hours decorating and getting everything ready for the wedding. It was A LOT of work and a lot of stress on the bride and groom. If you are planning on incorporating help from bridal party, you may also want to consider how much work you’ll be putting on them if you don’t hire a DOC.
I think it is worth every penny because it take away the stress on your big day. A bride should just have a relaxing day and someone else can do the worrying. You worried through all the planning now it is time to do the relaxing.
I really debated about this too..we didn’t have the budget for it. BUT. I had a freak out moment one day when I thought about all of the tealights that will be going on the reception tables…who the heck was going to light them?! Our reception site doesn’t really have someone who we thought would do this.
The other argument I made for myself. I want my parents and everyone else to just sit back, relax and enjoy the day. Our DOC will make sure all of the i’s are dotted and the t’s are crossed.
Final reason…if your dress has a long train, do you have someone who can stand behind make sure it’s perfectly laid out before you make that first step?!
Oh man, now I’m fretting about this! 
Any tips for finding an affordable DOC?
My venue has an event coordinator who is pretty much the DoC. If I didn’t have her, I’d probably be stressing over whether I should hire one or not, mostly because I don’t want to spend the extra money. I do think that it’s best to hire someone with a similar job. Why not take up one of the suggestions above and search Craigslist? Peace of mind and being considerate with your mom is always a nice thing.
I’m not, for several reasons, money being one of them, but not the biggest.
1. My family didn’t like the idea of a stranger being around telling everyone what to do.
2. I didn’t like the idea of a stranger implementing all my wonderful DIY projects. (someone not invested in them)
3. I have UHMAZING family and friends that have stepped up to the challenge.
4. the money. i mean, we have it, but I’d rather use it in Italy on the honeymoon!
I have no idea if my wedding day will or won’t turn out, but we’re gonna try (and knowing my psycho-organized type A self….if it doesn’t work out–it won’t be for lack of planning!)
I opted to ask a friend’s mom, who is sorta retired from wedding planning to be my DOC. She’s already been a life saver and I know I can trust her to carry out my vision the day of.
I had all these same issues, on both side A and B. I’m doing something like Peep Toe and MrsSl82b are doing–someone off Craigslist who is cheap but knows at least a little about weddings, etc. I don’t need them to do anything before the day of, but I think it will be nice to have someone there who I won’t feel like I’m taking away from the fun if flower arrangements need to be moved, seating problems need to be dealt with, etc. And since our event is pretty casual and easygoing as well, I’ll probably just tell her “if something goes wrong, please just do your best to fix it and don’t tell me!”
I think having a DOC is definitely worth the money. Your DOC will take care of anything unexpected that comes up, if vendors have questions, they can contact the DOC instead of asking you on your wedding day, and all of your beautiful details that you’ve been blogging about will be in all of the right places! =)
Good luck!!!
i will admit, in my still-deciding days, I put up a post on craig’s list and got about 50 offers to DOC, 30 of them looked REALLY good(some experienced, some not)…and all would all fit in my budget of $400!
What the heck is a DOC?
I had a lot of the same thoughts. We decided to not hire one. Reasons:
-I have personally planned many events and don’t know if I could “give up” some of the control
-I know what I want and am able to communicate that with the people I need to
-We are having a small wedding
-We have a coordinator at the reception site
-One of my best friends will be “in charge” and the go to person for questions
-I will be married and drinking and eating and dancing with my friends and family. Something funny will go wrong/happen. We will laugh about it like we always do
@LeanGreenMachine… Day Of Coordinator (kind of similar to a wedding planner).
If there is anyway for you to swing it, I think it’s a great idea. I consider it paying for peace of mind. My DOC also happens to be my florist. I think having someone there to make sure it all flows and is moving along is key. Good luck to you!
If I would have done anything differently about our wedding, I would have hired a professional DOC. I never put a DOC into the budget because I didn’t think one necessary. I was doing most of the planning myself, and a family friend offered to be our DOC as a wedding present. Although she did a good job, I wish I wouldn’t have relied so heavily on family and friends to help prep for our wedding. I feel like they missed out on parts of our big day. Also, there were details that I slaved over that were not set-up in time for the photographers to photograph. In the end, it was not the end of the world, but I just wish we would have bit the cost bullet and just hired a DOC.
My reception site came with a DOC and she has been a life saver thus far. She is there to be sure nothing goes wrong, and if something does go wrong, she is there to handle it. so you may not even be made aware that there was a hiccup along the way. Since there is nobody at the venue to handle this stuff, I’d strongly recommend it. That was DOC can handle deliveries, vendors, pointing guests in the right direction, etc. Definitely worth it IF you can find one for a reasonable price
See, I’m so torn because we WILL have someone from the site present the entire time, and I trust my caterer 110% as well. Plus, my sister didn’t have one, and used the same photographer and videographer who helped keep things moving. I’m wondering if, provided the vendors work well together and understand the flow of the day, it’s even necessary?
DOC!!!!!
Whether its a trusty friend you dont mind adding a little stress to, or a pro - you want someone else fielding any issues. That was the #1 thing recent brides said was a must-do, I took their advice and I am soo glad! A few problems came up on the day of, and I was oh so wonderfully relaxed and oblivious. Yes, I could have tended to them and fixed them myself, but instead, I was there IN THE MOMENT, with my friends, family, and fiance. I would have paid 10 times over what I did pay just to make sure that I was.
GET ONE. I didn’t and it’s my big regret. Our wedding (last August) which was a fairly traditional affair with vendors that had all (mostly) worked together before didn’t seem to require one. i didn’t think I was particularly up tight about the wedding, and nothing disasterous went wrong. BUT that day I would have killed to have just one person running interference between me and the decisions that needed to be made. I didn’t want to have to ask the band to not call us by Mr. and Mrs. HisName LastName, after I’d told them not to. I didn’t want to have to ask the photographer to keep taking pictures and not to leave early. I didn’t want to determine when different things were happening or where. Stuff just happens that you can’t control and I just wish I hadn’t been as hands-on that night, and was just able to soak it in. I don’t mean to scare anyone–a lot of people have family and friend support that works out just fine for them– but seriously if you can find someone you trust, it’ll take a load off that day.
@Miss Bruschetta: Call around to local wedding planners and ask if they have interns. interned for a planning firm once and DOC’d several weddings that we received at the last minute. These interns are usually strapped-for-cash college students who know what they-re doing. most likely, they’ve accompanied their bosses and helped with DOC responsibilities for several past weddings. I always only charged $12 an hour for basic responsibilities or $18 if you needed me to do heavy lifting (like setting up tables and chairs).
I posted an ad on craigslist and got about 100 responses in 2 days.
People starting out asked if they could do my wedding free of charge, I also had some newer folks with fees about 300$.
My coordinator is there to make sure things are set up as I want them, light candles, get the ceremony site set up (after dark after cocktails)…all very simple things but things I don’t want a guest doing.
I have hired a girl with little experience, but she is very willing and able…she has also recently been married, which I think counts for something.
Gloss, personally, I wouldn’t do it. Because as you said, your wedding’s gonna be laid-back/relaxed and if worse-comes-to-worse, you will have BOOZE! haha.
I don’t think I’d hire a DOC for any size wedding of my own. I planned and pulled off a destination wedding from 2000 miles away without one… and I really don’t care enough if something were to get mixed up. At the end of the day you’re still married and you’ve got all your friends and family around. And you kept that money in your wallet too.
We are. Mainly because she’s budget friendly, comes highly recommended and frankly? I don’t want to work on my wedding day!
Does your caterer have an event manager that will be on site? I know our caterer has someone like that, they might be able to lend a hand in some aspects if you decide not to go with a DOC.
Ask yourself “If something went wrong (anything) would I be upset and regret not having a DOC.” If the answer is honestly, yes, then hire a DOC. Also, make a list of the things you could, and would do with the money that would be spent on a DOC. This may help you see how unnecessary it really is.
In my opinion, it’s just another factor in the Wedding Industrial Complex and a complete waste of money.
We are also having our ceremony and reception at a non-traditional venue. Rather than hire a professional, we elected to hire a distant friend who is incredibly organized and is a project manager with a large manufacturer in town. We are paying her $200 (and I’d like to give her a nice tip). It’s important that we not be worrying about any details on the day of the event. Without her, we’d have friends to help…but those friends would still be turning to us to ask what to do. My future MIL keeps telling us that hiring a DOC will be the best money we spend!
I want my wedding to be laid back and relaxed and I know I won’t be without a DOC. I’m a graphic designer so I’m going to have a blast with all my DIY stuff that I can’t wait to start (seriously is a year out too early to get crafty???) but I know that my mom and I will both worry about things. I’d rather pass that off to someone else so they can do my worrying for me =)
I hired a DOC and it is seriously the best decision I’ve made yet and I’m not even at the day of yet. She has helped me review contracts, given me ideas and has been the best source for referrals. I actually assisted her in day of coordination at wedding recently for fun and I was amazed at how much she did to make the day run smoothly. There were so many things she fixed and took care of that no one knew about.
DOC wasn’t even on the list when I started the planning process. I thought, if I’m doing everything and things are getting done, why would I need to hire a DOC? But, four months out, I started to get overwhelmed with the planning process, and the thought of having all the vendors asking me what to or not to do on the day of the wedding was just too much for me to bear because I wanted to enjoy the day with my husband, family and friends, not talking about logistics. So, I did hire a wonderful DOC who took care of everything, and I didn’t even have to speak to any of the vendors. She came in before the ceremony and told me when she was going to come get me, then followed our timelime through out the day/night. She helped out a lot, and even my husband was impressed with her and how we got to enjoy the day without worrying about other things.
If you can find a DOC who fits within your budget and you have a great rapport with, then it might be worth it to him/her out.
I hired my florist as our DOC for the first 2.5 hours of the day. So basically she’ll get us through the ceremony and all the vendor check-in, etc. and just sneak out after we cut the cake. She will already be on sight doing floral setup, etc. earlier in the day and after I realized how well we worked together I couldn’t think of anyone better. I didn’t think we needed a DOC but I actually feel better knowing my DIY projects, etc are in good hands….and it still fit in my floral budget
Are there any other brides using your venue (or even just in your area) that would be willing to swap DOC responsibilities? Could be a budget-friendly way to get a little peace of mind, especially if you aren’t coming up with a laundry list of tasks that you’d want a DOC or planner to do for you.
I would definitely recommend it. Luckily one of my Mom’s best friend’s is a wedding planner, so I’m set… but from the weddings i’ve been to over the past few years, you could definitely tell which ones ran smoother because someone was always in the background making sure everything went right.
Sometimes it’s worth it just for little things that you might not think of. Last summer when my friends were getting their pictures taken with the photographer during the cocktail hour, there was no planner, and it was an extremely hot day. I went into the venue and got waters and snacks for the bride & groom and brought it down to them where they were taking photos. It’s just a little thing, but things like that make a difference. You don’t want your family to have to worry about little things because you all should be enjoying the moment and not have to be worrying about little things like making sure the bride & groom stay hydrated or that the pen for the guest books works, or that any last minute changes to seating charts are managed without too much trouble.
good luck!
I’m not having one. I don’t think they exist in the town we’re getting married in, and its not in our budget to bring someone in from somewhere else. My decorators are doing a ton of stuff themselves that a DOC would normally do, and I asked my aunt to step in as a DOC-type for us in case we need someone.
I’m SO glad my venue comes with one… I think it’s a great stress reliever and you wouldn’t regret getting one after the fact. If anything you will think things went as smoothly as they did BECAUSE she (or I guess he as well) was there.
I am having one and I am thankful I am having one now that wedding day is around the corner. If you think you dont need one then don’t do it. I flip flopped on whether it was worth it, but my venue requires I have one. I am glad now that I do have one though because I worry, and stress out and don’t want to put any responsibility on anyone else.
I def. understand the hesitation to go with a wedding planner or a DOC however let me tell you that a good wedding planner and DOC is a God Send! Logistically speaking there are so many things going on during the rehearsal dinner, ceremony rehearsal, ceremony, trip to the reception, reception and clean up… a true planner will be there for all of it not to mention earned countless hours PRE Wedding day making sure it all runs smoothly the day of. I always look at it like this… i would not let a stranger off of Craig’s list run one of the most important days of my life… NO offense to anyone who hired a newbee, but just be careful you are hiring someone who knows there stuff and is not just trying to make some extra money off of what they deem to be easy–because wedding planning is anything but easy!
i say hire one - it’s not because someone needs to “run” the day and make it go smoothly… but because someone needs to be the point person, and you don’t want to be pulled away from drinking, or eating, or talking, or ANYTHING to deal with an issue that has come up (and OH they WILL come up!, it’s the #1 rule of events… stuff will go wrong). think of this person as your fire extinguisher. also, they’ll be there to collect anything that needs to be done at the end of the reception that you don’t want to lose, they’ll be there to make sure people get their tips, etc.
i used to be an event planner and while i have no problem planning our wedding i can’t imagine the day being enjoyable for me without someone else being “responsible” for everything that comes up
oh yah, and you can get cheap planners… you can see if someone is willing to let one of their assistants do it at a discounted price, or you can find a wedding planning class/school near you and put an offer in.
imperative!
I hired a wedding coordinator and it’s one of the best decisions I made. I’m a total control freak, but the day of I don’t want to be stressing about decorating and coordinating vendors. I don’t want to be standing there drink in hand to have to deal with some sort of mini crisis, etc. That’s what she’s there for, you’re there to enjoy your day, drink the booze and enjoy spending time with your friends and family.
I am dealing with this same issue right now! My venue has what they call a “event facilitator” but they dont set up or anything like that. My fiance is against it but I just want to be able to relax on our day! The one I am looking at is rather pricey ($1500) but takes care of the entire wedding week! With so many people from out of town it just might be worth it!
It is important to remember/realize that the things that can go wrong on your wedding day (especially if you have never truly planned such a large scale event) are much bigger than ‘flowers being the wrong color’ and/or ‘the band playing a song you don’t like’.
I used to plan corporate events so I went into the planning of our wedding with a very healthy and realistic idea of what needed to be planned. And for THAT reason, I hired a DOC.
The DOC didn’t bark orders at my family, nor was she ’some stranger’ who was interfering with my wedding. Rather, when an unexpected guest showed up, she was the one who pulled a place setting out of thin air while my family was taking portraits…and when we had forgotten to pay the parking attendants ahead of time, she brought it up discreetly to my husband and since he didn’t have a check book on him, he was able to get his dad to cover it, all in a few moments and without a disruption to be had.
Without a doubt, a DOC is the most important investment of the day. I truly, truly believe that.
I’m paying mine $300 because she’s just starting out. After meeting with her the first time, I knew I’d made the right decision. I don’t want to have spent two years planning and crafting and creating and organizing, only to have it all go to hell that day. And I don’t want to have to lean too heavily on our bridal party - I want them to have fun, too!
This has been on my mind too! Thanks for blogging your pros and cons.
IMHO, most brides spend countless hours planning the details of their wedding so why risk all of that effort to the “unknown” and have the burden fall back to the bride/groom and maybe family/friends to deal with any hiccups?
Not having a DOC is betting the farm (in this case your wedding and your memories) that everything will go off as planned without a hitch. I think having some peace of mind/insurance is worth the money (and it doesn’t have to be a ton of cash either)
I am also getting married at a non-traditional venue and have to bring everything into the space. Having an experienced DOC can be completely worth it. With so many vendors to coordinate, to put that on yourself or even a guest I think would be unfair, especially if something goes wrong.
Have your family/friends been briefed on the scenarios/contracts/gameplan? They might end up going right back to you to ask you for resolution which kinda defeats the purpose of having them assist in the first place.
You will be experiencing one of the most memorable days of your life - you don’t want to be “project managing” your own wedding!
As generous as friends and family may be in volunteering to help stand in as “day of coordinator”, it’s not the same as them being a carefree guest to just enjoy your wedding.
Leave it to the experienced professional - there are many DOCs out there. You may want to go with a college student or someone with less experience but you will be rolling the dice with someone without a track record - you must feel really comfortable that they are capable of handling the stress and performing up to your expectations!
To address your concern about feeling that if nothing goes wrong and feeling like it was a waste of $$: if nothing does go wrong during your wedding with a DOC, I’m confident that the DOC handled something…I can’t imagine a scenario that the DOC got “free money” by not having to lift a finger and sat around doing nothing.
By definition, they are your time keeper, your cattle herder, your accountant, your taskmaster, your “bad cop”, and your protector shielding you from anything that could stress you out on your wedding day!
I had this debate with myself last month, and ended up finding a just-starting-out DOC who is charging an incredibly low fee as she builds her portfolio — and she’s amazingly nice and great to work with! I think a DOC is probably not necessary if your site coordinator is really good and on top of things, but like Miss Gloss, we don’t have a site coordinator.
The event that precipitated my DOC decision was actually non-wedding-related — there was a work event where a ton of last-minute stuff got dumped in my lap due to poor planning by others involved, and I realized that if someone drops the ball on our wedding day, I don’t want to be the one on the cell phone asking the rental folks to please deliver the 50 place settings they forgot or whatever. I didn’t want to ask my mom or my friends to do that either. I just wanted to relax and be able to spend time with the loved ones who had traveled to be with us.
Would things be OK if we didn’t hire a DOC? Sure. Will I be less stressed if I know there’s someone on site who will handle it if the cake is missing? Absolutely.
We’re definitely doing a DOC. Ours was about $700, and we’re not even married yet, but she’s been totally worth every penny. She’ll be there for the rehearsal too, and she’s letting us use a lot of her supplied (vases, stereo equipment, etc.) at no charge.
She’s already taken control of so much, which is really awesome. Things I didn’t expect, like transporting welcome baskets to the hotels, picking up some photo props for us, picking up our desserts. She’s making it easier not just on us, but our family members, so to me, it’s totally worth it
My family was more than willing to do all this stuff for us, but I decided to give them a day off to enjoy everything.
I am not going for a DOC. My florist who has been in the business for 11 years said that the job of a DOC can be done by a few well-delegated family and friends. In fact, she herself has been hired as a DOC before, and she said its not very useful. For example, if you put the DOC in charge of rallying certain family/friends over to you during your portrait session, its kinda useless because the DOC doesn’t know who they are by face. Also, each one of your vendors is like a mini-DOC in charge of their part of the wedding. I suggest on your wedding day, hand a trusted family member a check list of all your vendors with their cell phones on them, and ask that family member to check off each vendor as they arrive and depart.
Another thing I’ve done is used the wisdom of some of my best and most experienced vendors, thereby treating them as kind of wedding planners. My DJ is super experienced. So I’ve sought his advice for our wedding day’s timeline. These things can be done by email, and no one asks for extra charge if you ask an innocent question or two.
I say if you’re on a budget and you’re a laid-back bride with some helpful family and friends, save that money for decorating your house, going on a honeymoon, or splurging on something your guests will enjoy like really useful favors or out of town bags.
My wedding is not yet here, and I may end up eating my words. But, after planning a lot of social events, I can tell you that some things will go wrong at the wedding. Just accept it, trust your close ones to take care of the situation, and just enjoy your day!
We’re hiring a bridesmaid’s sister who is ultra organized and planned her wedding and bridesmaid’s wedding. My fiance and I are doing so much for this wedding and putting so much effort into the planning. I just would like the peace of mind to know that things will run smoothly, and if they don’t, I’ll never know.
I’d rather not ask my bridesmaids to take care of everything for me since I’ve seen this back-fire and result in some pretty unhappy women running around telling the DJ when it’s time to cut the cake, etc.
I work for an events company and while I’m not involved with event planning I have learned that detailed “show flow” plans are really essential. They’re just simple spreadsheets, but I love that someone always hands me a packet and I never have to ask what I need do or where I need to be. I plan to create one that tells everyone where everyone else needs to be. I think this will make the DOC’s job easier and will help all of the vendors and the wedding party feel like they’re involved and that they’re making us happy.
We want to go with a DOC but only if we can work it into our budget. The piece of mind that someone else is going to deal with the possible bs is worth it.
I’m doing one. My church doesn’t have a wedding coordinator, so I need someone to be in charge of the flower delivery/processional/programs, etc. My bakery doesn’t deliver on Fridays (I’m having a Friday wedding). It just seemed much easier to hire someone!
@LatteLove: My mom freaked when I said I wanted to hire someone to tell everyone what to do
@2009cndbride: I posted an ad on craigslist 2 days ago and haven’t gotten any responses yet! I don’t think Maine is up on the technology
@Miss Mascara: I’m pretty sure they don’t exist where we are getting married either….and if they do they charge $1300+ which doesn’t exactly fit into our budget in the slightest way
Hi Miss Gloss. I, too, an a Maine bride, and while my location is not as remote as Greenville, I had trouble finding a DOC. But every bride I’ve talked to has said it was the best expenditure they made or the one they most wish they had made. I found my DOC for $400, which seems pretty reasonable. And I found some as low as $300 in the Bangor area. I’m not married yet, so I can’t give a great review yet on my DOC, but I will say that she’s driving to Bangor to go to all my vendor meetings with me while I’m in town in June. She seems fabulous, and I can’t wait to meet her. Message if you want more deets. Good luck!
Oh, and the $400 includes rehearsal and all her time and travel during my visit home in June. Just wanted to add that!
I know I want one. I don’t want to even think about the minor details, and neither does mom. DOC it is for me!
I didn’t read all of these comments, so this has probably been said, but… hiring our DOC was hands down the BEST money we spent on our wedding. It took stress off of me, off of my family and friends, and they were able to enjoy the day we had all planned so long for. Hire one, and just pray that it ends up being wasted money! If ANYTHING goes wrong (ie. the electricity goes out at your reception for 2.5 hours), it will end up being the best thing you ever did.
**Anyone in New England, I can’t recommend our affordable DOC enough- PM me if you need info**
We just got married this last Saturday. A friend of ours who doesn’t have a lot of money offered us her time as our wedding gift. She does event coordinating and contract team managing and she was phenomenal. Hands down the best non-traditional wedding present we ever could have received. She was FABULOUS. I would have happily paid her a thousand (literally) to do what she did.
I had a DOC and it was the GREATEST thing I did. There were a few things that needed to be finished and it helped a lot with my stress levels. There were a bunch of things that ended up going wrong…but I didn’t find out until a week later!
We had the most amazing team of helpers look after our wedding, all very experienced and willing to lend a hand BUT I still wish we had sprung for a DOC! It would have saved me *so much* of the last few days’ hassle, not to speak of the little things I didn’t even know could go wrong at a wedding! For example, we lost some important family keepsakes during the cleaning-up process (we think someone threw our cake topper away) . I would have paid megabucks for having those things back alone.
I had one, and I’m glad I did - she was a huge help, and I got an off-season discount by doing a li’l negotiating. And look at it this way, if you hire a DOC and nothing goes wrong, maybe it’s BECAUSE you had him/her to make sure nothing went wrong.
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Mrs. Gloss, Boston/Maine
Age and Occupation: 24, Designer/soon-to-be Architect
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 26, Systems Engineer
Engagement Date: May 23, 2008
Wedding Date: August 2009
Venue: SS Katahdin/Lakeside Tent
About Me: I don't like nickels or the skin that forms on pudding when it's in the fridge for too long. I couldn't live without Pantone markers, fountain soda (3/4 diet, ¼ regular Coke), run-on sentences, or ridiculously oversized sunglasses. I will try to DIY almost anything and am just OCD enough to make most of it work. I am truly excited about having all my family and friends together, becoming Mrs. Gloss, and having amazing photos to prove it!
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