Wedding Blog

So many brides debate whether or not to hire a wedding planner/DOC. Hopefully, the bees’ experiences can help you with your decision!  Be sure to check out the rest of the Real Bee Budgets series!

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Miss Beagle’s DOC

DOC: Pam Donaldson w/ Celebrations Event Planning, Austin TX
Price: $795 for Day of Coordination (includes Rehearsal Dinner the night before); 2008 pricing

Prior To Wedding:

• Helped in establishing day-of timeline
• Helped with purchasing linen rentals
• Has been main point of contact between reception venue and myself
• Sends monthly reminder emails of what still needs to be done
• Provided vendor recommendations

Week Before Wedding:

• Contacts all vendors
• Coordinates rehearsal dinner
• Collects all reception venue decor for set-up

Day of Wedding

• Acts as contact person for all vendors
• Sets-up/takes-down decor (centerpieces, guest book table, gift table, favors, name cards) at reception
• Provides direction and coordination for ceremony and reception events
• Ensures all decor, gifts, food/cake go to designated persons for take home
• Returns linen rentals (this is our only rental)

“I hired Pam in November of 2008. Originally, our venue did not have an on-site coordinator, so I decided to hire a DOC primarily because we needed help with set-up and clean-up. Pam has been a dream to work with thus far and I only expect great things from her on our wedding day! She’s done so much more than I ever expected I would need and has always been my go-to person for wedding related questions.”

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Mrs. Gummi Bear’s DOC

DOC: Grace Lee
Price: $4825

“She isn’t a coordinator; she uses magic and makes miracles happen. She worked with us from day one, is the sweetest nicest and funniest person, and really cared about us. It was very personal and she met with us often because I’m crazy and I wanted things that were not possible. She arranged for us to get everything we wanted and even more. Seriously, I cannot tell you everything she did for us, but if you ever meet me I will give you a long list as to why I think everyone should hire Grace Lee.

While Mr. GB and I were super hands on, picked everything ourselves and did a lot of DIY and all the design and planning stuff ourselves, all the coordination, timing, vendor arrangements were handled by Grace. Anything that was conflicting, vendors who were not happy with other vendors, trying to persuade someone to let us have our way… she did it all, and yes, we got our way and did not have to give up anything we wanted in the end. Apparently lots of things happened on our wedding day (like a server from our caterer backed into the building and dented the wall) and I didn’t know about it until the next day. She made sure that I didn’t have to worry about anything other than getting married and being happy.”
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Mrs. Cherry Pie’s DOC

Vendor: Katalin Green Design
Cost: $4450 (2007 pricing)
Incidental expenses (travel time, mileage, lodging, extra hours, assistants, etc): $2600

Included:
Prior to Wedding

• Unlimited phone consultation & meetings
• Up to 4 8-hour days with planner (some applied to travel time in my case)
• 8 hours day of event
• Help with timeline development
• Event design collaboration
• Walk through of ceremony and reception sites
• Suggesting and securing vendors
• Vendor meetings (with bride and independently)
• Negotiating vendor contracts and pricing
• Itinerary development & distribution for vendors

Day Before Wedding

• Walk through of ceremony and reception sites
• Overseeing rental delivery and beginning setup
• Rehearsal coordination and instruction
• Collection and distribution of essential items for wedding day
• Final day-of timeline confirmation

Wedding Day

• Ceremony preparation
• Timeline direction
• Reception setup (comprehensive)
• Decoration setup
• Reception teardown and rental collection

“We worked with Katalin Green of Katalin Green Design between June 2007 and September of 2008. She helped with nearly every aspect of our wedding! I spent a lot of long hours on the phone with her going over details while she talked to vendors on our behalf. Because we planned our entire wedding remotely and didn’t have the option of a “package deal” such as you might get from a resort, we had to have someone on hand to help establish our needs and find the right vendor to take care of them.

Katalin and her crew were also invaluable on our wedding day and the day before. They took care of receiving and setting up all of the rentals, coordinating our rehearsal, establishing a day-of-wedding timeline, setting up the rehearsal/cocktail/dancing area, placing decorations, and more.

Given the expense that I am still paying off, I have heavily weighed the pros and cons of a DOC/Planner in my head many times. Ultimately, however, I can’t know what it would have been like to try and pull off our wedding without Katalin… and I DO know that our wedding day was amazing, stress-free and went off without a hitch. I also think that if money were no object, I wouldn’t have had any doubts. So I’ve come to the conclusion that it was all worth it… regardless of my questions.”

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Mrs. Margarita’s DOC

DOC: Mary Sushinski, Occasions Bridal Consulting and Event Design
Price: $6300

Price included:

• Timeline Meeting (1 ½ Hours) TIMELINE & EVENTS SCHEDULE FOR WEDDING DAY
• Resource & Detail Meeting (3 Hours): direction / flow of the planning process.
• Design Meeting (2 Hours) References and guides to help you with floral design, linen selection, wedding elements
• FOLLOW UP DETAILS MEETING (1 ½ Hours)
• Location Walk Through With Couple (2 Hours) - ROOM LAYOUT FOR SET UP
• Final Details Meeting (1 Hour) REVIEW ALL PLANS / Phone Consult

Logistics Planning & Paperwork:

• Timeline
• Wedding Task list
• Vendor crew list
• Comprehensive Checklist
• Floral distribution List
• Setup Notes worksheet
• Location checklist
• Vendor resource list
• Beauty schedule
• Transportation schedule
• Bridal party contact list
• Wedding Calendar
• Marriage License Information
• Etiquette Advisement In Office Coordination:
• Constructing paperwork / forms relating to the wedding
• Correlate with vendors and client on timelines and logistics including power, load in, strike and so forth.
• Distribute detailed setup & strike instructions
• Vendor Recommendations
• Rental Coordination
• Determine rental needs and obtain quotes, coordinate rental order and verify setup/strike
• Final confirmations to vendors by e-mail & phone / Relay any final changes
• Orchestrate Ceremony/Reception Rehearsal (2hrs)
• Transferring (Check In) of wedding day items

Wedding Day Coordination:

• Wedding Day Director (15 hours) Ceremony Day
• 3 Assistants @ 10 hours each
• Wedding Day Intern for assistance if available
• Setup of Ceremony / Cocktail / Reception Elements
• Floral Distribution of Corsages / Boutonnieres
• Gather Family / Bridal Party for Photos
• Provide any necessary emergency items to Bridal Party Emergency Kit
• Distribute Final Vendor Payments / Gratuities
• Lineup of Bridal Party for Processional / Cue Musicians
• Verify Correct Seating Arrangements of tables, chairs and place settings.
• Greet guests and assist with seating direction
• Cue Vendors & Bridal Party for Reception Activities such as speeches, toasts, cake cutting and so on
• Collect Gifts and Wedding Accessories

“Mary is so sweet and warm and really just makes you feel comfortable and taken care of. She’ll push you to get key tasks accomplished but in a way that doesn’t make you even more stressed out.

She’s also incredible in high stress situations - which of course goes with the job. For example, we were allowed to bring our own alcohol to the wedding site. My brother went to Costco and filled a passenger van with booze the day before the wedding. Then he started to panic about getting it all there and being responsible for transporting it back. My brother decided to return it all and told me to not have any hard alcohol and serve just wine. I started freaking out. In a panic, I called Mary who found me a drink vendor in under 30 minutes for an incredible price!

I don’t think the wedding would have even happened if it weren’t for Mary. She pulled the day off with two ceremonies, a zillion things missing and a bunch of brown people screaming at her. Her day of coordination was incredible and I honestly wasn’t worried about a single thing when I was in her hands.”

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Miss Stiletto’s DOC

DOC: Marilyn of Honey Bee Weddings - Chicago, IL
Price: $750 for Day of Coordination (including the rehearsal the night before)

Breakdown of services:

Prior to Wedding

• Help with timeline development
• Itineraries for bridal party
• Itinerary development & distribution for vendors

Week of the Wedding

• Final meeting with key vendors
• Walk through of ceremony and reception sites
• Final vendor confirmations
• Vendor contact for the weekend of wedding
• Rehearsal coordination and instruction
• Collection and distribution of essential items for wedding day

Wedding Day

• Set up wedding favors
• Set up of paper items (programs, place cards, menus, etc)
• Wedding day direction
• Ceremony preparation
• Wedding reception set up
• Wedding gift delivery
• Reception tear down

“We went back and forth on whether or not we needed a day of coordinator, but are so happy with our choice and look forward to working with Marilyn! We want to ensure our friends and family members can relax and enjoy the day, not worrying about logistics, vendors or set up. Marilyn with be with us from start to finish on our wedding day and we know she will do a stellar job.”

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Mrs. Bee’s DOC

DOC: In Any Event, Leslie Price & Eyal Tessler
Price: $1500 (early 2005 pricing… has gone way up since)

Although I hired them for day of coordination, they went far above and beyond just day of. They:

• referred me to paebaek place (traditional Korean ceremony) who did such a great job - most people told me it was their favorite part of the wedding!
• took me to the garment district and help me choose linens. We got a fantastic price on them too!
• went with me to our florist to see our sample centerpieces.
• referred the band we booked.
• referred a judge which we booked.
• came to my apartment the night before the wedding to pick up programs, favors, menus, etc. anything that needed to be set up.
• did everything for day-of-coordinated the schedule, rehearsal…

“I think I hired my wedding planners - Leslie and Eyal from In Any Event - about a month or two before the wedding. We had an off season wedding so we were very lucky to get both the principal partners present on the day of - usually it’s one principal and an assistant.

They took care of the little things that we weren’t prepared for - they brought a steamer for the bridesmaids dresses (a lifesaver); when my cake had hideous orange piping (instead of red), they covered it with a white ribbon they brought; when my parents got stuck in the elevator at the end of the night, they waited with us until the firemen got them out… They probably did even more but I’m not remembering!

But most of all, they were there any time I had a question about anything from the day I booked them. They were the first to arrive at the venue on the wedding day and they were the last to leave. Because I had been working so closely with them from the beginning, I trusted them - I didn’t have to worry about anything day-of… I knew they would take care of it. That peace of mind was priceless.

Not only that, Eyal matched his tie to our color scheme. Now that’s service.

Unfortunately they no longer offer day of coordination, but at the time I paid $1500 for their services. Well worth every last penny.”

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Mrs. Eggplant’s DOC

DOC: Stacey Miller Designs
Price: $800 for two on-site coordinators

• Helped with timeline
• Contacted vendors and confirmed contracts month prior to event
• Coordinated rehearsal
• Stored our reception props/decor prior to wedding
• Point of contact person for all vendors
• Set-up/clean-up of all wedding elements
• Managed wedding timeline to ensure all things went as scheduled

“We hired our floral designer as our DOC! During our search for a DOC, vendors were charging at least $1500 for services. When Stacey offered to store and set up our wedding favors in at the reception, we asked her if she would do our day-of coordination for an additional fee. We saved some money because she was already our vendor and it was easy to work with Stacey because she already knew the details of our wedding from our floral consultations.

Stacy did an excellent job. She kept everything on schedule and not a single person approached me with questions the entire night. Stacey also managed to sew up a bridesmaid dress, find a lost camera, and coordinate seating for extra surprise guests without me even knowing a thing until the event had ended.”

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Mrs. Corn’s DOC

DOC: Colleen Kimmel at Classic Weddings
Price: $700 (in 2007) plus gratuity for continuous coverage from rehearsal dinner until everything was packed up after the reception ended; also included assistant.

Below is just a small list of the many things she did the day of the wedding:

• met all vendors at the fort and coordinated deliveries
• set up: rental company (tent, chairs, dance floor); caterer (linens, floor plan, table settings), florist, cake baker, ceremony musicians, sound man, band, photographer, Revolutionary War Reenactors, port-o-john deliverers.

“I recommend Colleen 100%, whole-heartedly!!

When I started looking for a Day-of coordinator, I found that many of the packages available are for a certain number of hours on your wedding day. I didn’t want to end up in a position where I was walking down the aisle and my DOC came up to me and and pointed out that her 4 hours was coming to an end, so I was very happy to find Colleen because we were able to work with a package that included her services from the Rehearsal Dinner through to the very last guest leaving the venue and her packing up all of the things that we would eventually need (centerpieces, extra favors, etc.).

My husband and I planned our entire wedding and contracted all of our vendors, so we did not need any planning services prior to the wedding. Because of my event planning background, I probably was in touch with Colleen much less than most of her clients. She actually called me a couple of times just to check in since she hadn’t heard from me in a while. Once the wedding got closer we were in touch much more often so that we could coordinate our final vendor meetings and have her there as well.

The list of services she provided on the day of our wedding and the Excel spreadsheet I gave her of all of the little details that I needed to be ‘just right’ are ridiculously numerous. Colleen did everything perfectly!! Exactly to what I had requested. The day was seamless and, more importantly, I was confident it was going to be seamless when I handed off my binder of information to her about a week prior to the wedding.

Considering how thorough and professional and fun Colleen was to work with I absolutely feel she and her services were well worth the cost; especially when you consider that she was available for the entire event, and not just a time limit. I hope this has helped. Again, I absolutely recommend Colleen.”

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Mrs. Hot Cocoa’s DOC

Wedding Planner: Angel Swanson, Events of Love and Splendor, Los Angeles
Price: $2600 (”Darling” package)

Included:

• Three (3) in-person meetings of two hours each. At least one of these meetings will include a site walk through to get a feel for your vision of the event. The remaining two meetings can be used for planning or visits to vendors.
• Unlimited contact via phone and email from the time of contract
• Production of a timeline for the event for vendors and bridal party
• Contact and coordination with all contracted vendors to ensure a flawless execution
• Organization and management of wedding ceremony rehearsal
• Set-up of all wedding elements not handled by a specific vendor (e.g. escort cards, favors, guestbook, table numbers, etc.)
• Production of a customized planning checklist to organize preparations before the big day
• Monthly e-mail “check-ins” with the client to ensure that all planning is coming up to speed
• Unlimited time on the day of the event, from set-up to tear down
• One assistant for guest counts up to 200. Add $200 for an additional assistant for guest counts of 200+

“Since I was planning our LA wedding from Boston, I knew I needed help. I found out about Angel from Mrs. Jasmine, arranged to meet with her when I was in LA, and developed a huge friend crush on her when I discovered that she a) used to work at Anthropologie (my mother ship), b) went into wedding planning after discovering that law school wasn’t her thing (my fantasy), and c) is not only crafty, creative, and organized, but squeezably nice to boot. She was worth more than her fees, as she gave us so much encouragement, inspiration, money saving ideas, vendor advice, and (wo)manpower.”

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Mrs. Tiramisu’s DOC

DOC: Karen Gazzara of Affordable Occasions, based in New Hampshire, travels all over New England
Price: (in 2007) $725 plus travel. This has gone up significantly since that time, which it should. We feel that we should have paid triple the price for the service we received.

“Working with Karen was truly one of the most enjoyable aspects of planning our wedding. We hired her as a “day-of” coordinator a year in advance, and communicated with her at least weekly, sometimes daily- and okay, and sometimes emails were shooting back and forth every few minutes for hours! What I was looking for in a coordinator was someone with experience who could help me make my vision come to life, and Karen did just that. She made it clear that she was available all hours of the day, also played the roles of counselor and cheerleader, and was a calming and reassuring presence in the stressful process of planning. I can’t believe the things that she had to deal with for us - a huge storm that destroyed our cocktail hour setup, a river in the tent during dinner, and a mostly powerless reception. She handled all of these issues, and more, with grace. I can say with certainty that we just could not have done it without her!”

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Miss Swan’s DOC

DOC: Christine Viola, Exquisite Affairs Productions
Price: $510

“She was running a promotion at the time I booked her, so I received a discount. Her prices for “day of” coordination range from $450- $750. She and other members of EAP also provide full wedding planning services.“