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Mrs. Lox, Baltimore Age and Occupation: 33, Government Worker Fiance's Age and Occupation: 35. IT Consultant Engagement Date: May 8, 2010 Wedding Date: May 2011 Venue: Vandiver Inn About Me: I’m an East Coast gal born and bred and a suburban brat turned city rat for the last year. Now Mr. Lox and I enjoy walking all kinds of places, having the coolest things around in our backyard, and especially our garage parking. I love gadgets, toys, Ben & Jerry’s Chubby Hubby ice cream, monkeys, and our insane cats. I’m a blonde by birth and a redhead by choice. I’m that girl in the cubicle farm with all the cool toys and the file cabinet covered in magnetic poetry. I still use smiley faces in my emails, whether people like it or not. This is not the first rodeo for Mr. Lox nor me. And together, we are planning an intimate afternoon wedding on a budget we can afford by ourselves.
About Mrs. Lox

So, I think I’ve mentioned before that we’re on a budget here, right? I mean, we’re funding this shindig ourselves, and all things wedding are unaccountably expensive. So yes, the money…she is tight. Which makes the next thing I’m about to say make absolutely no sense.

I hired another vendor. A not entirely necessary vendor. A vendor who does, in fact, charge money. That’s right, I hired a day of coordinator!

Now, before you think I’ve lost my very last marble, let me explain. It was nine months before our wedding, and already I knew that there will be tons of setup to do before the ceremony. Then there will be decorations to herd from the ceremony location (errrr, side of the restaurant) to the reception location (other side of the restaurant). There will be things to force on explain to the guests. There will be details to manage. I was starting to get dizzy thinking of how to do as much as possible myself and who I was going to ask to manage those details that cannot be managed solely by me. It was stressing me out. NINE MONTHS IN ADVANCE.

Blowing the Budget (Except Not Really) :  wedding baltimore budget Lox lox

This will not be me. (source)


So I said to myself…“Self? If this is bothering you this much now, how bad will it actually be by the time the wedding gets here?” Myself made some discouraging faces and odd clucking sounds. Then I thought about how our timeline would work and who would tell the guests where to go and when, and how I would know my cake was on the right table…and I knew myself was right. It was time to hire someone to manage my details.

So what does this mean? It means I will still be picking vendors and coming up with sparkly ideas for our day. I will still attempt to wield a glue gun. I will still stress over music selections. But on the day of my wedding? Someone else will tend to those details. Someone else will make up a timeline and make everyone adhere to it. Someone else will make sure the cake looks right. (Ask me someday about the cake at my first wedding…I dare you!) Someone else will tell people to sign the guestbook. And me myself and I will be free as a bird to enjoy my day.

At least, that’s how it goes in my head. Hopefully, the recommendation I got for this woman and the check I wrote her will ensure that I’m right.

Has anyone else hired a day of coordinator? If not, did you wish you had? Or are you still going to (or not)? Tell me about it.

Tags: baltimore, budget |
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9 Responses to “Blowing the Budget (Except Not Really)”

1.
vscheidt891
Member
vscheidt891 (message)  401 posts, Helper bee

I was going to hire a day of coordinator, but then I just booked here to plan the entire wedding. Crafty, I am not. It was the BEST DECISION EVER!!!! My stress level has plummeted. I know on the day of my wedding my biggest worry will be whether the shade of purple eyeshadow is perfect enough. Yay. You will not regret this!

 
2.
Miss Giraffe
Bee
Miss Giraffe (message)  4,216 posts, Honey bee

I think you’re so right. I mean, yeah, money is tight, but can you put a price on sanity? Probably not. And if you can, it’s totally worth it.

Mr. G and I kicked around the DoC idea for a while, but then decided to budget for other things, but now I kind of wished we would’ve worked it in.

 
3.
Pomapoo
Member
Pomapoo (message)  1,162 posts, Bumble bee

The owner of our venue said she will act as the DoC, but she’s pretty slow to respond so I’m not sure… I’m just counting on my mom and my wonderful friends to make sure everything goes right, so hopefully it does!

 
4.
Member Icon
Member
misslego (message)  18 posts, Newbee

I’m still debating this one. I’m probably leaning towards yes so I won’t have to put the burden on someone else. May I ask who you are going with - I see you’re a baltimore bride - so am I!

 
5.
Lexsy
Member
Lexsy (message)  537 posts, Busy bee

I decided to, and then got some estimates back - wow I did not expect them to charge so much for one day! I also noticed that they often wanted to charge me for little less than what they charge for the whole wedding planning. When I asked they said the reason is that once they book one wedding, even if only for DoC, they can’t book any other, so it must be worth it for them to do so. I decided to wait a bit more to book one until we’re closer to the date - it might be more difficult to find someone, but I might be able to get some better deals (as I refuse / can’t spend so much money for a Doc!). Did you get a good deal?

 
6.
Mrs. Pug
Bee
Mrs. Pug (message)  3,753 posts, Honey bee

i didn’t have one, but that’s because our site coordinator was almost like a DOC–if i didn’t have the site coordinator, i would have hired a doc and never looked back! in the end, it’s *so* worth the money.

 
7.
Bee Icon
Bee
Mrs. Glasses (message)  2,741 posts, Sugar bee

SOOOOOOOOOOO worth it! We totally needed one. I was so stressed out over logistics and execution on our wedding day and things did not work out right. This is a necessity in my mind, and money well spent!

 
8.
kdane
Member
kdane (message)  168 posts, Blushing bee

My boss is acting as the DOC, We know that he will do a great job. He is also helping us to capture the feeling that we want on our day. We thought about asking my adult daughter to do it, but we want her to sit back and enjoy the day as well.

 
9.
Lo
Member
Lo (message)  538 posts, Busy bee

I hired a DOC in the beginning, posts here on Weddingbee introduced me to the idea and convinced me it would be worth it. I found one that was highly recommended by a meticulous co-worker and after just having our first conversation to learn more about her services I felt the stress lifting. I am saving money other places by DIYing but she will be there to ensure it all looks like I’ve imagined. My FI now talks about how amazing she is!

 

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Mrs. Lox
Mrs. Lox

Mrs. Lox, Baltimore Age and Occupation: 33, Government Worker Fiance's Age and Occupation: 35. IT Consultant Engagement Date: May 8, 2010 Wedding Date: May 2011 Venue: Vandiver Inn About Me: I’m an East Coast gal born and bred and a suburban brat turned city rat for the last year. Now Mr. Lox and I enjoy walking all kinds of places, having the coolest things around in our backyard, and especially our garage parking. I love gadgets, toys, Ben & Jerry’s Chubby Hubby ice cream, monkeys, and our insane cats. I’m a blonde by birth and a redhead by choice. I’m that girl in the cubicle farm with all the cool toys and the file cabinet covered in magnetic poetry. I still use smiley faces in my emails, whether people like it or not. This is not the first rodeo for Mr. Lox nor me. And together, we are planning an intimate afternoon wedding on a budget we can afford by ourselves.

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