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“We don’t need a wedding planner.”
When we first started to plan the wedding, we agreed that we definitely wouldn’t need to hire a full wedding planner. I wanted to be heavily involved in planning the wedding. And I have to say, this process is outrageously fulfilling and rewarding to me, so far.
Aside from that, if there was some manageable, affordable way to hire someone just for the day of, that would be a wonderful bonus.
“Well, maybe we can do a day of coordinator!”
Day of coordinators (or DOCs) often do more than just show up on the day of. Their services usually include preparation in the weeks leading up to the wedding, running the rehearsal, and coordinating the entire wedding day. In case you are wondering, here are the types of things a DOC takes care of for you:
Image via IMDB / Photo by Ron Batzdorff / Columbia Pictures
“OK, now I want one.”
While I can plan, plan, plan, I am absolutely NO expert on how to make a wedding day run smoothly and provide a wonderful experience for our guests. And that is definitely a priority of mine!
Additionally, what is all of this year’s worth of work planning good for if we spend the whole day stressed out, frazzled, and micromanaging all the different components that have to come together? An expert can be there to keep everything on track and put out the small fires as they crop up throughout the day. If that means that Mr. High Wire and I, the wedding party, and our families get to actually enjoy the day, I think it is a very worthy expenditure. I’d be happy to hand off the reins and put my trust fully in someone to carry out our wedding wishes.
“Hey, Google, show me the money planners.”
So, I sent out some contact forms to a couple of planners I found online just to see what someone in our area would charge for those kinds of services.
I set what I felt was a reasonable budget for DOC services (after HEAVILY researching pricing in my area), set up some appointments with those that fit the budget, and included everything on that list I gave above. Feel free to PM me if you want to know the actual pricing. Get ready for part two, which includes the actual consults themselves, including a high-stakes “battle” between me and another bride who shared a wedding date with me.
Stay tuned!
(Also, check out the Weddingbee Wiki on DOCs: Day of Coordinator Tips, Pros, Cons, and Posts.)
Is a DOC important for you on your wedding day?
I was in the first camp. Team no coordinator. I must say - it turned out fine! We really didn’t need one. All vendors and people worked amazingly together and everything went smoothly. We asked certain vendors and people to help do certain things like distribute/pin on bouts, set up favors, keep us on time etc. So glad we didn’t pay the money.
It’s important to me. We have to hire a bajillion vendors since nothing is included, and I didn’t want to worry about delegating our family or friends to deal with all of that. In the end, a DOC is best for my sanity.
It was important to me, but I got lucky because the coordinator at our venue does ALL day of work (even the ceremony line up, etc.) so we escaped without having to pay extra! Honestly, it was one of the big deciding factors in our venue decision to have someone so on top of things to work with. If we had gone with a different venue, I’m sure I would have tried to find room in the budget for a DOC for the same reasons you mentioned - I want to enjoy the day, rather than be freaking out over set up or minor details!
Thankfully our venue has an awesome coordinator who like, @Charcole2011: ’s coordinator deals with everything. He’s been with the venue for 20 years so he totally knows what he’s doing!! If we didn’t have him, we deff would have hired a DOC!!
My venue comes with a planner but then I had a friend who did that and the planner was out on some other place doing something else….she got married at one of those places that have 2 or 3 weddings going on at the same time…I decided to go with a planner.
If we didn’t have a venue coordinator/catering manager, budgeting for a DOC would have been a priority. Looking over your list, our gal is helping out with most of those things. The stuff left to me is pretty much the timelines.
We hired a planner and she was awesome! She also did all of our flowers, so it was great to deal with one less vendor.
We also decided on a DOC. I figured there was just too much to do to ask a friend to help. I’m sure it will help to make the day stress free!
So important for us to have a DOC! Even though our venue provided a ‘banquet captain’ of sorts, our coordinator did so, so much more. I hate to think what mental state I would have been in had we decided not to budget for one…
My church has a coordinator that will assist with the wedding rehearsal and actual wedding. I think I really want a DOC for the reception, though. If there is a chair missing or something else that is going wrong, I really don’t want to know about it on my wedding day! But I am worried about DOC costing too much. Because really, for a high enough amount of money, I will find the missing chair myself on my wedding day if I have to!! =)
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Mrs. High Wire, Dallas Age and Occupation: 23, Legal Assistant Fiance's Age and Occupation: 25, Director of Communications Engagement Date: October 9, 2010 Wedding Date: September 2011 Venue: Clark Gardens About Me: My loves include yoga, anything spicy, our eccentric cat, our rambunctious dog, and Mr. High Wire, of course! Like the steadiness act of the tightrope walker, this gal is busy balancing life while planning a wedding to the man of her dreams. We’re hosting a laid-back, vintage-inspired, bird themed wedding with heavy doses of love, good eats (did someone say tacos and margaritas?), and endless Texas charm. Mr. High Wire and I are so happy to have you along for the walk across the tight rope.
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