Post # 1
Member
513 posts
Busy bee
Hey Bees! I am on a budget and I just cannot imagine paying someone $800 or so (I feel that most day of cooirdinators charge about $75 an hour) to cooirdinate on the day of the ceremony. I have so many other places I would rather put this money. I know all of the arguments in favor of, but I am just not planning on doing it. I am extremely organized and I have not needed a planner to help me thus far. I am going to print out detailed timelines for all of the vendors and the entire wedding party to follow. I have a very wonderful bridesmaid who will carry a clipboard on the day of and take over my blackberry the day of. The church where I am marrying has a cooirdinator. The hall where I am marrying includes event cooirdination and includes catering, setup, table linens, candles and decorating. I have a full-service florist who is transferring all decorations from the church to the reception.
If I was renting everything, hiring people, DIY more elements, I might think it was necessary. But I love working with the reception center cooirdinator and I think she’s probably enough. They call her an "event cooirdinator." I think I will be good.
My sister had the same and it worked out just fine for her 175 person wedding.
Anyone else going it alone?
Post # 3
Member
652 posts
Busy bee
i don’t have a DOC but i have friends who will be helping me that i feel comfortable enough to go without paying a DOC for the wedding
Post # 4
Member
343 posts
Helper bee
I didn’t use a DOC, but like you, I had very helpful friends/family who did a great job of keeping an eye on things during the event, and our church came with a coordinator who was a great help during the ceremony. I also tried to ensure everything was 110% organized before the wedding (schedules, check lists, etc.). Since we weren’t using a DOC, we ensured that our vendors were experienced and reliable. In fact, while we were interviewing our vendors, we asked them what their opinions were on wedding coordinators. This enabled us to find a team of vendors who we felt confident wouldn’t need a DOC to keep them on schedule.
I will be honest, despite my best efforts, there were still a few things at the reception that were not set up exactly how I had asked, but there were no deal breakers. Everything still looked GREAT…there were just a few missing details that only I noticed. (Table runners were not put on the gift or place card tables like I had asked, some pictures I wanted to be on the cake table ended up on the guestbook table, and the catering company broke one of the cookie jars during setup, so there were 6 jars instead of 7 on our cookie buffet.) To me, those things weren’t worth the cost of a DOC, but I bet a DOC prolly would have prevented those mishaps.
Post # 5
Member
162 posts
Blushing bee
- Wedding: September 2009 - The 19th Century Club
I hired a DOC even though, of course, there were other places that I could have gladly put that money! But, I decided it was worth it to give myself and my family the opportunity to completely relax on the day. I didn’t want my parents to have to worry about setting something up or the timeline running off schedule or a vendor not showing up on time (or at all!). I want them to truly enjoy being parents of the bride and have a good time.
Hiring a DOC has completely set my mind at ease about everything because I know that she’ll keep the day running smoothly, give me the inside track after the fact if any vendor wasn’t doing what they said they would, and adjust the timeline with the DJ as needed if things run off course. And…finally…she’ll make sure that each and every tealight is lit! 🙂
Post # 6
Member
162 posts
Blushing bee
- Wedding: September 2009 - The 19th Century Club
Oh – and also let me add that my reception site doesn’t really have someone who will be more "hands on" with set up/logistics. If I was at a hotel or more traditiona banquet site, I’m sure they’d have someone and I would consider not having a DOC.
Post # 7
Member
2271 posts
Buzzing bee
Oh I would love a wedding planner or day coordinator. However, with a wedding budget of under 5K, it is not possible.
Post # 8
Member
796 posts
Busy bee
I didn’t have one. It was just my mom and I during planning, and on the day of my mom was in charge of set up and my sister-in-law and mother-in-law were a big help, too. I was a little bit worried about it, but in the end we planned it out so well that it really didn’t seem like a big deal and we didn’t have any problems. The only "bad" thing that happened was my brother forgot his reading at the hotel, so we just skipped it. Would a coordinator have prevented that? Maybe, but it wasn’t a huge deal. I think you can do it by yourself if you force yourself to be as organized as a planner would be. It also helped that our catering company set up all the tables and table numbers and chairs for the ceremony and things like that. All we had to "set up" were decorations we’d brought ourselves.
Post # 9
Member
428 posts
Helper bee
- Wedding: October 2009 - Church Ceremony/Reception at The Waterford House
When we booked our reception venue, they did not offer an event coordinator. Because of this I decided I wanted to hire a DOC. Primarily my decision was based on the fact that I’m DIYing so many projects and I would need someone there to set up and take down all the DIY. I think if you have vendors that will do set up and an on site coordinator you should be fine.
Post # 10
Member
469 posts
Helper bee
If your venue offers an event coordinator, that person will function the same way as a DOC. Our venue offered an event coordiantor and because I had discussed everythign with her before hand, my family and I were able to completely relax during the entire event. Our event coordinator took care of everything, and we didn’t have a need for an additional DOC.
Because your venue offers one, put your money someplace else 🙂
Post # 11
Member
6009 posts
Bee Keeper
We didn’t have a DOC. I was just super organized with the vendors before the wedding (I gave them all itineraries, checklists, and contact info) and I gave timelines to everyone involved in the wedding (immediate family). The florist set-up the church flowers, so that was all our decoration there. And my husband set-up the entire reception with the help of our dads and some of our friends. After the wedding, everyone just chipped in to clean it all up; we loaded it into our truck and off we went.
I don’t think DOCs were necessary for our wedding; honestly, there wasn’t one single vendor calling us the day of the wedding. And everyone chipped in here or there to help out, so it all turned out great! 🙂
Post # 12
Member
1266 posts
Bumble bee
I initially wanted to get someone, but we went to one and they qouted us a $10,000 fee. I walked out like "pfft, I can use that $10,000 somewhere else" and haven’t looked back!
its been tough trying to do some things but overall it is DO-ABLE! dont fret!
Post # 13
Member
1573 posts
Bumble bee
I’ve been to a lot of weddings without coordinators they went fine
I think it’s extra money spent to be honest
for me; I’ve always been punctual
hair and make-up 10am
go to church 215pm get some pre-wedding pics
3-4 church
4-430pm pchurch pics
5-530 pics at the park
6pm start reception
the DJ then has a timeline to follow so long as we get done with all the rituals by 830pm so we can par-tee
the bestman and some friends will help herd the people but honestly 2500 for a coordinator yikes! it’s a new thing what happened to community spirit and helping out?
the biggest help I need is herding peopel to the reception but thats what the bestman is for; and blowing bubbles, I’ll have hte best man and a good trusted friend do that
my family can just relax; they’ll just have to help when we pile our gifts somewhere
Post # 14
Member
513 posts
Busy bee
Thanks guys! You are all giving me the confidence to go foward! Yeah, my reception cooirdinator is pretty awesome. I am glad that I have her.
Post # 15
Member
2820 posts
Sugar bee
I’m not having one. A) I think it’s too much money B) I’m not planning on having my wedding be too terribly complicated! (Ceremony and reception are at the same place, I don’t have to deal with too many vendors or a huge wedding party, etc.) and C) I’d rather do it all myself anyways because I’m a perfectionist and organized and yeah.
Post # 16
Member
49 posts
Newbee
it’s still up in the air… i have the church, reception place, and photographer. i really dont need anyone to give suggestions, but i would like someone to make sure everyone, EVERYONE is in place everywhere. i need someone to be the boss, so i wont have to become a bridezilla, when i am suppose to look all "angelic" and "innocent" in my white dress…
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