Day of Coordinators. Do I really

[MagsyMay]

I know this has been discussed in the past, but hadn't seen much recently about it. I am getting the feeling from certain vendors that I "need" a DOC to handle things and timelines on the wedding day. Our DJ referenced sort of acting in that role, as far as timing of toasts, dances, cake cutting, etc. during the dinner portion, so I'm not terribly worried about that.

We are doing our pictures ahead of time, and we are only having a MOH and BM, so I don't think that part should be terribly difficult to coordinate. We both have tiny families too, so I also don't anticipate tons of different group family photos that would need much direction either.

I guess the thing I'm worried about is the museum we are getting married at doesn't close until 5 pm on Saturdays, and our ceremony is set to begin at 6 pm (which is normally how all the wedding ceremonies there work as well). So vendors and the museum coordinator lady aren't allowed to start setting up until 5 (although I guess they start in the back before that). It is starting to stress me out that there will be a lot of things that need to get done QUICKLY between 5 and 6 and that since I will possibly still be out taking pictures, as will my MOH, that I am going to need someone to get things situated, deal with the officiant, string quartet set up, chairs, flowers, place card table, ceremony decorations, etc....

Did you have a DOC? Is it really "necessary" in the sense that chaos is likely to break loose if I don't have one? The venue I'm getting married at is sort of, I don't know, more upscale I guess, and I feel like they are used to having brides will full on wedding planners, so maybe that's why I'm feeling awkward.

What do you think? Also, if you were a Chicago-area bride and have any recommendations for DOCs, please share! What should I expect to pay for this?

 

[meresal]

YOU should not be in charge of anything on your wedding day.

My mom was my DOC. She has planned 3 other weddings, and knew exactly how to do this. You need someone that understands this is their duty from about noon on out. They are who everyone should be directed to for answers, and should have any and all information necessary for the entire day into reception. Your reception site will probably have a person "in charge" there.

If there is no one in your family or friends cirlce that you can trust to delegate this "JOB" to, then yes you need one. Especially with that 1 hour maddness that will be going on.

 

[Smurfysmiles]

Personally I didn''t think it was necessary. We had a close relative of ours who had the schedule of when everything was happening and she just made sure everyone got to the right place at the right time. We made sure anyone even remotely involved in the bridal party had the same schedule and plenty of transportation and snacks and water. We had a few relatives who volunteered to clean up after the reception. Everything really just fell into place

 

[chibride10]

Hi! I agree that if you have a super-responsible, detail-oriented family member who''s willing to take on this responsibility, it is probably not neccessary. However, we had a planner and I was THRILLED to not be dealing with small details or have any problems presented to me throughout the day. If there WERE any issues, I to this day don''t know about them!

We used LOLA Event Productions and I highly reccommend Lori! She took all the ideas I had for my day and just made them better!

 

[caribqueen]

I a plan to ak a cousin to be my "day of coordinator." She will have a list of vendors/contacts and a timeline of when things are supposed to happen. I thought about my mom, but after all the time she''s putting into the planning, I want her to relax a bit on that day. We''ll see how it goes.

 

[MagsyMay]

Thanks girls for the input! I am super detail-oriented (as is FI, he''s probably even more so than I!), so I have no doubt we could prepare a timeline, schedule, list of what needs to be done, who needs to be paid, you name it, etc. for the wedding day. I just don''t know who I would put in charge. I do have a good friend who is dabbling with getting into the wedding planning field, and could possibly ask (and pay) her to do it... I just hate to put a friend in that position where she might not get to enjoy the day as much, you know?

Chibride: Thanks for the rec! I actually read about LOLA somewhere else and put in an inquiry this morning about their prices for DOCs. Did you do the full package with them, or just the "last minute LOLA?" I''m glad to hear you had such a good experience with them!

 

[laughwithme]

I am not having a day of coordinator, mainly because I don''t want to pay for the added expense, and there are so many ladies in my family who want to help. My church offers a "ceremony" coordinator so this is someone who will organize the logistics of my ceremony, give the go-ahead for walking down the aisle, etc. I begin working with her 6 weeks in advance.

The country club manager will also be there on the night of my wedding to help with logisitics, questions, etc. We are paying to have our chair covers put on, and I will have my two sisters do the centerpieces and decorations earlier in the day. Our DJ and photog have worked together previously and they said they make a good "emcee" team in terms of reception schedule. I will also print out copies of the daily schedule for everyone in the BP and family members. Any small, specific stuff like loading luggage into the limo or collecting gifts at the end, I will ask specific individuals to help with.

I may be relying too much on friends and family but if I WERE to hire a DOC, I feel like everyone would say, "why are you spending the money?! We''re here to help!"

 

[chibride10]

We actually did the "Lil'' Bit of LOLA" option, which is kinda in-between a full-out planner and a DOC. She was available to me throughout the process via email and phone, and we met like 4 times in the year before to be sure everything was on the right track. Then, the week of the wedding, she was focused on our wedding and obviously was there the day of the whole time (she actually stayed until almost midnight, which I was impressed with). I''m really detail-oriented and was super-planned myself, but it was nice to have someone to bounce thoughts off of. No one in either of our families would have really fit that role, as we were the first wedding on both sides, and we paid for everything ourselves. She worked seamlessly with our vendors on that day and everything went really smoothly!

 

[rockzilla]

I had one and it was a 100% necessity. She was amazing. The thing is, you likely have never planned a wedding before, and like anything else you do for the first time, thing will come up that you ABSOLUTELY will not have anticipated. Even if you have read every wedding site, book and blog. If you are very go-with-the-flow and don''t mind things going not as planned, that''s fine, but something WILL go wrong, and its total chance whether its a minor or a major boo-boo.

Some weddings are very simple - one location, everything done in house, no rentals, no DIY, no outside "stuff'', small guest list, few to no outside vendors. Maybe it could work without a coordinator. But there are so many moving pieces. I''m not saying it can''t work out nicely without a coordinator; its really an insurance policy to protect the investment you''ve made in planning (and paying for!) the rest of the wedding.

 

[megumic]

I think it''s really a personal and budgeting decision, but for me, I decided to get a day-of planner. We just wanted all of our guests to truly be guests at the wedding. One of the wedding planners I interviewed said the best thing about a planner is, that when something goes awry she is on it so fast that I don''t ever even know what has occurred, as it is taken care of before I will have a chance turn around! To me, that is worth it. On my wedding day the last thing I want is to know every mini-drama that happens.

 

[MagsyMay]

Thanks for the additional opinions ladies. After getting a few quotes that were around the $1500-1700 mark for DOC (and a meeting or 2 to get prepared), I''m feeling like that is A LOT to spend... Trying to keep the budget in mind and that might be a budget-buster! Guess I will have to think on this one a little longer!

For those that had DOCs, if you don''t mind sharing, how much did it cost? I have nothing to compare these quotes to so I don''t know if that is high or the norm. I was hoping it would be under $1000.

 

[SarahLovesJS]

I decided against one in the end and didn''t need one. My Mom helped out a lot as did my Grandma and some friends..but overall the DJ helped the most with the timeline. I think that as long as you have a few people willing to pitch in you''re fine without one. I could see though how some people would need one if they don''t have a lot of help or if they have a very large wedding (like 250+).

 

[MakingTheGrade]

My parents saved the day by stepping in for that role in terms of coordinating the reception stuff. In hindsight I should have just bit the bullet and hired a DOC. The only family I had at the wedding were my parents who flew in from overseas a few days before. And I didn''t have any good friends living nearby or at the wedding since it was in his hometown. My fiance''s family and I weren''t that close that I felt comfortable asking one of them to micromanage for me. His mom helped with some of the preparation but my fiance thought it''d be too stressful for her to be DOC (she''s prone to migraines and flusters easily).

So yeah, my dad totally saved my butt by helping me set up the reception details last minute. My hero! Other than that the day went perfectly smoothly.