Day of Coordinator? Or just have friends help?

I think it really depends on what you need to do for set up. We are not planning on having a DOC. The venue is letting us set up the day before. The centerpieces are simple and the venue will be lighting all the candles. The reception will be at the hotel ballroom so we just need to carry gifts upstairs at the end of the night. We can clean up the room the following morning.

Who would these other guests be? I would not be happy to be given a job at a wedding, even as a bridesmaid. It takes away from the fun of the day. I would tell your friend how you feel about having guests do work for your wedding, so she doesn't feel weird about you hiring someone.

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I don't have a wedding party so they are just my very close friends (and possibly husbands). I told her that I didn't want guests to have to "work" and she keeps assuring me that they will be happy to help. As a bridesmaid or guest of a close friend I personally would be happy to do whatever they needed me to do in order to make their day perfect, but thats just me. I went ahead and hired her and I feel like the $400 is going to give me the piece of mind I need to not freak out during the day.

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I'm sure they will be totally fine helping if you need it! I'm just saying since you found the $400 one, if you can afford it I'd for sure book her.

Pay it! Our venue came with an event coordinator who acted as our DOC and she was the absolute best. We dropped everything off the night before and didn't have to worry about anything. She set everything up, took everything down, made sure we were all where we were supposed to be at ceremony time, introduction time, etc. She made sure we were fed and was there the whole evening to make sure everything was going as planned. It was so nice to not have to worry about stopping the fun to hurry up and take down the decor so that we could get out on time. Me and my husband were actually two of the last ones on the dance floor!

View Quoted Comment Oh, I saw this after I posted. It'll be the best $400 you spent on your wedding!

I would definitely pay to have a day of coordinator. We did and was the best choice we made. We had her at the rehearsal on Friday which helped a ton. We did rehearsal and then started setting up the reception space and put all the ceremony decor in one section for her to take and set up that next morning. It saved us so much time with her helping on Friday evening with set up as well.

On Saturday it was so nice with her being the person to help with everything. I gave her detail lists/photos of how things were to be set up and what not. And a list of all our vendors and who was suppose to arrive when. It was so nice to be able to have the entire morning to just lounge around relax and get ready. We had 4 people total doing hair and makeup so it didn't take too long to get ready but it was nice not being rushed and what not. I also ended up writing a letter to my husband that morning. It ended up being 3 pages long. lol.

After the ceremony she help make sure family stuck around for pictures. And she probably helped with getting the reception started making sure food/drink/dj was all there and started. (Not sure on any of this since I wasn't there. lol) but she also was the go between for the dj and us as to when to start playing our song to enter too. And when to do dances/toasts.

Then she helped with cleaning things up that evening. The lady I hired was just starting out her business so only done maybe a dozen or so weddings before mine. It cost us $900 for 4 ish hours on Friday then 9 to 10ish on Saturday. Also located in Wichita, KS since we aren't a typically costly area.

Also edit to add: My now SIL got married the weekend after us. The MOG which is also husband's mom was the "go-to" person for practically all of the wedding. She did so dang much for that wedding and it makes me feel bad because I know how much stress that put on her. It was all outdoor wedding with no back up plan. It ended up raining and being really chilly. So everything had to get moved to a church and their reception was in a barn. As in a working, dirt floor, hay loft, equipment still in it barn. And it really stress her out to the point was she was freaking out and crying because so much had to be done but she still needed to go back home to get showered and ready.

I ended up helping with all the decor they used in the barn to try and spruse it up. I helped take part of the food to the church and then waited around until the rest of the food arrived to get that set up. I helped with cutting the cake and serving all of that. And then helped with a lot of the clean up at the church when every was heading over to their reception.

I did more for that wedding than I did my own. I get that family and close friends is all the go to people in order to help with the day. but to me it seemed disheartening since it should be a day where your family gets to enjoy it with you and not having to be off in other directions helping with various things.

I hired a day of coordinator after going back and forth about it. She has been absolutely amazing to work with and it has hands down been one of the best decisions we have made during wedding planning. She created our whole timeline and helped us to realize things we may have never thought of on our own. It also is nice to know set up and tear down will be completely handled by her.

Save yourself the trouble & pay for the day of coordinator. I found a coordinator on a wedding FB group that is costing me around $750. I'm soooo grateful that I went ahead & hired someone. I definitely can't take the stress of having my family do things that day. They are going to be stressed enough as it is!!!

Where did you find a DOC For $400? Any chance you’d want to share the contact info?

View Quoted Comment She is located in Key Largo