day of coordinator questions

I would write down a list of what you expect her to do and make sure she is willing to do those things. I hired mine to help set up and after I hired her she told me that "wasn't her job." I wish I had known that before I put down the deposit.

These are some questions I asked mine. I found them online:

Business/Experience:

Do you have my date available?

How long have you been in business?

How many weddings have you done?

How many weddings have you done that are similar in style and size?

How many weddings did you book last year? How many will you have during my wedding month?

Do you have liability insurance?

Have you done an event at my ceremony and reception locations before?

Can you provide me with a few references?

Make sure that your venue approves the DOC you are choosing before you sign a contract.

Tell me about an emergency you had to handle at a previous wedding.

Have you worked with any of my other vendors before?

If an emergency arises and you cannot be at my wedding, what is the backup plan?

Is this your full-time or part-time job?

Do you have online reviews on your service that I can see?

Service:

How many times will you meet with me before the wedding?

Are there a certain number of phone calls permitted?

How do you communicate with clients? Is it mainly email, phone calls, texting or meetings?

Do you work with a team? Will I be working with anyone else during my planning?

Will you set up our personal items at the ceremony and reception? (guest books, photos, toasting flutes, cake cutting pieces, favors, escort/place cards, signs, etc.)

What time will you arrive on my wedding day?

What time will you leave?

Do you provide an assistant? Is there an extra fee for this?

Will you provide vendor recommendations?

Will you be at the rehearsal?

How will you be dressed?

Can I contact you for vendor referrals and other advice before the wedding?

Will you coordinate delivery, arrival and set up time with vendors directly?

What do you need from me before the wedding?

The answer should include a complete copy of every contract and all personal items.

Will you bring an emergency kit?

If an issue arises with another vendor, will you handle it?

Will stay until the end of the event and ensure that the venue is left clean?

What won’t you help with?

Cost, Contract & Payment:

How much do you charge? Do you have a package rate?

What does this include?

If my event runs late, how much are the overtime fees?

Do you accept credit cards?

What is the deposit required to hold my date and when is the final payment due?

What is your cancellation policy?

Can I see a copy of your contract?

Are there any additional fees I need to know about?

Before you confirm with a DOC and pay the deposit, request a contract so you can review it in detail.

How responsive was the DOC? Did the proposal arrive when he/she said it would or did you have to call/email several times? If you did have to bug them, this is not a good sign. They could just be very busy or they could be unorganized, something you don’t want for your wedding.

Read the contract carefully and make note of any possible additional costs that you were not

anticipating.

Beware of any “TBD” charges. If you see this on your contract, make sure you know how much these charges will run. These will likely be on your contract if you have not made all your selections yet.

As we noted above, make sure your venue approves of your DOC before you book. Call all the references provided. Talk to other brides and find out what their experience was. Talk to your other vendors to get their feedback.

I would think a list of Events (detailed with times and places) list with names and numbers of vendors what you expect from your DOC on dat of wedding etc

I didn't read through all of KitandKaboodle's questions so there's probably some overlap, but these are the questions I asked. I would say $300 is low, if you don't need a ton of assistance it might be okay, but if you have a lot of decorations that need very precise set-up, you may need someone with more experience. But it's good you're meeting with a couple then you can get a better feel by comparison too. Here are my questions:

1) How long have you been coordinating weddings?

2) Do you have any formal event planning background or training?

3) How many weddings do you coordinate a year?

4) Can we have a custom package to have you present for only part of the day?

5) What do you include in your package (vendor referrals, help with décor setup and execution, contacting vendors the week of the wedding to confirm the date, creating timeline, etc)?

6) What will you be in charge of setting up (décor, tiki torches, lights under our table, hanging décor on deck, escort cards, tables for things to go on such as gift table or guest book table)?

7) Will you come with an assistant (need to know for meals too)?

8) Do you mostly work on setting things up or will you check in periodically with us while we’re getting ready?

9) Will you be available for a rehearsal?

10) What if something unexpected happens and you are unable to be there?

11) Do you have examples of a difficult situation and how you handled it?

12) Do you require a meeting at the venue to walk through it before the wedding?

13) How early do you arrive (must be at least one hour)?

14) Can you help us with vendor recommendations within a particular budget?

15) Will you be responsible for giving our final payments?

16) What is your deposit and when is the full amount due?

17) Do you have a portfolio of previous weddings?

18) What sets you apart from other DOCs?

My doc is included with the venue but when we booked our band I asked for prior brides as references and spoke to two of them. That might help too!

These questions are super helpful, I am going to make a list and write them all down before I meet with her. She gave me a contract to look at already so I have an idea of what she includes, it just looks almost too good to be true. It might be my area, I'm in the Seattle area and some things don't seem to be as expensive as others.

You'll know after meeting your planner if it's the right person for your wedding. FH and I met ours, he surprised me by hiring her on the spot within 15 minutes. I'm so glad he did as I love her and knew I wanted to go with her. He also upgraded the package we got to more of a full service package, and we are so glad we did.

Also notice personality and style; is this a take-charge person? Does she listen well? Will she follow your wishes? Does she make suggestions? Does she ask questions you hadn't thought about yet?

You'll want someone who is commanding enough to get things done and exercise good judgment but not so commanding that she becomes distracting. It's a delicate balance.

Ours came with the venue, so I'm no help ;p

Is she licensed? Insured? Do you have wedding insurance to cover no-shows?

There are plenty of low-cost vendors out there. Just be aware of the horror stories of other brides who have "no show" photographers, DJs, wedding coordinators, decorators--and be sure you CYA.