Day-of Coordinator

Your day of coordinator could be your sister, but I would definitely hire a professional instead! Your sister will probably want to enjoy your wedding too and not have to work at your wedding. For example, while getting hair/makeup done or getting ready with you, your sister might be frequently interrupted with vendors asking her questions about where to setup, or phone calls from vendors to say they're running late, or her having to call vendors because they're not at the venue when they said they'd be, etc. Instead of mingling with guests during cocktail hour, your sister might instead need to track down more pens for the guest book, or move some decor from the ceremony to the reception, or ensure that the caterers are prepared to serve food on time, etc. Cost strongly depends on location and tasks included in the package. In some places, you might be able to find a day of coordinator for around $500-$800. Other areas may be more expensive, around $1000-$2000+.

I agree with Lisa, I would definitely choose a professional DOC. The position is a lot more stressful than people think it is, and I wouldn’t want to burden a VIP guest like your sister with all those duties. Also, professional DOCs are experienced with handling timelines, vendors and wedding parties, and should be able to make everything work smoothly without having to consult with you; whereas your sister will likely be constantly having to ask you questions and reaffirm things with you (which kind of defeats the purpose of a DOC).

I'm paying a DOC $800, which is the going rate in my area. She actually works a few weeks before the wedding to make sure everything in my head is communicated to her. Here's a list of her duties:


I definitely recommend letting your sister attend your wedding as family and not as your Day-of, especially if she hasn't done it before. It seems easy, but there are alot of details and anything can go wrong. You don't want to be stressed out on your wedding day. I found her in the Vendor search through Wedding Wire. Most weddings planners also have a Day-of coordinator option.

You could use your sister, but I would hire a professional. A DOC was one of the most important people involved in our wedding! She really took the stress off of us and I cannot imagine not having one, or having someone that wasn't really familiar with what to do.

I have a venue coordinator who will handle most decorations, bar, catering, and has a very close working relationship with our DJ company. Im asking my sister and sister in law to be "DOCs" for the day to answer any other questions leading up to it, get my personal decorations set up and taken down (we're not doing much), and making sure dessert gets picked up. Otherwise I think the day will go smoothly on its own since our venue covers so much.

I planned my own wedding but hired a friend to be my day of coordinator. She mainly just made sure things were setup and ran smoothly. It was good to have her as a “go to” person, so that I didn’t have to answer any questions during the hustle and bustle.


It definitely helped that she is an agriculture teacher, so she made all of my floral arrangements too!

Day and month of coordinators are inexpensive and there is a reason people hire professionals instead of asking friends/family to work. Your friends/family don’t know what your specific vision is nor do they have the expertise to set up and tear down in addition to vendor contacts and knowing how to problem solve smoothly behind the scenes. Also they are not able to enjoy themselves as a guest if they are working. So be very wary of asking anyone close to you for that reason if you don’t want them to miss out on anything.

I would hire a professional. Mine is costing me $750. I already feel less stressed knowing she’ll be handling contracts the month before and setting up times for the vendors to show up and handing stuff day of. I’ve seen people use relatives or family friends as replacement for professionals in certain aspects of their weddings and it never goes well. That might not be the case for everybody but it’s definitely a risk you would be willing to take