Is a coordinator worth it?

I hired a day of coordinator not because I didn’t think I could do the work, but because I wanted to be focused on nothing but getting married on my wedding day. It’s been well worth it so far, I feel so much more secure knowing that if something falls through I don’t have to deal with it while worried about setting up a venue and getting ready.

I’m going to hire one just because I want my day to go as smooth as possible without anyone having to come to me for last minute things. Like if something is going wrong fix it I don’t want to hear about it.


My issue is cost. I’ve seen DOC from $850-1600

As someone who has been in event planning, you definitely already know a good chunk of the ins and outs that a coordinator would handle to pull together the big day. That being said, think about how you WANT to spend the morning of your wedding? I think with enough organization there are plenty of brides who could DIY right up until it's time to slip on the dress, but for many it isn't how they envision their big day.

We hired a day of coordinator (who was really a month of coordinator!) and basically about 6 weeks before the wedding I handed over all of my vendor contracts, vision boards/seating chart, guest list, etc. and she went to work - confirming vendors, creating their timeline, creating our timeline for getting ready/photos/etc. and every detail in between. It's important to note that our venue came with a coordinator and the catering staff (for cocktail hour followed by a plated dinner) provided a "captain" or coordinator equivalent but these are not to be confused: these are coordinators for their company, not for the couple. While they were immensely helpful in coordinating their respective services, their priority was their vendor and they all fell under our coordinator.

I still felt very involved in the process, but it was honestly SO worth it to me to have spent the money on the coordinator and spend the day before and day of the wedding able to fully soak in this once in a lifetime moment for my husband and I, and all of our friends/family who were involved. I spent the morning of getting hair and makeup done with 5 bridesmaids + 3 moms, and while I'm sure most of them would've been a great help putting together tables and floral arrangements if needed, it was great to really just get that time with them and not feeling like a ring leader...or event coordinator rather than the bride.

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That's what I am struggling with the most. I can't see paying $800 for a day-of. That is in NO WAY disrespecting their craft because I know it is an incredibly challenging job. I just guess because of my experience and my bridesmaids, it makes it even harder to justify spending that extra money when it can go towards bills, buying my bridesmaids' dresses, the honeymoon, etc.

I hired one only for two hours to do the set up because logistically I could have done it myself but I’d have needed to have a very large gap in between and I didn’t want that but that means I didn’t need them to do any coordination during the reception

I would recommend it. The venue we chose came with a wedding planning team and it has been a breeze to plan so far. Especially with all this virus stuff going on right now I know they are on top of it if anything needs to change and its their job to contact all vendors so that we're all on the same page. I couldn't imagine this process without them.

I’d highly recommend one. The day of is already so hectic. A DOC can keep things on track and take some of the stress/chaos off your back.