Who decorates day of?

You as the bride will be busy getting ready (dressed, hair, makeup). A day coordinator and florist (both inexpensive on thumbtack.com) can decorate. Or have a team assigned to do it.

Our venue included a day of coordinator that will help

Our florist decorated.

If you aren’t able to afford a DOC, I would check with the venue to see exactly what they will do. Your florist can take care of some things as well. And then I would see if you can get a few friends to do the rest for your that morning. You will be very busy and won’t want the stress of it all.

I hired a friend to act as day of coordinator. She’s someone I worked with and trusted to actually work and work hard in addition to following my vision and paying attention to detail. She did a fantastic job!
I know people frown upon friendors, but it worked out for me. I guess it’s a case by case situation. Also note she isn’t someone we would have Invited as we kept it very small each only inviting 2-3 close friends, and she volunteered to do it I didn’t ask.

If you don't have a DOC, ask the venue to lay out what they and their staff will do. A lot of venues set up and break down your wedding as far as chairs, tables, decorative tables for gifts, guest book etc. Your florist will more than likely take care of the florals themselves, and your caterer will do the same. Anything else that needs done that no one else is required to do, I would have a few friends and close family members help.

We will be decorating that morning. My hair and makeup won't start til 11 or so and I have planned to be back to the airbnb by 10, which gives us 2-3 hours to get everything set up. I'm sure our parents and bridal party will help. I'm looking forward to it!! I'm very hands on and want to see how everything has come together.


We are going to hire a person to greet vendors and such, but we will handle the decorating.

I decorated day of as well! I came in earlier and while the bridesmaids were getting hair/makeup done (sense I was last to get them done) I decorated in between visiting them!

A day of coordinator or a friend is supposed to

This was a big question mark for me too! I ended up hiring a coordinator who did both! It seems like a little issue but you will not want to worry with cleaning up decorations after your send off. I'm making my own charcuterie board for our cocktail hour (because I love creating them and think it's a stress reliever for me), and my planner is losing her mind about even that. I would try to keep as much responsibility off of you and your family as you can! If your budget is tight, I would think about asking if any family member would be willing to stay after and clean up decorations, but no one who is in the wedding or immediate family! Putting out decorations wouldn't be a huge deal, just the cleaning up. But you want to relax and enjoy the day as much as possible.

Our DOC (with her staff) and our florist did our day of decorating. I did pop in briefly to check on things.

If your venue does not assist with this, and you will not be having a DOC, I would ask your florist if she/he helps with set up. You might have to ask some family members that are not directly involved in the ceremony for some help.

View Quoted Comment A good friend of mine is very creative and wants to help anyway (she’s really excited for me, she’s the best) and I am going to pay her as well. She has a side gig/booth where she sells upcycled furniture, cute signs, etc. She’s going to use our wedding date, names, theme to make a bunch of stuff for her store for people to custom order, and use it for wedding decor as well. Win win!

Our venue does set up themselves. But we also have a day of coordinator who will help and do that for us. Along with our florist. If it’s in your budget maybe hire a day of coordinator. Or ask friends or family if they would be willing to help with set up

I decorated mine the day of! For ceremony only I did that. For reception I had someone do it.

Our venue sets up the tables and chairs according to our agreed upon arrangement. So all we have to do is put tablecloths and centerpieces and small things like that. My mother is going to be in charge of that along with my FMIL and then my brother and cousin will be helping (they're in the wedding party) as well as the groomsmen, and FH will be supervising. We have a two hour slot reserved to do this in the morning a few hours before our actual booking time. So at this time I'll be off getting hair and makeup done with my MOH. Once they're all finished my mother and my FMIL will probably go home to get ready and the guys will go out to breakfast together before getting ready. So it works out perfectly. (If you're like me and not too stressed about how it turns out and FH is a good person to be in charge lol)

With my recent venue change *thanks Covid!* we rented the property for the weekend. Bigs things like tents table chairs an so one will be set up the night before. I will be setting up decor the morning of while my bridesmaids get their hair an make up done.

Our venue offers a Day of Coordinator that we will meet with to discuss the decor and setting. Or, you can ask someone you trust to be your Day of Coordinator. Also, inquire to the venue about maybe coming in the night before to decorate at least for the ceremony.

If we go with our two top picks for venues, we will be renting for the whole weekend so we will decorate the day before and take down the day after. Otherwise, we're basically going to have family and the SO's of the wedding party helping decorate while we all get ready or hire a day of coordinator to take care of it. We plan to have everything in labeled boxes with example pictures either way to simplify things.

The same situation. My sister had a dream team represented by our relatives and a couple of people from the groom's side. Our mother commanded everyone and clearly gave out assignments so that everything would be in time for the ceremony. We did it pretty quickly and well. You just need a person (not the bride and groom) who fully knows the decoration concept and knows how to delegate work.

I'm lucky to have my best friend who will do it for me. She's been a DOC for years now as her part-time job. If you have a close friend who's willing to do it for you, it will be great. If none, you really need to hire someone. Also, it shouldn't be yourself, it's your day so you should be preparing how you'll make yourself the most beautiful on your wedding day! Good luck!