How You Can Afford a Wedding Day-Of Coordinator

Okay, so you can't afford a full wedding planner. That's okay. With so many tools and templates out there to assist you with DIY projects, craft-savvy brides don't need one. But what about a day-of coordinator?

Lots of brides will say they can't afford one or it's not in their budget. Here's another way to look at it: include it in your original budget, and you'll be able to have one.

As a wedding coordinator, it's easy for me to defend hiring help for your wedding day, specifically someone who caters exclusively to the bride and groom. Sometimes, and more often than not, it can be seen as an extravagant cost, something that only brides with large budgets or an endless cash flow can afford. I'm here to tell you, this isn't the case.

When creating an initial wedding budget, brides and grooms will prioritize so they can figure out what they want to cut back on, and what they'll pay a few extra bucks for. Mr. Owl and I did this. Photography was at the top of our list. So was our venue (as we'd known our venue years before even getting engaged). Third? Actually enjoying our wedding day. We couldn't possibly see how that couldn't be a priority. So, we included it in our initial budget, and presto, we could afford one. And we didn't have a large budget, either.

On our wedding day, I don't remember doing any worrying (except for that whole "Ohmygod-everyone's-going-to-be-starring-at-me" thing). I didn't worry if our ceremony chairs were set-up properly, or if our candy buffet was arranged correctly or if our toasts would start on time. I didn't even have to worry that we didn't hire a DJ because our DOC took care of our iTunes playlist like a pro. And at the end of the reception, when me and my new husband were exhausted and ready to call it a night, we didn't have to arrange any clean-up crew, or bribe any family members to do it, because our DOC packed up all our supplies and stored them away for us. She was multiple vendors in one, and in the end, actually saved us money.

So, to summarize, you don't want to be doing this on the morning of your wedding:


Me, setting up a tent wedding for a client, personal photo.


You want to be doing this with your friends and family:


Photo by Steve Koo Photography


and this:


Photo by Bend The Light Photography


and this:


Photo by Project Duo Photography