Hiring our Day of Coordinator (DOC)

My parents are generously paying for most of our wedding. The amount they are donating seems so great to us (albeit reasonable for Chicago) that we truly are grateful and don’t feel comfortable with them paying a cent more, despite their offers – we are employed after all. So when no fairy godmother showed up to save the day, we decided it was up to us to pay the rest. Needless to say, we scrutinize every expense.

So when I brought up my desire to hire a Day of Coordinator (DOC), my fiance seemed skeptical, smirking, “Do we really need a manager for a party?” A party! A party! As if. THE party, get it right beau. :)

Of course, I knew it was necessary. Our venue is a loft where one must hire rentals, buy your own liquor, decorate our own tables – on top of that all, it is on two floors which makes the party a little more complicated. There was no question in my mind that needed a DOC, it was just up to convincing the beau as well. As the mother said in My Big Fat Greek Wedding, The man is the head, but the woman is the neck. And she can turn the head any way she wants.

I didn’t have to do much. I got him to meet with Katie, from Detaggli Weddings, in Chicago, and she did the rest just by being herself.  Originally I found Katie by reading other Chicago wedding bloggers who insisted she was better than gold.  But I knew she was the One when I asked our venue manager with whom he worked with best and recognized her name as soon as he said it.   The next day I called her up to set up a meeting.

We met Katie at Starbucks, who despite being pregnant and ridiculously busy, was totally on top of her game (and looking adorable too).  After 30 minutes of talking with her, Dave pulled me aside anxiously saying “We can’t do this without her. Kasia, we really need her.” I was like, “Uh yeah, you don’t need to convince me!”  She brought up issues we hadn’t yet thought of including calculating the amount of liquor we need to buy, lighting our candles before the reception, setting a schedule for the two floor party, etc.   But what sealed the deal was when she said, “I may look sweet, but I’ll say what I need to say and do what I need to do to make sure the day runs smoothly for you.” She can be a biatch – and that’s all I needed to hear.  Better you than me on my wedding day :) I am so happy to pay for my “best friend” for her services, as her DOC package is described.

Are you hiring a DOC?  How did you connect with them?