Is a day-of-coordinator necessary for a 20 person wedding?

I think you’d really appreciate having a DOC but I feel like you can probably find one for less than

Ahhh hit send too soon! For some reason I thought you said her fee was $8k plus a $675 tip! I think $675 is super reasonable and I bet she’d be able to help with more than just what you’ve listed.

I was quoted $500-1500 for day of coordinators in the Kansas City area. Although advertised as day of, most, if not all, helped with other details (contacting vendors, creating a timeline, etc) about a month before the wedding.


We aren’t hiring one though. Most of the responsibilities you mentioned above, will be handled by our groomsmen We plan to have everything done soon (we are four months out), and, as we can decorate our venue the day before (before/after our rehearsal), I can’t imagine why I would need one now.
With that being said, if you don’t want to hire one, you could ask someone outside the wedding party to handle those tasks. Maybe an aunt or uncle? I’m thinking about asking my fiancé’s aunt (she’s arriving a few days early) to be our point person for vendors (photographer, caterer) day-of, so we can focus on the moment, and not the small details.

I wish I had had a DOC for my 9 person wedding with no music or slideshow. If her tasks would truly be limited to what you listed, I'd find a Task Rabbit for cheaper but bear in mind that a DOC also does troubleshooting behind the scenes.

Even for 5 people I would have a day of coordinator. They do so much behind the scenes to alleviate your stress that is not the responsibility of your guests. They smooth over any vendor issues that may arise: one got stuck behind a car accident and has to wait for that to be cleared or another didn’t show up at all. Your guests don’t have vendor contact information or experience or even your intended vision to do the job for you, nor should they be asked to. Coordinators do set up/tear down. They act as liaisons between you and vendors. If you read past posts here, one of the biggest regrets most often mentioned is not hiring a day of coordinator.



Having been a guest many times at both weddings with coordinators and without, I would never have a wedding of any size without a coordinator.

I wouldn't say that a day of coordinator is necessary/required, however, I do think that a day of coordinator is extremely helpful for any size wedding. They help keep everything running on time, as well as coordinating with all your other vendors so that you can spend more time socializing with guests. They also often help with setup and tear down. If you're concerned about her fee being too high, are there any services that she offers that you wouldn't need help with? You may be able to negotiate a lower price for only the services you need (rather than an existing package that includes additional services that you don't want).

That is a really cheap fee for a DOC

I’d definitely pay for the DOC- that’s pretty good price.

View Quoted Comment My venue is almost totally all-inclusive though, so I don’t have any vendors to coordinate. She would show up right before the ceremony and only be pushing play on the music playlists and ushering us to dinner/the slideshow area

Alot of venue coordinators really only work with the venue itself and don’t work with the couple. So it’s good to have the backup just in case.

Yeah, even with a small wedding and all inclusive venue I’d do it. The number of little details that start piling up in your mind the week of / day before will shock you, and those little things add up. Having the ability to text my DOC all my last minute questions about how things were going to work and having her there to attend to things that I definitely couldn’t have made a huge difference for me.


I did have a bigger wedding and not all my vendors were specific to my venue, but almost all were very familiar with my venue and there was still a lot for my DOC to do. She even ran out and bought subs for us and the WP bc the Panera we ordered lunch from apparently stopped taking catering orders and never contacted my mom after she placed the order to let her know they wouldn’t be able to fill it. Even if that was the only thing she’d done all day it would’ve been worth her fee, bc we were in a remote area where lunch delivery options were very limited and I would’ve felt awful if we couldn’t feed people!

Yes, in my opinion, an experienced wedding planner (or DOC) is always necessary and a wise decision. Also $675 is a great price.


In addition to what you listed, will the DOC be needed to conduct the rehearsal the day before? To set up wedding items and decor? Communicate with and coordinate your vendors? Will the DOC meet you a few weeks prior to view the venue and go over your vision, plans and create a timeline? Act as the point of contact for questions days before and on the wedding day? Address issues that may arise? Etc.
Otherwise, if you don’t hire a wedding planner, who will be fully dedicated to performing those tasks (effectively)? Your family and friends are guests. So they should relax and enjoy the beauty of your wedding without being put to work.

View Quoted Comment We’re not doing a rehearsal, and all of the vendors are in-house so there’s no coordination needed. The venue has a coordinator who sets everything up, she works with her florist. So the DOC would just show up a half hour before the ceremony to play the music

View Quoted Comment Oh…Ok. Sounds like tasks that the venue coordinator can handle? Otherwise who do you have in mind?

View Quoted Comment

One would think, but she told us she doesn't handle the MC'ing part. If we don't get a DOC, I'd have the best man press play for the ceremony music (our bridal party isn't standing up at the alter with us and the iPad would be like 5 feet from his seat), and stop the music when the ceremony starts. The next task is to press play for the cocktail hour music, which plays until after dinner... I can have my sister announce our first dance, and my fiance/husband can press play for our slideshow. I just can't decide if that would be hectic/unpolished looking. Our other concern is Covid... a DOC will invite one more person to the space

View Quoted Comment Hmmm? That’s a lot of different people with tasks to coordinate throughout the night. Without a wedding planner, they’ll each need a printed timeline and will likely still run to you asking questions and wondering when it’s their turn. I wouldn’t use that many different people. So it sounds like a DOC is best. As for covid, the addition of one person isn’t a big issue when you already have multiple guests and vendors present.

View Quoted Comment I agree with this. I’ve been a guest at a number of weddings without a day of coordinator, even with venue staff on site. Most were chaotic and it was pretty common for people to ask the bride questions constantly which made the brides snippy instead of able to enjoy the wedding. Guests who are asked or expected to work don’t know your timeline or your vision or have contact information needed for other professionals to run the event smoothly.


Also some venues don’t count vendors as part of the guest capacity.

Not necessary, but definitely helpful.

I'd go ahead and pay for a Day-of. You never know what can go wrong and it's always best to not make your family and friends run your wedding. Let them just be guests. Same goes for you. You don't want to have to remind people to do things. Pay someone to take care of everything for you. That's a really good price.