Do you get what you pay for with day-of wedding coordinators?
October 20, 2019 10:13 PM Subscribe
We're having a wedding on a small budget. We probably need (at least) a day-of coordinator. One quote has come in at literally half the price of all of the others. Should we trust it?
Partner and I both think weddings are often schmaltzy, cost too much, etc etc. But we're planning one, in a city where we used to live (and don't live, currently), and it's probably necessary for us to at least have a day-of coordinator to help us with setup and vendors. I requested quotes from 4 or 5 different outfits ranging from very professional to on the "just starting out" end of things. Most quotes have come in at roughly the same price for 8-10 hours of work--except one, the just starting out folks, who've quoted us literally half the price.
My partner thinks this is a great deal and that we should take it. I'm skeptical, for a few reasons, one being that I scrutinized these just-starting-out folks' website and I find the weddings they've coordinated to be extremely tacky-looking. I'm by no means a bridezilla, but--yikes!--some of these weddings were real ugly, and lacking in taste. We're talking plastic martini glasses with glow sticks in them, camo country stuff. Partner has made the argument that the tacky stuff is probably what those couples wanted, not what the coordinators would have chosen. But their website, too, is somewhat shabby (it's not hard to make a nice website, but this website...sort of looks web 1.0? Does not look to be recently updated), and their suggested vendors are also places I would never in my life order anything from. This doesn't inspire great confidence.
But maybe I'm being too judgmental? Perhaps I have a "too good to be true" complex? They are licensed and bonded, and it seems like these are recent college grads who are trying to start a business in a fairly competitive marketplace. My question is: would you trust a company whose work you didn't particularly like (didn't like at all)? Is going with my gut worth double the price of my lowest quote? Does taste even come into play with a day-of coordinator? To be clear: they do "month of" coordination, so they'd be taking the reins a full 4 weeks before the event.
Thanks for your help. I'm ashamed to be asking this wedding planning question, but here it is.
Partner and I both think weddings are often schmaltzy, cost too much, etc etc. But we're planning one, in a city where we used to live (and don't live, currently), and it's probably necessary for us to at least have a day-of coordinator to help us with setup and vendors. I requested quotes from 4 or 5 different outfits ranging from very professional to on the "just starting out" end of things. Most quotes have come in at roughly the same price for 8-10 hours of work--except one, the just starting out folks, who've quoted us literally half the price.
My partner thinks this is a great deal and that we should take it. I'm skeptical, for a few reasons, one being that I scrutinized these just-starting-out folks' website and I find the weddings they've coordinated to be extremely tacky-looking. I'm by no means a bridezilla, but--yikes!--some of these weddings were real ugly, and lacking in taste. We're talking plastic martini glasses with glow sticks in them, camo country stuff. Partner has made the argument that the tacky stuff is probably what those couples wanted, not what the coordinators would have chosen. But their website, too, is somewhat shabby (it's not hard to make a nice website, but this website...sort of looks web 1.0? Does not look to be recently updated), and their suggested vendors are also places I would never in my life order anything from. This doesn't inspire great confidence.
But maybe I'm being too judgmental? Perhaps I have a "too good to be true" complex? They are licensed and bonded, and it seems like these are recent college grads who are trying to start a business in a fairly competitive marketplace. My question is: would you trust a company whose work you didn't particularly like (didn't like at all)? Is going with my gut worth double the price of my lowest quote? Does taste even come into play with a day-of coordinator? To be clear: they do "month of" coordination, so they'd be taking the reins a full 4 weeks before the event.
Thanks for your help. I'm ashamed to be asking this wedding planning question, but here it is.
You already know the answer. Do not hire the half-the-going-rate bad-website tacky-client coordinator. Being licensed and bonded means nothing in terms of quality or client satisfaction. (I am flummoxed that wedding coordination has become a profession requiring licensing anywhere; bonding is for the benefit of the venue if they burn it down.)
posted by MattD at 10:48 PM on October 20, 2019 [19 favorites]
posted by MattD at 10:48 PM on October 20, 2019 [19 favorites]
It seems like false economy to save half the price of the coordinator when there's a reasonable chance they won't represent your interests well when dealing with the entire rest of the wedding, which I assume is going to cost a lot more than half of the coordinator's pay.
The point of paying money to a coordinator is that you are exchanging money for the ability to not stress about details; if you pick someone you don't trust to do the details right, then what are you even getting?
posted by Homeboy Trouble at 11:10 PM on October 20, 2019 [20 favorites]
The point of paying money to a coordinator is that you are exchanging money for the ability to not stress about details; if you pick someone you don't trust to do the details right, then what are you even getting?
posted by Homeboy Trouble at 11:10 PM on October 20, 2019 [20 favorites]
The role of a wedding coordinator is to alleviate your stress because you are fully confident that everything is being dealt with in the way that you would do it if you weren’t so busy getting married. Outside of our cotton candy wedding favors, the day-of coordinator was, by far, the best money we spent on our wedding day. The cheap quote sounds like it comes from really well-intentioned, but inexperienced planners. Your wedding day should not be a learning experience for them.
posted by WaspEnterprises at 11:54 PM on October 20, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by WaspEnterprises at 11:54 PM on October 20, 2019 [3 favorites]
I was all prepared to say that it could be fine to work with a relative beginner. Being the day-of coordinator is mainly about being organized and then being a good balance of diplomatic and assertive to keep everything on schedule and handle any last-minute surprises discretely and appropriately. A beginner who has the right temperament could do pretty well. You wouldn't benefit from all the "what went wrong" lessons that an experienced person would have learned, so there would be a downside, but you sound like me in terms of expectations. (I hired a day-of person simply because I did not want to be asked a single logistical question all day. I had planned it all to the Nth degree, but I wanted someone else to be holding the checklists. Example: we had a limited number of parking spaces, and if the caterer took six instead of three, we'd have disabled family members having to walk way too far, so I needed someone besides me to know who had assigned parking spaces. You don't have to be a wedding professional with a decade of experience to hold the checklist or to politely remind the caterer that they needed to move their car.) So I would not necessarily care about the camo and plastic glasses. But the website... and the bad vendors... I could even set aside one or the other as a fluke... But together? That's too many strikes, in my opinion. It starts to reflect on their judgment, professionalism, and/or implementation. I appreciate that they're bootstrapping their way into the field, but still. And taste is separate from temperament (people from all walks of life can herd cats in a friendly-yet-efficient way). But at a certain point, taste might even spill over into some of the judgment calls that could get made day-of. Most of all, you want someone you'll trust. A big part of what you're paying for is peace of mind. So, I think you should heed your concerns.
posted by slidell at 11:56 PM on October 20, 2019 [6 favorites]
posted by slidell at 11:56 PM on October 20, 2019 [6 favorites]
I'd say it depends on your needs. My wedding was real simple, we didn't need half the stuff on our coordinator's usual list of services, so we negotiated a good price. Coordinators sell magic like all wedding vendors, so I wouldn't put too much importance to their presentation. Ours had no website, just a Facebook page, but I liked our first contact by email and she really grokked our vibe when we met in person. She was perfect on the day, best money we spent.
Contact the half-pricer, see how you like them in person, if they understand what you want, if they pressure you into stuff you don't... You'll get a better impression from that than anything superficial like marketing material.
posted by Freyja at 9:01 AM on October 21, 2019
Contact the half-pricer, see how you like them in person, if they understand what you want, if they pressure you into stuff you don't... You'll get a better impression from that than anything superficial like marketing material.
posted by Freyja at 9:01 AM on October 21, 2019
Yeah, meet with them and see how you feel about them. Check their reviews and ask if you can talk to previous clients. I wouldn't put a lot of stock in a website for anyone but the photographer (who needs to have a sense of visual design and be somewhat fluent with technology). As a techy/designy person, this was hard for me too. Our caterer had a very dated looking website, but they were amazing, as was the coordinator we hired through them. She recommended a florist who I had serious doubts about based on her business card/website. She was a little nutty, but she put together beautiful arrangements, showed up on time, and didn't cost us an arm and a leg. If you're working with the vendors directly on the look/flavors/sound of the wedding, then it's your taste and not the coordinator's you need to worry about.
As other people have said, the coordinator's role is to be organized and keep everyone in line. If you get the sense that the just-starting-out-folks can do that and do it in a way that you feel comfortable with, go with them!
posted by natabat at 9:23 AM on October 21, 2019 [1 favorite]
As other people have said, the coordinator's role is to be organized and keep everyone in line. If you get the sense that the just-starting-out-folks can do that and do it in a way that you feel comfortable with, go with them!
posted by natabat at 9:23 AM on October 21, 2019 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: Part of the difficulty with this is that we're planning a wedding in another state, so I can't easily meet with these coordinators until much closer to the actual date. So I guess I am putting a lot of stock into things like presentation, particularly with someone who will handle setting up table arrangements, etc.
posted by Miss T.Horn at 9:39 AM on October 21, 2019
posted by Miss T.Horn at 9:39 AM on October 21, 2019
Arrange a Skype, FaceTime or WhatsApp video meeting with them and talk to them that way.
posted by koahiatamadl at 9:46 AM on October 21, 2019
posted by koahiatamadl at 9:46 AM on October 21, 2019
You definitely need to have a video face-to-face with them. I hired a wedding coordinator in another country who only had a facebook page but when we Skyped she asked really smart questions and made me confident that she could anticipate and address things I wouldn't even think to worry about. It worked out great. When you talk to them, make sure the scope of service is clear and that there isn't some secret fee they're collecting on the back end to make up for the low price you're being quoted. That said, my coordinator was able to get a quick handle on our tastes so when she gave me options, they were all good and tailored to us, not the equivalent of camo themed versus glow-in-the dark glass options.
posted by *s at 11:10 AM on October 21, 2019
posted by *s at 11:10 AM on October 21, 2019
This thread is closed to new comments.
I'd say trust your gut with something that could potentially ruin a day you are already spending a lot of money on, but it can't hurt to get a bit more info for your gut to be sure of its decision.
posted by Youremyworld at 10:40 PM on October 20, 2019 [4 favorites]