Honey Bee Weddings: A+Wedding designers, wedding planners, wedding coordinators, day-of-coordinators (whatever they classify themselves as) are truly amazing phenomena. Nothing, let me say it again, nooooooooothing could drive me to work with planning-crazed brides, unorganized vendors, or micromanaging mothers. But these professionals brave the chaos and revel in the challenge to bring order. They are like firefighters running toward a burning building while the rest of us are running for our lives. And, Misse from Honey Bee Weddings, was exactly that firefighter for me...
I had originally hoped to DIY a DOC by enlisting “a friend of a friend” who wanted to break in to the business. However, wedding coordination proved to be too hard a task for her, as she silently bowed out a few months in. So, I promptly got down to the business of sifting through dozens of overpriced Chicagoland DOCs – an exhausting and unsettling process, indeed. But, thankfully, it didn’t take me too long to find Misse. I hired her on the spot as my Day of Coordinator…but I quickly realized that the phrase “day of” didn’t begin to describe her services.
At our first meeting, Misse offered budget-friendly vendor references (fruitwood chivari chairs with any color cushion for $6.50 per chair, what?!). She later offered invaluable wedding paper assistance (the amount of proof-reading and correcting she did was almost criminal). And during the week of my wedding, she navigated impossible vendor communication (impossible because I was busy entertaining family and being the bride)!
The day of the wedding, Misse did EVERYTHING - everything from picking up the wedding cupcakes, (because Sweet Mandy B's has a no-delivery policy), to keeping everyone/everything on time, to DIY project set-up (menus, place cards, advice jars, etc.), to post-reception tear-down. She even put out a small “fire” when 2 guests were unhappy with their table, and decided they were going to pick up their place settings and move – literally. She was poised and professional and found a way to make everyone happy! And, I don't know how, but she actually found time to step in to the photobooth, which left us with an AWESOME keepsake, (photo to the left)!
From “phase one planning” to the “day of coordinating”, Misse proved to be an invaluable resource on so many levels! If I had to do it all over again, I would only do one thing differently: I would have hired her as soon as I got engaged! Seriously, ladies: contact her!
related posts: our budget-friendly wedding V: farewell brunch, our budget-friendly wedding IV: reception, our budget-friendly wedding III: DIY wedding paper, Vendor Review IV: Photobooth, Vendor Review III: Wedding & Reception Flowers, our budget-friendly wedding II: ceremony, Vendor Review II: Hair and Make up, our budget-friendly wedding I: Attire, The photos are in!!!, Vendor Review I: Reception Music
Posts
6 comments:
I'm using Marilyn of Honeybee and she's fabulous as well! I look forward to working with her as I get closer to my date...hiring a DOC has been one of the best decisions - the peace of mind in knowing that I, my fiance and parents can relax on the date is money well spent!
colleen! will you pretty pretty please put all your vendor reviews on the library? you have done such a great job writing them!
Terrific! I've been looking for a DOC for a while now. Thank you for the suggestion!
Laura! I'm so happy you're going with Honey Bee! Money well spent, indeed!
Ami, I'd loooove to! Is it user-friendly? I'll go take a look and hopefully just copy and paste!
Lisa, I'm happy to help! There are more reviews to come, so stay tuned!
Can I ask where you found the $6.50chivari chairs? I'm in Chicago and I haven't found anything nearly that affordable...
Hi Anonymous - We used Covered Affairs (coveredaffairs.com). I would call them; they don't really check their email. How many chairs do you need? 200+? The more you rent the closer you get to 6.50. Hope this info helps!
Post a Comment