Decorator or Second Hand

I did second hand by searching Kijiji. I was able to find some lovey decor and DIY with them. It was the best choice for me to save money.

We have a few friends who are going to come to the venue early to help with set up and take down.

One thing to note about decor too is, if you're doing anything to the ceilings or walls (ie drapery, special lighting, hanging ornaments etc) a venue won't allow any random person you find off the street to do it. A professional decorator is usually insured and will be covered in the event of any accidents.

A wedding coordinator will typically do basic centerpiece and guest table setups but if you're looking for something elaborate like the picture below, you'll need a decorator.

We've hired a day of coordinator and she will be setting up all of our decor for the ceremony and reception as well as helping with vendor questions since we won't be at the venue until about 20 minutes before ceremony. She will also be helping us with timing of walking down the aisle and walking into our reception. We're paying roughly $800 for the day

We’re hiring a day of coordinator to do all the setup, but all of the signs, candles, charger plates and decor will be supplied by me. It’s either been thrifted or DIYd. The only exception to this are the flowers which we hired someone for, but they’ll be using my collection of milk glass for the vases.
I looked at decor rental prices and in my area I’m able to buy everything myself for cheaper than the rental fees.

The work for what needs done depends on yourself to hire a decorator for a huge guest list. Getting the help of others for small to medium weddings is better to save on the cost.

It isn't a bad idea to find out what the cost of decorators will charge for their services if you do require them.

I think it depends on what your wanting and what your venue is like!
For My ceremony I wasn’t really interested in decorating, it’s outside so it already has alot of beauty! I just have a arch and floral swag on the arch. so most of my decor went to the reception. The space is for 250 people so it’s fairly big. I didn’t want too much going on just fill some empty spaces. My vibe is elegant and simple My fiancé and I live 10 hours away from our venue so for us it made most sense to hire someone to decorate. We don’t want to travel with a toddler and a bunch of diy decor.
I also found for what I wanted it would cost more to diy then to just go with a rental company! For set up take down and all my decor included is 1500. My venue provides linens tables and chairs cutlery all the basic things but I got more linens from my rental company that matched my theme. For me the price is worth it. I don’t have to worry about the stress of setting it up and doing all the other things I need to do I can just relax the day of the wedding and be in the moment!

I agree with what Malyssa as it depends how much you want to work and also if this is in your budget. It would also depend what the decor is and how much.

As for my wedding its small and backyard I have made mostly everything myself and we can set up whenever we want as its in a backyard. I am having family help my Fiance and I set everything up 1-2 days before the wedding also giving jobs to each person helping!

Again I think it really depends on how much decor,time you have and budget.

I think this REALLY depends on the style you want AND how much work you want to put into it.

I opted for the hiring someone route. My decor isn't too crazy, and I think we are looking at about $500 for all the items (7 guests tables, 2 accent tables, and a sweetheart table and some items being repurposed for the ceremony) and we are also paying for set up and take down, which was about $1000. I also have a few items I have made/collected myself that I am able to give to my decor coordinator and she will set up as well. Finding one wasnt an issue, as there was lots to chose from for me, but I ultimately went with the lady I did because she had the color pallet I was looking for where as other companies didnt.

Obviously these prices could vary based on the vendor, but we felt that was justified to not have to stress about any of the decor day of. We also saved alot on other items for our wedding so was willing to splurge a bit on this.

Also, for us, we didn't really have anyone we could rely on to ensure everything was set up properly, as anyone we WOULD feel comfortable with, would be too heavily involved in the wedding itself and didn't want to add to their list of duties lol

So I can't say on the DIY side, hopefully another bride will be able to provide some insight.