Hiring or diy wedding reception decorations

Do you know when you can get access to your venue to start decorating? If they have a wedding the day before then you will only be able to do it on the day so you may want to bring in the professionals.

View quoted message They said we can get in the day before. I'm edging towards professionals I think it will be such a headache lol

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Will your venue do any of it for you?

We are dropping off some of our table decorations the night before at the venue and the florist is bringing the rest on the day. Between the florist and the venue coordinator they will decorate for the ceremony and then the venue will decorate the table when they turn the room around. I was pleasantly surprised when she said that at our last planning meeting and was expecting my OH to have to disappear during the drinks reception to get the room looking how he wants but they do it as part of the service of setting the table.

We had this dilemma when looking for a venue and whether to dry hire and pay professions to decorate or completely diy. The things that concerned us about dry hire and diy was; how soon can we get access for us or professionals to decorate (some venues allow access the night before of they don't have an event or on the day of (for some listed buildings or strict planners), would we have to take everything down the night of the wedding and take it home or could we do that the following day (something to consider as you may not be in a fit state to do that, want to do that or expect your guests to help); what are the terms and conditions of the place, how is responsible for cleaning and rubbish and is there a fee if things are returned to their standard. All that in itself was a headache so if you can afford the peace of mind to pay someone I would. I'm a type a personality and very much a planner but things will happen which are beyond your control and you do not want to be stressed in the lead up to and on the day of the wedding. Luckily we found a venue which didn't need any decorating, we could bring all our personal touches, they put them up for us (various pictures of us with family and friends and home made desserts and games). A few days after we were able to collect everything they'd packed away for us, it was perfect. Please don't underestimate the ability to pay someone to take your stresses away for the day. Its money we'll spent. I'd also consider having a day coordinator to deal with the little issues on the day or hand out tasks to reliable bridal party members, doesn't always work but it's worth a shot.

We are doing some bits ourself (putting our Christmas tree up - what a headache!) then our florist and the venue will do the rest of it. most decent venues do that and don't require you to hire a seperate company to dress the room.

We are doing the best of both. We are organising the decorations, making them ect, but we have hired someone to put up and take down the decorations. Cheaper because I've made them but without the stress of putting them up ourselves 😊

Wow, so this one is really debateable, it all depends on what look you are trying to create. It is easier and less hassle to have a company come in and white wash it for you, adding a few personal details here and there but I have seen some amazing ones where every item was personally made by the couple. They were so very effective, and that true personal touch helped to pull everything together.

If you are happy with clean and simple and want the day to be more about other aspects then keep it simple and take the stress out of it by having someone design it for you!.

What look and feel are you trying to create?