Village hall venue dressing

I dont know anyone. Sorry.

Could you not pay for a couple of hours the next day so you can go back and take all the decorations down?

Also if you dont mind me asking which village hall is it? (Im in Notts also and looking for a venue for my reception party)

Are you bringing caterers in? If so could you pay them extra to clear away? X

I also agree the caterers could be the best and most cost effective way to get this done.

Failing that, we are using stressfreehire company and they seem very good! Although can only recommend them after the wedding day itself, of course

No because we need to take away our things before the cleaners come in the next morning to clean up. The hall we're using is Whatton Jubilee Village Hall

Asking the caterer is a good idea actually, when i initially thought about it i was thinking about our wedding breakfast caterers and couldn't see how it would work but we're having a friend of a friend doing our evening buffet, I'll see if she would be interested in helping us out, she'll at least be sober enough to get on the step ladder!

Hi I've had a look at your venue website - looks lovely. I noticed the hire times finish at 11pm. Does this mean that you have to vacate the building at this time? If so, what time is your reception finishing as you'll need to allow clearing up time for whoever is doing it or are you expecting them to work around your guests?

Sorry if this sounds negative, I've just got my sensible organised planning head on!

Agree with others that you could ask caterer.

Keep in mind that the decorations have to come down at the end of the night, when you are choosing them. If I were you I'd choose table centres that can be given away (great idea by a previous poster) and nothing else too fussy on the table like crystals/petals etc. They would be a pain to clear up. If you only have one removable centre, then all that has to do is take off tablecloth and glasses etc (caterer may already be responsible for this). Keep all other decorations to a minimum and easily/quicky removable.

Thanks for all your responses guys.

Celticcurl - The bar license is until 11.30pm but we can clear away after the bar has closed

Yes I'm thinking pretty simple decorations (still having bunting though! and in two minds about fairy lights too!) but there will still be a fair but of stuff to take away, fortunately we don't have to put the furniture away

Have you thought about asking if the cleaners could do it for you the following day if you pay extra? You could then ask a friend/relative to collect them for you.

You've said a few times there is a lot of stuff to takeaway - is there more than just the decorations? Who is clearing the tablelinen etc?

Sorry for all the questions, it's just that the more information you provide the easier it is to come up a solution.

Yep I've asked the cleaners already but they have said it needs to be cleared away as they cannot be held responsible for personal items.

I've had a think and the stuff we need to take home is

Tablecloths

Napkins

Table runners

Jars being used for centre pieces

Bunting

Menus

Flowers

Easel table plan

Ice buckets - we're having a few large ice buckets for a "drinks table" until the bar opens

Gifts and cards

Fairy lights?? not sure if it's worth having them

Champagne flutes - we are having to hire/buy these are they aren't any at the hall, we're thinking about buying them at IKEA and donating them to the hall when we've finished with them

That is a lot of stuff - how many tables/guests do you have?

I've looked at the glasses at Ikea and you can get 6 for £1.85 so your idea on this should work as long as the venue is happy to accept your donation? Alternatively Sainsburys offer free glass hire.

Do you know any older teenagers - not wedding guests - that you could pay to help out? Or is there a college / 6th form near by?

I'm assuming your evening caterer is just delivering a buffet so won't be there at the end of the night or are you paying them to clear tables etc aswell? What about the staff from any of the other companies you are hiring from? table linen, centre pieces etc? Or do you own this stuff?

Sorry, i'm asking loads of questions again, but I'm thinking as I type.

Another thought, as the person signing the hire contract do you have to be the last to leave? Is there a caretaker to lock up?

Just from the other side, we got married in a village hall and everything had to be packed away that evening.

As much as I hated it, my mum and bridesmaids bullied us into leaving and then some of our guests packed everything up. It took them 30 minutes and we had a hell of a lot of stuff so it really wasn't that long. Everyone mucked in and helped out so it was done really quick. Just as a consideration

Yes it does seem a lot of stuff, you don't realise how much there is until you start really picturing it!

We're having about 60 day guests and 100 evening guests, the only way the room and tables will work are with 3 long tables - i like the look but think there may need to be more on-table decoration with that layout. We own all the stuff apart from table cloths and napkins and i'm not sure which way to go about this stuff, I'd like the room to look nice for the evening guests too and i assume that linen hire companies don't collect stuff from you really late in the day?

I've not spoken to our potential evening caterer yet, she is a friend of a friend who has been recommended for doing this kind of thing before, I was thinking of asking her to stay back and help us break down obviously paying her for her time but don't know if she would want to

I'll have a think about teens etc helping out, can't think of any off the top of my head but not a bad idea, I wouldn't have minded doing that for a few quid when i was that age!

It is us who will be locking up, no caretaker or anything.

No I don't think a hire company will collect that late - unless they have local staff who want to earn a bit extra on the side? I'm in nottm so will have a think if I know any teens over your way - none spring to mind immediately. You could ask whoever you're dealing with at the village hall if they know anyone local - or you could stick a card up in the local post office/shop/church newsletter etc.

Your evening caterer could be a good bet, will she be putting the crockery through the dishwasher for you? If so she'll be there late anyway.

When are you getting married?