Asking family members to help with decorating

For our minimony my mom, stepmom and husbands bestfriend helped with the decorating. They were happy to help us!

Follow your gut - putting friends and family to work on your wedding day is usually not a good idea. If people offer help - then you can definitely take them up on it! Otherwise, it sounds like you could use a Day of Coordinator to help with set-up (and probably tear-down). It will also give you the gift of time - you will have a busy day already with many other things to worry about! Lots of DOCs are ala carte, so you only pay for the services you need.

I always recommend a DOC. Ideally, your family and friends should not be "put to work" for your wedding. If it's a money issue, see if you can find someone just starting out - their rates will likely be lower.

They didn't mind helping at all, & I wouldn't mind helping a close friend or family member either personally. For our upcoming reception I hired an event designer for all of the decorations as well as a DOC. Again, my family wouldn't of minded helping set up again but my husband and I could afford to hire people so we did.

I found that most people love to help and have something to do, they just don't know what they should do. So with a little direction, I think you will find most people will be thrilled to contribute..

So i am the same way its not right unless i do it..... so i took pictures of how i wanted things to be set up or arranged and printed them out. If you can find someone to hire or to help you maybe a close friend that isnt part of the wedding and explain exactly the way you want. Alot of people dont mind helping setting up for a wedding. And if its all hands on deck that means the groomsmen too. I took photos for a couple that was a complete DIY and i even helped them set up as well. Good luck

Yes! I labeled all my boxes ( flowers for the arch, flowers for the sweet heart table etc) It will make everything so much easier. plus pictures help too lol Congrats!!!

It's really stressful to be "voluntold" to decorate for a wedding the morning of, especially when the bride's personality is known to be one that no one else's efforts will measure up. The decorating/setting up always takes way more time than people think, and it can be sweaty, dirty work, which is rough on wedding party members/wedding guests who have dressed for the wedding. I would do everything you can to avoid THAT scenario for your wedding. Also remember to make a plan for breakdown/cleanup that doesn't unduly burden those same people.

I would honestly find something else in your budget to cut in order to hire a day of coordinator. Decorating is part of their job, and it will make your life so much less stressful and will make your wedding day run so much smoother. It's a much better solution because asking guests to help work your wedding is considered a faux pas. Try browsing Thumbtack for affordable DOCs near you!

I can understand how you feel. I have planned and decorated events plenty of events. I know what vision I have for the wedding and I'm afraid that the decorators that I may hire will not see the vision I have. Like someone else mentioned on here, I have saved pictures of what I would like for my decorations to look like but I don't think they will see my vision or get the picture. One of the decorators that I am considering decorated my brother's wedding a few years ago and did a great job. I'm thinking about just allowing them to decorate the church and I will decorate the reception myself. My FH understands and we have thought about decorating right after the rehearsal dinner. Reach out to those family members and friends and ask for help; however, I wouldn't get too many of them, because the more you have that help, the more stressed you may become. Sometimes it is true that the more the merrier, but not always. Having every person continuously ask you what do you need or what they can help with next is overwhelming. If you will have more than 5 people helping, try to have a list of everything that needs to be done so you can minimize the stress. If possible, even print out some pictures of the look you are trying to achieve. Good luck!