Reception hall setup

We're setting up the morning of the wedding. It will be me, my bridal party, probably both moms, and our DOC mainly. I'm expecting that my DOC will handle the majority of it for us. There's a wedding the day before ours so we can only set up the day of.

We are decorating the Friday before the wedding. My venue couldn't guarantee us a rehearsal or if the ballroom would be available. So we decided that for our piece of mind we would just rent it Friday too plus then we aren't rushing around Saturday morning trying to decorate it. Our plan is to start early since we get the room at 8 AM on Friday and finish early so we change then have the rehearsal there since we are having the ceremony there too. To me for my peace of mind, renting the room was the best idea. Extra 400 dollars but worth it.

Our venue was a beach house we stayed in all weekend. We checked in on Friday and spent most of the time just getting everything into the house. I woke up at 7am the next day to start getting things set up for a 2pm wedding. Our rental chairs and tables arrived at 8am. Even with help I didn't quite get it all done exactly as planned before I had to get in the shower. My point is, get as much done as early as possible. You think you'll only need a couple of hours, but the details will get you! I think your plan is great.

We're setting up the morning of. We don't have access to the venue until 8am on Saturday so I'll get there really early and start cranking it out. I don't have a DOC and I'm also pretty OCD about things so I'll want to have a hand in everything.

I think you should stick with your original plan! I understand your FH feels like the other idea is better but I would just explain why it’s easier and less stressful for you guys! He should come around!

I was allowed to leave things the night before in the reception area but I hired someone to decorate because the venue didn't even allow me to come in til 430p and the reception was at 6 so I felt like I didn't want to rush and I didn't want this giant gap from my ceremony. So I just ended up having ceremony as planned at 5p while my doc decorated

We couldn't get in the hall until day of the wedding, and set up and clean up had to be part of time we had it rented, so we had it from 2pm to 12am, so we scheduled the wedding for 4 so there was 2 hours of set up, and we had it set up to end at 11pm for clean up. We ended up being out of there by 10pm thanks to lots of help from my hubby's family. My family and friends left

I would definitely stick to your plan! That way you have a whole afternoon to set it up exactly as you want it!

I have been a bridesmaid for a pizza and set up rehearsal dinner and while it was fine, we were there until around 11:30 (rehearsal ended around 6). We had to get up early the next day so I was pretty tired the next morning! If you're able to get in the hall at noon Friday, do it! That way you all can just relax the night before after the rehearsal and everything is done! Just keep in mind that some people may not be able to get off work to help, so don't stress if they can't!

Our venue lets us rent the space from Thursday-Saturday so we'll decorate all day on Thursday. On Friday, I'll be doing last minute things like getting my nails done & picking up the cocktail tables for the wedding before the rehearsal & rehearsal dinner. For my Matron of Honor's wedding, we decorated everything the night before after the rehearsal dinner. It was a kind of late night. I would much rather do everything before the rehearsal so that it's not a late night!

Keep it how you have it! I feel like that gives you plenty of time to set up and then you can relax at dinner after the rehearsal!

I just got married on 10/26 (YAY me!) and we set up the lake clubhouse on Friday afternoon. I purchased extra time in order to do it. Was worth EVERY penny!!! I didn't have a rehearsal or dinner, but had a lot going on at the new house with final finishes for some work being done Also, you don't want to be out that late on the night before you will need your rest, especially if you are having such a large wedding (400) and a big party after. I got in around 8:30 PM the night before the wedding and gave myself a facial and relaxed. I made all of the décor myself including the centerpieces, designed and built an arch and accent items and with the help of a few friends friends and my family they made my vision come to life. I don't have my pictures back yet, but I'm hoping the look as nice as I felt it looked. I prepped most of my food that Thursday night and took it in on Friday with platters, dishes, tiered plates, etc and left instructions on how I wanted it set up for the reception.... they did an awesome job!!! I had an afternoon wedding at 2 PM, so I did an afternoon tea theme with finger food and sandwiches. Everyone loved it.

We decorated the morning before right before I got my hair done! It worked out better than I thought it would but make sure that you have a lot of people coming to help. I had to set up literally everything for the reception and it wouldn't have happened if I didn't have the 15+ people that morning and help! I didn't have a DOC though, it was just me, my MIL and my grandma in charge so it's actually good that you hired someone, that will make it a lot easier.

So we have a couple plans. Our ceremony venue is letting us set up the night before. But our reception venue said it depends on if they have an event the night before or not (we didn't want to pay the deposit to guarantee that we could set up the night before lol). So...

Plan A: Do everything the day before, so: set up as much of ceremony location as we can. Do rehearsal. Then go to reception hall and set up there.

Plan B: Set up as much of ceremony location as we can on Friday, do rehearsal. Then on Saturday AM go to reception hall (or have my aunts go to reception hall) and set up everything there. On our way to ceremony location we'd quick pop in so I can look around and make sure everything is where it's supposed to be and nothing is missing.

I think your plan makes much more sense. Setting things up always takes longer than anticipated, so I’d rather have to go back after dinner than to be just starting. The last thing you want is to be staying up half the night before your wedding stressing and rushing to get everything in place. So if you have the option of getting in Friday afternoon, I would definitely go for it. It’s nice that your fiancé’s buddy did it differently, but that doesn’t mean it’s the best option for you.