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idania
Savvy September 2019

Setting Up Reception Yourself

idania, on April 9, 2018 at 12:51 PM Posted in Do It Yourself 1 27

Have any brides out there set up & decorated the reception themselves or planning to? I'm having the ceremony & reception in the same room & plan on having everything set up the morning of, possibly have guests already seated at their tables & have the ceremony on the dance floor. I'm also making all the centerpieces and decorations myself. Anyone done this or plan on doing something similar?


(side note: The venue offered to do a room flip for us but the fee is ridiculous & requires rental of a separate area for another preposterous fee.)

27 Comments

Latest activity by Dana, on January 8, 2020 at 3:31 PM
  • D
    Just Said Yes October 2018
    Dawn ·
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    We are planning on decorating and setting everything up ourselves for the reception, little overwhelmed right now
    • Reply
  • Nick & Joi
    Expert May 2018
    Nick & Joi ·
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    No I’m not doing this. Too much for me personally. I have a doc that came with my venue and they are doing all the set up. It’s my day to relax and get ready. I’ve made a lot of diys and decor that will be brought in but I’m not setting it up. I’ve drawn out what each table should look like for the doc and did a walk thru with her so she’s aware.
    • Reply
  • O
    Master October 2017
    O ·
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    It wasn't feasible for us to set up 3 rooms ourselves because we only had 2 hours of set up time, and needed those two hours for photos. I hired an event coordinating company; they set everything up. All I had to do was relax.
    • Reply
  • Future Mrs M
    Super June 2018
    Future Mrs M ·
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    I get my venue from Wed before the wedding to the day after.

    So, I plan to go do all of the footwork there in the evenings of Wed & Thursday. then the florist jsut has to do her thing, bartenders do theirs.

    • Reply
  • Red Queen
    VIP May 2018
    Red Queen ·
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    We are doing our own setup the day before. My fiance and I and the wedding party will be doing it. Then we'll have a quick rehearsal and BBQ dinner on the lawn.

    On the day of, we are paying people to convert the room from ceremony to reception and then to do tear down.

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  • Stephanie
    Devoted July 2018
    Stephanie ·
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    Personally, that'd be too much for me. I want to be as relaxed as possible.
    • Reply
  • Sydney
    Expert May 2019
    Sydney ·
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    Our venue is allowing us to set up the day before, so that's what we're doing. I hired a decorator to do the fabric draping and chair decor, but I'll be doing all the reception table decor setup.
    • Reply
  • N
    Devoted June 2019
    Natalie ·
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    I would LOVE to set everything up myself (I'm all about DIY and love decorating), but we're getting married in a museum and setup can't begin until 3pm with a ceremony at 5:30, so it's impossible for me to be the one to do it.

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  • KPTheCheeto
    Devoted December 2019
    KPTheCheeto ·
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    Yupp i'm setting everything up with my husband the 2 days before. Our venue comes in a 3 day package but they're really cool about us kind of doing whatever we want since it's their barn so I can't wait to decorate and see how everything looks. I'm sorry, but to me its not worth it to hire a DOC for over $1000 just to make a few phone calls and set things up when I have the time to do it myself and i'm too picky to trust anyone else anyway. For other people who only have a limited amount of time for set up its totally worth it to hire a DOC but not for me.
    • Reply
  • FullerPartyof3
    Dedicated September 2018
    FullerPartyof3 ·
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    We will be setting up ourselves but thankfully there isn’t too much to set up decorations wise since we have such a gorgeous venue. We have access to our venue starting at 10am and will have a 4pm ceremony so we’ve got a little time.
    • Reply
  • No
    Devoted September 2018
    No ·
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    I'm 100% setting up everything. I'm too picky and controlling to trust anyone else. We have the venue for 3 days though so we can setup the entire day before.

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  • Jessie
    Devoted June 2018
    Jessie ·
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    I wanted to. I’m basically doing everything DIY for the wedding. But there’s no guarantee they will open early enough for me to do it myself. I’m hiring a decorator to setup everything. $250 for setup and breakdown.
    • Reply
  • Heather
    Expert September 2018
    Heather ·
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    Im doing set up and tear down myself too
    My mom and dad will help some too
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  • Katie
    Dedicated October 2018
    Katie ·
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    I am not doing this but I had a friend who did this a few years ago. Even with the help of all her bridesmaids and family, it was still very overwhelming for her. She did not get to truly enjoy her wedding day. I would try to find someone to set up for you. Even if it’s family/friends. That will allow
    you to relax and enjoy your day!
    • Reply
  • Ericha
    Devoted November 2018
    Ericha ·
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    My FH and I will be decorating and setting up for 2 days prior to the wedding. The wedding party may decide to help, but it's not being asked of them. We are able to do this because our venue is a bit unique (it's the haunted house we work for). It's going to be time- consuming and probably stressful, but our venue is free to us, and feels like the right place to the the knot (since it's also where we met).
    • Reply
  • Pirate & 60s Bride
    Legend March 2017
    Pirate & 60s Bride ·
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    BRIDES: GET HELP! Hire DOC, ask friends, create a clone. Smiley xd Unless you get the venue the day before, it's soooo much work. YOU should get to be calm and beautiful.

    Our wedding/reception: 4 of us working, 4 hours (15 guests)

    Our local reception (months later): 7 of us working, 3 hours (50 guests + wind)

    Stress. Tiffs. Lateness. Sloppy decor photos. You worked too hard to not enjoy your special day and have it look amazing. Trust meeeeeee.

    • Reply
  • Anna
    Dedicated June 2019
    Anna ·
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    I’m doing all of my centerpieces and wedding decor. My venue asked me to give them any tables cloths and they will set up the tables, chairs, plates, glasses, etc. the night before (the venue is doing the catering and provides all of this). Also, our ceremony and reception are not in the same space.

    What I’m planning to do is to make all of the decorations way ahead of time (with the exception of the fresh flowers of course). I will practice how to set up tables with my bridesmaids and groomsmen (again, the most that they will be doing is placing centerpieces and flowers). Then, each person will be responsible for setting up two tables. All materials (table numbers and holders, menus, favors, candles and holders, etc.) required for each table will already be separated into bags and/or boxes so that each person grabs 2 of each.

    My suggestion is that you don’t try to set up every single thing by yourself, but rather choose one thing. So, hopefully you have someone else setting up your tables, chairs, table cloths, and plates/glassware.
    • Reply
  • Rj923
    Dedicated May 2018
    Rj923 ·
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    We will be setting up at 8 A.M the morning of the wedding...honestly a little stressed about it but it should go quick as we are keeping it pretty simple.
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  • idania
    Savvy September 2019
    idania ·
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    Thank you everyone for your input! I definitely want to relax & be pampered the hours leading up to the ceremony. I don't want to hire a DOC because I'm on a budget but I'll just enlist my family to help. Your input means a lot to me ladies!

    • Reply
  • idania
    Savvy September 2019
    idania ·
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    Yeah I mean, I guess now that I've read everyones feed back I can have my family help set up and then do a walk through before I get ready to make sure everything looks right. I hate being a control freak >_<

    • Reply

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