new here! anyone flipping the ceremony space into the reception space during cocktails?

dokchampa

i'm going to need to do this and it's giving me a bit of anxiety. i don't want people to be bored during cocktails, but we need enough time to flip the room. i'm expecting between 250-300 people. any idea how long this might take? i don't expect my reception decor to differ from the ceremony decor. thanks in advance!

gammaykella

I'm doing this. I'm at the Liberty Grand, and they take care of everything for you. Most receptions start with a cocktail hour anyways, so your guests won't care about waiting for the room to flip. Where is your reception?

ashley669

I'm getting married at Capitol Event Theatre and the same space will be used for the ceremony and reception. I was a little concerned initially but after speaking to the venue coordinator i'm no longer worried. Just remember that this is something that a lot of venues are used to doing and if it's worked well in the past then there's unlikely to be a problem on your big day. Your venue coordinator should also be able to tell you how much time they'll need to flip the room. My friend got married at the Four Seasons with about 300 guests and they flipped the room in about an hour. As a guest I wasn't even aware how much time had passed as I was enjoying cocktail hour. They also managed to basically transform the room in that hour and it didn't even look like the same space as the ceremony - it was pretty impressive for just an hour! All this to say that I'm sure all will be fine!

LincolnElizabethH

I am doing the same thing with my venue, although my wedding is much smaller at 120 people. I'm sure as long as apps and booze flows, no one will mind waiting for the room to be switched over!

Patgd

dokchampa,

Are you responsible for flipping it or is your venue taking care of the flip?  My fiance and I are doing the same thing at the Ajax Convention Centre and they're taking care of the flip.  In the time that you are off having pictures taken and your guests are enjoying cocktail hour, the staff will have time to flip the room.  I would check with your venue to see how long they anticipate it would take to flip the room but they probably have it down to a science and there should be no issues. 

emmuffy

I'm at Arcadian Court and they are flipping the ceremony space in one hour during our cocktail hour. They are taking care of the flip.

dokchampa

Thanks everyone! We haven't officially booked yet but we're looking at the Bram & Bluma Appel Salon at the Toronto Reference Library (going to check it out in person this week). Wedding is in 2013. I have a planner who says the room can be flipped and she will take care of it with the wait staff, etc. An hour seems like such a long time for cocktails/food and standing around but I guess it really isn't. I don't think they do a ton of weddings there, as it's a relatively newish venue, but I think I need to trust in my planner's expertise here! 

dokchampa

I thought about doing this, but then I saw some on TV (way too much Four Weddings!) where it looked like some guests had blocked views, so I wasn't sure. I might mention it to my planner though, as an option. Thanks!

Beads921

Ideally, we will be getting married outside, but if it rains, our dinner space will be our ceremony space. Our cocktail hour and late night events will happen in a different space. Our venue is used to flipping the room, and I'm really not worried about it because everyone will be enjoying cocktail hour while it's happening. If you don't have a cocktail hour/something for your guests to do in between, then I can see this being a concern. 

If you're concerned about people standing for too long, try to have some chairs in the space where you'll be holding your cocktail hour for the elderly/those people who can't stand for long periods.

ThereseLean

Yeah, it's pretty typical now to wait for the room to be flipped. I'm doing the same but thankfully there's a small reception room with the bar people can hang out in while it's being flipped!

lauraQ123

Our venue is getting flipped, we are at a gallery in the Distillery District.  Our caterer will be doing it in about 1.5 hours, which gives us plenty of time for pictures, and our bar will be open with apps and such.  We are having about 100 people.