Neighbourhood Flyer

MissMolly

Hey there,

I'm looking at creating a small leaflet to take door-to-door the weekend before our wedding. Reason being: the ceremony is in my parent's backyard, and I would like the cul-de-sac that they live in to be aware that there's an event happening there, and that parking will be limited for a short while. I'm not sure of the wording to use though; any suggestions?

kaos16

Alesha1978 said:

Hey there,

I'm looking at creating a small leaflet to take door-to-door the weekend before our wedding. Reason being: the ceremony is in my parent's backyard, and I would like the cul-de-sac that they live in to be aware that there's an event happening there, and that parking will be limited for a short while. I'm not sure of the wording to use though; any suggestions?

Shouldn't you ask them instead of telling them that parking will be limited?. . . It is their road, they live there.  The last thing you need is an annoyed neighbor calling the cops to get cars ticketed or towed.

MissMolly

kaos16 said:

Alesha1978 said:

Hey there,

I'm looking at creating a small leaflet to take door-to-door the weekend before our wedding. Reason being: the ceremony is in my parent's backyard, and I would like the cul-de-sac that they live in to be aware that there's an event happening there, and that parking will be limited for a short while. I'm not sure of the wording to use though; any suggestions?

Shouldn't you ask them instead of telling them that parking will be limited?. . . It is their road, they live there.  The last thing you need is an annoyed neighbor calling the cops to get cars ticketed or towed.

Yes, I suppose I should do that instead. However, how am I to communicate that to all of our guests? Keep a list of the houses it's OK to park in front of, and call/email all the guests who are coming? Tell them to bring their runners along so they can walk a couple blocks? What about FH's aunt who has no legs and is in a wheelchair? Or my 89 year old great aunt who also is now confined to a wheelchair?

ETA: my folks live in an area where on weekends, it isn't unusual for there to be large parties, where parking is very limited. I guess I just felt that if they don't ask everyone's permission for that, why do I need to.

freebread03

I'm pretty sure that people are smart enough to drop 89 year old aunt in front of your parent's house rather than making her walk a few blocks-the same for your FI's aunt in a wheel chair. People aren't as dumb as you're making them out to be. You should definitely make your neighbors aware that there will be a large event going on during xyz time, but you also need to ensure that your guests don't block anyone's driveway. It may be worth hiring a few local teenagers to help guide people to open parking spots and also make sure nobody is parking where they can't. If its a public street with free parking, you don't need to ask your neighbors' permission, but if permits are needed or there are any other parking restrictions, you definitely need to get that worked out in a manner that is agreeable to your neighbors.

itzMS

Make sure to call the town hall and police department first, to verify what their notification requirements are. If your parent's house is part of a Homeowners Association, there may be additional rules and regs.

The letter should come from your parents as homeowners.

"Dear Neighbors,

We will be hosting our daughter's wedding in our backyard on July 26, 2013. The event will take place from 5:00PM until 11:00PM. We anticipate having some extra vehicles parked in the cul-de-sac as well as noise levels greater than usual.

Thank you for your understanding,

Mr and Mrs Johnson"

AprilH81

Can you invite the neighbors?  It is hard for them to get upset if they are at the party.  

Do you need to get a parking permit with the town/city?  

MissMolly

Thanks ladies!

I had thought of permits quite some time ago, then it slipped my mind. Thanks for the reminder! I've located the number for the city, and will give them a call shortly. We're also tenting the backyard, so I can kill 2 birds with 1 stone on that one. Police department...hadn't thought of that one, but will call them as well (good call, thank-you itzMS).

@AprilH81, I could invite the neighbours, but it's actually only the civil ceremony that is happening in the backyard. We've rented another venue for the dinner and dance.

And no, in absolutely no way would we have our guests blocking people into their own driveways; that's just wrong. We have had the immediate neighbours say that we're welcome to use their driveway for parking. The offer was really nice, but again, we won't be doing that either, as if they ever had an emergency and needed out of their garage, it would take them extra time, and that's just not a good situation.

And I'm off to make phone calls....

MissMolly

Here's the scoop:

City: we only need a permit for parking if the area is in a restricted parking zone. She looked up my parent's area, and it is OK to park there for the ceremony. We also don't need a permit for tenting the backyard.

Police: he said that they only way we would have issues is if there were people in the backyard, whooping and hollering at 11pm, which won't be the case. I'm thinking that the ceremony will be from 1:30pm-2:30pm at the absolute latest. He suggested that I give them (police non-emergency line) a call the morning of the wedding, and that they would make a note of the event, in case anyone should call about it.

Two truly helpful people! Note is made to call police the morning of the wedding.