Wedding Reception Forum

DIY without actually doing it yourself

My reception is at sailing club where  I've just hired the venue but will be getting catering, decorations etc seperately. My question is how I can pull my reception together the way I want it without getting a wedding planer? I don't want to pay someone to do the designing for me, I want to do it myself, but of course, I can't deck the whole place out myself the day of my wedding so how do I DIY without actually being there setting everything up myself the day of my wedding? My mum is panicking I want to do too much DIY stuff, but this is the day to personalise right?

Re: DIY without actually doing it yourself

  • A lot of day of coordinators will help you with the DIY (for an additional fee).  I wouldn't take on too much if you'd like to not be stressed. 
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  • Do you have access to the venue the day before to setup/decorate? I hired a decorating lady from a local party store to do the major decorating for me the day of for a very low fee. But I still plan on going the morning of to set some things up, minor details since we dont have access to the room the night before.
  • I"m doing a TON of DIY and plan on hiring a "day of" wedding coordinator. You'll meet with them a while before your wedding, lay out your theme/ideas, and they again a week or less before the wedding. Put together all the DIY stuff, maybe with an explanation on paper or map, whatever you need to provide them, then they do the set up and take down (depending on when the venue expects you out of there). These services cost between $300-$500 and can go up or down depending on your geographic area and what you expect of them.

    In my opinion, you don't want to be doing this yourself, or hire family and friends to do it. Too much stress on them. Hire a professional. Go to your local board (see link on left for local boards) and inquire if anyone has any recommendations.

    Good luck.
  • You obviously cannot DIY the decorating yourself without actually being there to do it yourself.  If you can decorate the day before, or keep it very simple and decorate the morning of the wedding, and have lots of help, you might could pull it off. 

    But to be realistic, you need to hire someone to do this for you, perhaps under your supervision.  You might ask the venue if they have an on site coordinator for special events, or a staff member that can be on hand to help (probably for an additional fee).  Or many caterers also do table decorations, maybe the caterer you use can also do some decorating, or refer you to someone they've worked well with in the past.
  • Thanks everyone for your great responses! I think a 'Day of' Coordinator sounds like a really good idea. I think we can get into the venue at least the night before for sure, but I really don't wanto to spend the night before and morning of my wedding running around in there organising things. GIRLTOBEWED , hyour idea of the lady from the decorating shop is also great. I will definately look into either of these options. I still haven't booked the caterer or who I'm hiring stuff from so will keep this in mind when speaking to caterers and decorating places.
    Have great weddings all you guys and thanks heaps for your help!Laughing
  • felkelsfelkels member
    First Comment
    Can you count on some friends or your wedding party to help...just bang out the decorations and tables a few hours early, then finish getting ready and hide like you are supposed to?
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