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Room Flip

alhaley88alhaley88 member
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in Wedding Reception Forum
My Fiance and I are getting married in a hotel ballroom, but half is being used for the ceremony before the reception. Do they leave the tables together and set up in the closed off half and then just slide them over or do I need to be prepared to have someone (DOC or sister or someone) help flip the room over to the reception space? They are doing it at cocktail hour. We are probably going to do all the centerpieces ourselves, so there will not be a florist there to set it up.
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Re: Room Flip

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    lyndausvilyndausvi mod
    First Anniversary First Answer 5 Love Its Name Dropper
    You need to ask the venue.   Due to weather, we had to do a room flip.  They setup the half that wasn't being used and then set up the other side after the ceremony.   The venue did the entire thing.   The florist might have helped with the unused half.  Not sure if they were around for the flip or not.






    What differentiates an average host and a great host is anticipating unexpressed needs and wants of their guests.  Just because the want/need is not expressed, doesn't mean it wouldn't be appreciated. 
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    alhaley88alhaley88 member
    First Anniversary First Comment 5 Love Its Name Dropper
    I'll ask their coordinator. I just want to make sure if I do all my centerpieces, they get set up and I don't have to do it. Thanks!
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    zitiqueenzitiqueen member
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    alhaley88 said:

    My Fiance and I are getting married in a hotel ballroom, but half is being used for the ceremony before the reception. Do they leave the tables together and set up in the closed off half and then just slide them over or do I need to be prepared to have someone (DOC or sister or someone) help flip the room over to the reception space? They are doing it at cocktail hour. We are probably going to do all the centerpieces ourselves, so there will not be a florist there to set it up.

    Presumably your sister is going to be a guest at your wedding. Don't make her work. Find out from the coordinator what needs to happen and then hire people to do that. Don't make your guests work at your wedding.
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    MollyandDMollyandD member
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    As it's been said, this is a venue question. I've seen both. As a guest, I enjoyed it more when the reception area was already set up prior to the ceremony. It made transitions a bit smoother. When they flipped spaces, I had to stand around in my high heels while I waited for a place to sit, because they pulled chairs from the ceremony area to use at the reception. In both cases, the tables were already set up with centerpieces and what not. All that had to be moved were the chairs. That's just my experience. Definitely ask the venue and hire a coordinator if needed.
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    alhaley88alhaley88 member
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    Molly&Domenic said:
    As it's been said, this is a venue question. I've seen both. As a guest, I enjoyed it more when the reception area was already set up prior to the ceremony. It made transitions a bit smoother. When they flipped spaces, I had to stand around in my high heels while I waited for a place to sit, because they pulled chairs from the ceremony area to use at the reception. In both cases, the tables were already set up with centerpieces and what not. All that had to be moved were the chairs. That's just my experience. Definitely ask the venue and hire a coordinator if needed.
    What do you mean by this? Are you saying the ceremony took place while guests were at their tables? I don't understand? :/ Noob here. The DOC told me that they are blocking off half of the ballroom and having that half set up so they essentially only have to set up the half that the ceremony will be in (which will hopefully mean a little bit shorter cocktail hour so people can get to their tables). Most of our photos will already be done so we don't have to take a full hour of photos. And as for seating, there will be couches and other areas to sit for guests during cocktail hour, which will be outside the ballroom. Does that make sense? Am I on the right track of what you are saying with a smooth transition? I spoke with the DOC there and she is going to take care of the entire transition so I just have to make sure everything is there for her to set up.
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    Jen4948Jen4948 member
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    edited June 2015
    alhaley88 said:

    Molly&Domenic said:
    As it's been said, this is a venue question. I've seen both. As a guest, I enjoyed it more when the reception area was already set up prior to the ceremony. It made transitions a bit smoother. When they flipped spaces, I had to stand around in my high heels while I waited for a place to sit, because they pulled chairs from the ceremony area to use at the reception. In both cases, the tables were already set up with centerpieces and what not. All that had to be moved were the chairs. That's just my experience. Definitely ask the venue and hire a coordinator if needed.
    What do you mean by this? Are you saying the ceremony took place while guests were at their tables? I don't understand? :/ Noob here. The DOC told me that they are blocking off half of the ballroom and having that half set up so they essentially only have to set up the half that the ceremony will be in (which will hopefully mean a little bit shorter cocktail hour so people can get to their tables). Most of our photos will already be done so we don't have to take a full hour of photos. And as for seating, there will be couches and other areas to sit for guests during cocktail hour, which will be outside the ballroom. Does that make sense? Am I on the right track of what you are saying with a smooth transition? I spoke with the DOC there and she is going to take care of the entire transition so I just have to make sure everything is there for her to set up.
    No, I think she is saying that the ceremony and reception were in separate rooms, and the staff got the reception room set up while guests were seated in the ceremony room or before the ceremony.  If I'm wrong, @Molly&Domenic, please correct me.
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    alhaley88alhaley88 member
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    Ohhh okay. Thanks for the clarification!
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    MollyandDMollyandD member
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    edited June 2015
    Jen4948 said:
    alhaley88 said:

    Molly&Domenic said:
    As it's been said, this is a venue question. I've seen both. As a guest, I enjoyed it more when the reception area was already set up prior to the ceremony. It made transitions a bit smoother. When they flipped spaces, I had to stand around in my high heels while I waited for a place to sit, because they pulled chairs from the ceremony area to use at the reception. In both cases, the tables were already set up with centerpieces and what not. All that had to be moved were the chairs. That's just my experience. Definitely ask the venue and hire a coordinator if needed.
    What do you mean by this? Are you saying the ceremony took place while guests were at their tables? I don't understand? :/ Noob here. The DOC told me that they are blocking off half of the ballroom and having that half set up so they essentially only have to set up the half that the ceremony will be in (which will hopefully mean a little bit shorter cocktail hour so people can get to their tables). Most of our photos will already be done so we don't have to take a full hour of photos. And as for seating, there will be couches and other areas to sit for guests during cocktail hour, which will be outside the ballroom. Does that make sense? Am I on the right track of what you are saying with a smooth transition? I spoke with the DOC there and she is going to take care of the entire transition so I just have to make sure everything is there for her to set up.
    No, I think she is saying that the ceremony and reception were in separate rooms, and the staff got the reception room set up while guests were seated in the ceremony room or before the ceremony.  If I'm wrong, @Molly&Domenic, please correct me.
    Both weddings were outdoors. There were tables set up with centerpieces all ready in one area (under tents at one wedding and in a pavilion at the other), but the tables had no chairs. The chairs were all being used as seats for the ceremony area. When the ceremony was over, guests at both weddings had to either help move chairs or stand around waiting for chairs to be moved. It sucked having to deal with that in high heels, especially outside where my heels would sink in the grass as I carried chairs. 

    ETA: At another wedding, the reception and ceremony were in the same very large room. There wasn't an element of surprise at seeing the reception, like most other weddings I've been to, but there were enough chairs to have reception area and ceremony area ready to go. We sat down immediately for the ceremony, and then were able to find our table during cocktail hour without any waiting around.  
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