Does it bother you to have staff in attendance during ceremony and reception?

Knottie1448325701 · December 2015

i read a review of a venue submitted by a bride who was irritated that staff was there during ceremony and reception. I didn't see a problem with it and wondering what do brides really prefer.

holyguacamole79 · December 2015

Seriously? Like she was upset that a caterer was there? Or was someone vacuuming during the ceremony?

LondonLisa · December 2015

This makes zero sense. So are people just supposed to wander back to the kitchen and cook their own meal? Were guests supposed to set up their own chairs for the ceremony? Everyone bring a flower from home so no one sees a florist? Was the photographer supposed to wear a sniper suit and hide in the bushes so no one could see them?

Maggie0829 · December 2015

Um, the staff needs to be there because you are having a freaking wedding that they are working.

kimmiinthemitten · December 2015

In attendance, as in they were seated in the rows during the ceremony? I need more information on this chick's gripe because this just sounds crazy.

thisismynickname2 · December 2015

Hell yeah you need staff. For example, we knew we'd have a "dining captain." I was able to let him know to turn the AC up as we were getting toasty, DH informed him when one entree was wrong (my fault transcribing RSVPs), and the dining captain even helped show us how to properly cut our wedding cake (before ducking out of the photographers' way). Since we had the ceremony in the same spot, he even helped with that, which I didn't expect and hugely appreciated.

How strange that someone would not want staff around. What about the empties laying around, dirty dessert plates, whatever?

Oh and, not to sound elitist or crass, but I tend to read this in books or see it on TV-- the hallmark of great help is that they're invisible, right? I'm telling you, aside from the aforementioned dining captain instances, things were just magically cleaned away, organized, etc. I didn't notice staff at all, really.

climbingsingle · December 2015

This has got to be one of the dumbest things I've ever read. Why would you not want staff at your event, making things run smoothly and assisting/serving your guests??

MyNameIsNot · December 2015

I don't get it. I paid my staff to be there, because I needed them to work the event.

I would have been upset if they were not there.

lyndausvi · December 2015

Yeah, I had 2 guys from the tent company in their jeans and sweatshirts witness my wedding. You see there was a very strong storm with 55-60 mph wind and the tent was rated for 65-70 mph winds. So they had to give up their Saturday (1.5 hours away from home, mind you), just to make sure the tent didn't collapse.

We fed them filet of beef and crabcakes for dinner and told them to help themselves to our cocktail hour food (which included sushi, raw bar and other stuff).

At one point I went up to them to make sure they had eaten and gotten something to drink.

Then there were the caterer members around. As long as they were quite and not being disruptive I don't see what the problem is.

At the club there is always a few staff members who witness the ceremony. They are in the back, quiet and turn off their radios. Once the ceremony is over they turn the radios back on and inform the rest of us the guests are making their way to us. The staff that is up there include the coordinator, the couple's point person and some bell staff who shuttle people down to the main lodge in golf carts as soon as the ceremony is over. If they we not around everything would be delayed.

banana468 · December 2015

I'd love to read a link to the review. Does she think that using a venue is like a hotel room where there's no one there? I'm not sure what she thinks is supposed to happen.

julieanne912 · December 2015

I'm confused about this as well.

I had a nice chat with my bartenders during my reception.

jacques27 · December 2015

Ditto on the confusion. I think I'd have to read the review to understand what they are trying to get at. If they mean like the actual people who work for the venue and are working the wedding - then yeah, that's ridiculous to get upset for people doing their job to make your wedding happen.

Now, if they meant that once their work was done they just mingled and partied like they were guests (like the catering staff once the dinner service was over), I could see having a complaint about that. Or people who work for the venue but aren't actually working the wedding (like administrative staff).

The only other scenario I can imagine is if the venue is in an office building. I have two venues near my work - one is an open space where the skyway overlooks down into the space and the other is in a space in a historic office building where all the rest of the space is legit businesses. I could see maybe someone being put off by people still being at work and walking past as these events were taking place, but that's kinda the risk you take when you pick a venue in an office building - people work for a living, sometimes at night and on weekends.

Liatris2010 · December 2015

If the wait staff was cutting it up on the dance floor I'd be annoyed. But if they were serving and cleaning up food I wouldn't be. That what we paid them for!

Does it bother you to have staff in attendance during ceremony and reception?

Does it bother you to have staff in attendance during ceremony and reception? 39 votes

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