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Have a plan and stick to it!
- We can’t emphasize this enough: have a plan and stick with it.
- Events are highly choreographed behind the scenes. Lots of people are working together to make them flawless. The best time for changing details is in the months, weeks and days ahead of time not in the seconds before hand.
- Join us on the awesome project management platform Basecamp
- Not only for working with us, but for planning and working with all vendors. With a shared timeline and other vital details everyone can stay on the same page, quite literally. With everyone using shared documents, conversations, calendars, and files, you can cut down on unnecessary emails and (for once) your photographer can have the timeline ahead of time.
- It may look good on paper, but avoid “dance sets” with a DJ.
- These only make sense with live bands that need to take breaks. Let the DJ build up the energy and take people on a seamless musical journey – that’s what we do best.
- Whose wedding is it anyway?
- To put it another way, too many chefs spoil the broth, a camel is a horse designed by committee, three’s a crowd… If you are not saying I DO then chances are it’s not your wedding and the music should reflect that.
- Break events into simple logical blocks
- Blocks such as: drinking, followed by eating, followed by toasts, followed by dancing. The more complicated the event, the less likely it will work as planned. Keep in mind that each time you start or stop a large group of people from doing anything it can add 5 to 15 chaotic minutes to the timeline. This saps momentum (and that magical feeling the event happens effortlessly).
- Food is the anchor of the timeline.
- Hot food is hot when it’s hot. And it takes a certain amount of time to a.) feed people and b.) allow them to eat. If you don’t leave a little wiggle room for dinner in the timeline you run the risk of cold food and rushing what should be a relaxed portion of the event.
- Some venues look good and some sound good. Understand the differences.
- Rooms made with marble, glass, stone, square shapes, domed ceilings, low ceilings (and without any sound-absorbing material like wood or draped fabric) often sound bad when you add large numbers of people and music. If you are using a space that fits this description, consider having your decor vendors add absorbing materials like heavy drapes or thicker table cloths to help the room from sounding echo-y and shrill.
- Can you control the lighting?
- Are there dimmers or light switches you are allowed to turn on and off?
- Sparklers (even cold sparklers) and fog machines are usually not allowed
- They can often set off fire alarms or even the sprinkler systems! Find out ahead of time.
- How loud can your event be?
- Establish how loud your event can be and what time the music needs to be cut off. Some venues (particularly historic venues in residential areas) have restrictive rules about this.
- Which areas can you use and which are open to the public?
- This can be tricky particularly at wineries that like to keep their tasting rooms open as long as possible, even on event days.
- Do all vendors have the same floor plan and timeline?
- This helps tremendously with coordinating everyone.
- Are there grounded electrical outlet where your vendors need them?
- Do they all work?
- What is the rain plan?
- As lovely as an outdoor ceremony is, your guests won’t appreciate it nearly as much in the rain and cold. Let’s keep all those carefully-planned outfits looking crisp!
- Conversely, avoid having guests sitting or standing outdoors in the hot sun, trust us.
- People fainting during ceremonies in the hot sun is not as uncommon as you might think. And it’ll be unfortunately more memorable than your vows.
- Don’t have enough seating for all of your guests?
- Have enough cocktail (read: tall) tables for everyone to stand and eat.
- Is someone from the venue there to help if something goes wrong?
- And is s/he trained to handle every scenario?