Planning Your Perfect Dry Hire Wedding
Venues like rustic barns, secluded fields, and romantic woodlands are great places for a handfasting. But planning your perfect dry hire wedding is a lot more work than at a venue that does all the setup and catering for you.
So the key to make your dry-hire wedding run smoothly, is preparation.
Things not to forget when planning a dry hire wedding or handfasting
Apart from the obvious, like hire a caterer, a bar, and the furniture, there are things you only realise you need, when things go wrong.
So let’s look at what goes amiss regularly, and how you can prevent it.
1. Oh dear, it’s getting dark
The moment it gets dark, you might realise that the lighting that is installed in the venue, is just about sufficient for an evacuation, but certainly not for a reception.
Look at the lighting that is already there, and think about what part of your day is happening when it gets dark.
If you are only dancing and the DJ brings lights, then you might only need extra lighting in areas away from the dancefloor. But if it gets dark during the sit-down meal, then lack of lighting really sucks.
2. Pumpkins and Carriages
Ok, not literally Cinderella’s carriage! Consider how your (most likely drunk) guests will get back to the hotel after the party.
Once after the end of a wedding I was a guest at, four of us stood in front of the now closed venue. We were waiting for a cab driver, who didn’t know the venue existed…
It was located in the middle of the nature reserve, which of course meant no outside lights. Any attempt at walking back in heels, would have resulted in a guaranteed ankle injury.
It might be worth hiring a coach to get everyone back at the end of your day, or to supply guests with the phone number of a taxi company that you either can recommend yourself or comes recommended by the venue.
Your guests will most certainly appreciate it.
3. Everybody muck in a bit, please!
I have photographed the wedding of a couple of dear friends, and while I loved doing it, it also meant I missed out on enjoying it as a guest. At least until I got to put the camera down and dance the night away.
As a professional wedding photographer, I of course knew this would be the case.
However, guests who agree to look after things during the day as a favour, might not realise how much they will be missing out on.
I recommend to ask gusts and family only to help out with things until the end of the ceremony. Becasue once the ceremony is over, your guests just want to celebrate you.
And the longer the day goes on, the greater the number of abandoned volunteer jobs will grow.
The answer is hiring professionals.
Even if you plan your wedding yourself, you can still hire an On The Day Coordinator, who will oversee that everything goes smoothly.
They will be able to advice if they can run the day on their own, or whether they will need extra pairs of hands. All depends on how much work you want them to cover.
And unless you can leave the bar as self-service, and it is never a good idea if children are around, hiring a bar crew is worth every penny.
4. Rubbish, recycling, waste
Where there is a celebration, there is waste. And I don’t only mean the bins, I also mean toilets.
Don’t forget to hire toilets and stock them with sufficient loo roll.
Sending the best man to the nearest 24/7 supermarket to buy a jumbo pack off bog roll so little Timmy can come off the loo and go to bed, might make a funny story to tell later, but won’t be funny on the day.
Make sure there are there enough bins around the venue. And if you are responsible for emptying them, arrange for it to be taken away the next day or the venue might charge you.
5. The morning after or cleaning with a hangover
You won’t be the only one who drank to much, but you are the only one who is responsible for getting the place cleaned up by 11am. Or whatever time the venue sets. It will always be to early!
Don’t rely on your family and friends to help clean up. None of you will want to do it. I don’t need a crystal ball to know that.
Paying a cleaning crew makes for a much better start to married live than frayed nerves and damaged friendships.
Your dry hire wedding to do list
If you haven’t done it yet, prepare a to do list or a spreadsheet. Whichever one works for your inner geek. Then, add these less obvious things to it:
- Make sure you have lights
- Make sure your guests either know how to get back to their accommodation safely, or arrange transport for after the end of your party.
- Hire professional organisers and serving staff. You won’t regret it. An Your guests are there to celebrate you and with you, let them. On The Day Coordinator will make sure all runs as smoothly without you having to put out any fires yourself. Everyone happy!
- Make sure you have enough toilets, loo roll for them, and bins.
Check with the venue whether you are responsible for emptying the bins.
Make sure all waste and loos that you are responsible for get collected the next morning. - Consider hiring cleaners for the morning after. Be honest with yourself about what the two of you can (and are going to be prepared) to do the next morning, and how much your family and friends might help. Assume the minimum… for your guests and yourself.
Now, there is nothing standing in the way of you planning your perfect dry hire wedding.
If you are still looking for your handfasting photographer, give me a shout and see how I can help you with that.
Bright blessings,
Alternative Wedding And Handfasting Photographer UK and EU
