The Venue (decorations) and rooms

To complete the whole ‘venue’ package the final thing to secure is the decorations of the venue itself.  Here is where you can really let your creative juices flow.  The first step is to take a really honest look at your venue.  The best decorative embellishments I have seen are those that seamlessly match the ‘style’ of the venue.  So for a contemporary venue, the contemporary decorations and for a classic/period venue then a vintage look works very well.  Having said that, I nice eclectic mix of old and new can also look very striking.  For those new to the whole wedding planning scene here are a few basic things you can expect to have as decorations:

·         Flowers for the tables

·         Table covers

·         Chair covers

·         Napkins, paper or cotton.

·         Seating plan

·         Name cards for the table

TIP: Where you can try always ask the venue if they could supply these to you free of charge.  For weddings they will want to charge you extra for the use of table cloths and napkins.  However, any decent venue is likely to have all these ‘in stock’ for corporate events and Christmas parties, if not then they are also likely to have better deals with suppliers.  Also, a good point here is to remember what the venue told you when they were justifying the increased menu price from standard event to wedding.  They are more than likely to have said they have additional costs associated such as, table dressing.  Catch them here if they then request you are paying extra for cloth napkins, name cards and printed seating plans.   If they won’t absorb the cost ask if they can let you have them for cost price. This could save you about £500.

These are the basic things, and you can do much more such as:

·         Star light back drops

·         Swags

·         Fairy lights

·         Bunting

·         Lanterns

·         Disco floors

·         And much more…..

You can out-source all this to a company, who will take care of it all.  In south Yorkshire the price for this (as of 2013) is £1000-£1500 per venue.  However, as this is the ‘hand crafted’ wedding I am here to give you some tips about how to do it yourself! With some useful links to other peoples Vlogs, which I have found useful along the way. Keep reading this blog to find out more!