The 4 Most Forgotten Things at a Wedding!
Planning a wedding is full on!
There are so many things to consider, especially if you are planning a wedding in a not-so-traditional location.
Maybe your wedding will be held in a barn, shed, marquee, in your own backyard, or a warehouse. These sorts of venues are always so unique and a great chance to design your wedding from the ground up and put your mark on the style and vibe you want. But with that, come lots of considerations you need to think about in the lead-up and on the downhill run toward your wedding day.
As wedding planners, we find our couples often overlook things during the planning process, and we want to arm you with the 4 Most Forgotten things when planning a wedding to help you during your planning process.
4 Most Forgotten Things at a Wedding!
ICE & COOL-ROOM 🧊
Who is providing the ice for your wedding?
If you have a professional bar or caravan bar company coming along or the venue does an in-house bar then they will usually always bring the ice along or supply (but it doesn’t hurt to double-check).
However, if you have a catering company doing a bar or are offering more of a DIY bar set up then you need to supply your own ice.
If you have a wedding planner or coordinator I highly recommend trying to delegate this to them but if you are BYO then make sure you allocate a responsible family member or friend. One that won’t forget or drop off 5 mins before the ceremony leaving your bar team scrambling to cool things down.
And make sure you get enough for the whole reception run time!
Top Tip 1: A good estimate is 20 – 30 bags in winter and 30 – 40 bags in summer for most medium to large-size weddings. Better to get more especially in summer than to have to do a run to the service station or local supermarket.
Top Tip 2: Hire a cool-room! Another important consideration is hiring a cool-room for your wedding. Most DIY-style venues don’t have large industrial fridge facilities and ice and esky's just don’t cut it on a wedding scale to keep that beer cold!
Cool-rooms need to be located somewhere out of the way but also close by to the catering area and bar as the catering and bar staff will be going back and forth lots of times so it’s important for practical purposes.
Make sure your cool-room is plugged in prior to your catering arriving and try to store your heavy cartons of beer and wine on the bottom shelves to allow catering to store their lighter food or cake higher up on the shelves.
LIGHTING 💡
Have you got sufficient lighting?
Often, we remember the key areas like inside the marquee, shed, reception space, or barn but forget what I call the ‘in-between’ or connecting areas.
Is the pathway towards and around the toilets well-lit? Does the catering area or outdoor bar have lighting on it? Sometimes a well-hidden floodlight can cast enough light over a pathway area rather than paying for expensive lights everywhere.
Top Tip: Suggestions for lighting include tiki or citronella torches, festoon or fairy lights, floodlights, candles, or lanterns to light up your spaces or just shed enough light on paths and walkways.
BINS & RUBBISH REMOVAL 🗑
Yes, super boring and gross, but also a super practical consideration at a DIY Wedding.
There is a lot and I mean a lot of rubbish after a wedding. We have done rubbish removal in the past from our couples’ weddings and we are talking about a whole ute load so it’s important to consider the practicalities of rubbish disposal.
Firstly check the policy and bin situation at your venue so you know what is required and if you need to purchase bins or arrange hire or rubbish removal services.
Does the venue have small bins?
You don’t want to have big ugly industrial-size bins and they are not very practical either.
We recommend about 4 – 8 smaller black bins (we have them for hire in our catalogue) to dot around your pre-drink space, near the toilets, bar, reception, and catering areas. They are easier to tie up and transport to the main bin area and not so invasive looking!
Be sure to check what the venue’s policy is on rubbish removal and disposal. Some are fine for you to just leave the rubbish bagged and in skip bins on-site at the property, but others do require you to completely remove all rubbish when you leave.
TOP TIP: Make sure you buy extra strong and extra large quality bin liners, the last thing you want is heavy beer bottles or skewers sticks poking through the thin bags and tearing them up.
HEATING & COOLING ❄️
Have you considered what whether your wedding day may be?
It’s important to consider what sort of weather is predicted and make sure you hire/plan and budget for the appropriate shade or heating.
If your canapé hour or ceremony is in the middle of a hot paddock then hiring 3 – 4 large umbrellas to place over your furniture or grazing table and bar is very important. If your wedding is in the middle of winter then hiring 3 – 4 gas heaters is important to dot around your outdoor spaces to keep your guests warm and comfy.
TOP TIP: Also consider umbrellas for rainy days (you might hire 20 – 30 handheld ones for guests) or some baskets of blankets to dot around to keep your guests cozy during the evening. A basket of hand fans for guests on warm days is also a lovely & thoughtful way to help guests keep cool. These could always double as favours!
It’s super important to make sure you have covered all the logistical and practical things, meaning on the day there are no last-minute dashes to the local supermarket for supplies, or family members running around stressed.
Being as organised as you can with a good checklist in advance means you can feel more at ease knowing nothing has been overlooked.