Planning Checklist For Your Dry Hire Venue

 

Planning a wedding within a dry hire venue requires thorough planning, a good eye for detail and the ability and time to address the logistical challenges associated with planning a wedding within a blank canvas venue.

When arranging a wedding within a dry hire venue it will fall to you to arrange the hire of equipment and all services you need to ensure your day runs smoothly. Whilst this offers couples the scope to plan a wedding which is unique and personal, the task in hand should not be under estimated. With many couples unaware of the level of planning and commitment required to ensure their big day runs smoothly.

A dry hire venue’s flexibility offers couples an abundance of creative opportunities which generally aren’t possible with a more traditional wedding venue. But, as to be expected this attracts increased planning, organisation and considerations.

So today I am very excited to be sharing with you a checklist for couples who have booked or are considering booking a dry hire venue for their wedding day.

What’s included

In order to avoid any last minute confusions check and double check what is included within the venue hire charge. Typically you will be hiring the venue only which means you will need to consider hiring furniture, a dance floor, bar area, catering equipment and in some cases lighting and toilet facilities.

Hire timings

You will need to consider the hire times included within the hire fee carefully. Remember you are working with an empty shell, so it will take a little longer to set up a dry hire venue than a venue such as a hotel or manor house. You should therefore ensure that the hire period gives your suppliers the time required to style and set up the venue. Remembering that in many cases this will involve the delivery of furniture, the laying of a dance floor, the delivery of your catering equipment and possibly mobile washrooms and a generator.

In order to ensure your set up runs smoothly you should put together a detailed schedule and share this with each of your suppliers. This will ensure everyone is aware of their allocated set up time and will help minimise misunderstandings. For example, there is little point in your florist arriving to set up your table centrepieces at 8.00am if the tables are not arriving until 8.30am.

If at all possible try and negotiate access to your venue the day before your big day. This may not be possible if they are hosting another wedding, but if the venue is available then paying a small additional fee will be money well spent.

Having the option to arrange delivery of your furniture and other large items the day before your wedding will allow your suppliers to begin setting up earlier on your wedding morning, which in turn will ensure your set up runs to plan.

Staff

Unlike venues who offer wedding packages, more often than not dry hire venues won’t include staff within their hire fees. You should therefore discuss with each of your suppliers the tasks they will be carrying out on your wedding day.  Check that your caterer will be setting your tables on the morning of your wedding, whether they will be running your bar for you and packing away all tableware at the end of the night. You should also consider who will ensure that you your day runs smoothly, as it is highly likely that a wedding day co-ordinator will not be included, as well as additional staff members such as parking attendants and security.

Waste Removal

Often overlooked, but something that needs to be considered. Always check with your dry hire venue their policy on waste removal and if they provide wheelie bins for your suppliers to store waste throughout the day.

The majority of venues will request that you arrange for all waste to be removed. Although some suppliers will include the removal of their own waste within their fee. So be sure to look into this before your big day.

I hope you have found this blog post helpful and that it has provided you with lots of helpful tips to ensure the planning of your wedding and the big day itself runs smoothly

However, if you’re planning a wedding within a dry hire venue and require assistance with planning your big day or the co-ordination of your wedding then please do get in touch to see how I can assist you.

Image Credits: Terri & Lori Fine Art Photography & Film

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