Eeek! You’re running short on time before your wedding day and you still need to plan the reception.
Let’s start with why you might have found yourself in this predicament. Maybe your Just the Two of Us Elopement and a nice dinner out, turned into a full-on micro wedding with 50 guests who wanted to tag along with you in Vegas and help you celebrate? I’ve seen it happen.
Or perhaps you’ve been counting on a reception all along, but your short engagement has put you in a pickle when it comes to all the planning in a short amount of time? Either way, we’re here to guide you through how to make it happen.
These are the 4 essential steps for planning a wedding reception on short notice.
Step 1 – Secure the Venue
One of the biggest factors when working with a matter of days or weeks instead of months and years is getting the perfect venue secured. Availability becomes an issue in a hurry if you’re short on time. Your top choices might have been booked out many months ago and your backups are getting snatched up fast. As long as you’re having a micro wedding (50 guests or less) you’ll have a little bit of luck on your side. You’ll be able to choose a smaller yet established venue that has a lot of advantages over a big but empty venue that needs a zillion pieces brought in.
Do This
Look for a venue with in-house catering and decor and furniture already included. The last thing you want to be doing in the last few days before your celebration is hunting down rental chairs and linens. Notice I said “in-house” not “at someone’s house”. It’s sweet of your gramps and gran to offer up their lake house for the occasion, but they do not have the amenities needed to entertain, feed, and host that many people.
Not That
Avoid a venue that turns over the keys and requires you to secure the rest. You do not want to be figuring out how to get a tent, mobile kitchens, temporary bathrooms and run extra electrical cables or add generators when you’re in a time crunch.
Step 2 – Simplify Your To-Do List
Make some decisions about what’s a must and what can be cut. This doesn’t mean slash everything, it means make intentional choices that will create a meaningful experience. Don’t be worried about adding more for the sake of adding more. Put more effort into the pieces that will have the most impact and be the most meaningful to you and your partner.
Do This
One amazing way to simplify your to-do list is to eliminate the research it takes to find trusted vendors. That doesn’t mean gamble without knowing what you’re getting into. It means trust the right people to make the connections and handle the logistics for you. Put your research into finding one good vendor and then trust them to recommend the others.
Not That
Don’t waste time spinning your wheels, coming to dead ends and getting turned down left and right. Leveraging one good connection can be a life-saver. Narrow your decision making to getting that first clutch hire under your belt and then let them connect the rest of the dots. They do this all the time and if you let them work their phonebook you won’t be stuck at the steep part of the learning curve.
Another note on simplifying. Don’t overload your choices. Keep things black and white. I’m speaking figuratively and literally. It’s easy to get bogged down in decisions if you’re debating the merits of a billion different shades of gray. Give yourself the two simplest choices and then pick between them.
Step 3 – Communicate
One of the most frustrating things about operating a reception coordination business is working my tail off, doing everything I can for a couple, putting together an incredible event, and then getting a low star rating or an angry phone call from a disappointed couple. Almost every upsetting situation can be avoided with better communication. When you’re short on time don’t let communication suffer. Communication is SOOOO important.
If you and I have months and months to work together and get to know each other, it’s possible I’ll start to read your mind and see around the corners and over the barriers you haven’t come to yet. But when the clock is ticking, it’s more difficult. This is true for florists, bakers, decorators, chefs, photographers, band leaders…. Everyone. If we don’t know exactly what you want we have to make educated guesses based on what we’ve done in the past for other couples.
Do This
Be clear, be early, and be honest. Tell us your love story and how you want to celebrate it so that we can make it happen.
Not That
Don’t leave us hanging and don’t leave things up to chance. We value all the inspiration boards, wish lists, and details you are comfortable sharing. Don’t worry, we’re here to get you over the fast-approaching finish line with a smile on your face.
Step 4 – Consider The Stress-free Alternative
As I recently shared with couples, planning a short notice celebration takes away a lot of your margin for error or the extra time available for Do-it-Yourself projects, so the better plan is to hire a coordinator who has done this a thousand times. They know what they’re doing, already have experiences and won’t get bogged down by a learning curve. Coordinators/planners are efficient and you certainly need efficiency when planning a wedding on short notice.
Some venues, vendors, coordinators, photographers, florists, and other professionals are more prepared and more comfortable with helping couples plan weddings on a short turnaround than others. If, during your initial research or conversations with a professional, you feel like this sort of thing is out of their comfort zone, then don’t be afraid to cut bait and find someone that can handle the deadline pressure. Do searches for companies that specialize in elopements, micro weddings or small and intimate ceremonies. These are the types of professionals that won’t be fazed by your timeline.
Don’t Panic
Here’s one last tidbit of truth. As wedding reception coordinators, we’re not your last resort, we should be your first phone call. When you reach out to us first, there’s no need to stress. We got you!
Gather After makes it happen so you can make the memories. My team of local experts know all the best spots, work with all the best people and can pull all the right strings. When you’re planning a last-minute wedding reception, get in touch. We’ll coordinate the whole thing from “the soup to the nuts” as my longtime colleague Teresa likes to say. We’ll handle the venue, the menu, decor, entertainment, photography, florals and more. Fill out the contact form below so we can get started today.
