Gather Little by Little

The following is a guest article from Tina who blogs with her sister at Frugal Sister. Frugal sister is written by Tina and her sister Margaret who are helping each other learn to cut the costs of daily living and save money. If you enjoy this article, make sure you head over and subscribe.

It seems that there are now two wedding seasons in a year, Spring and Fall. The fall wedding season is fast approaching and I have some tips for a smoother and less stressful reception. Here are some fall wedding season tips:

In the last year a candy bar has become the fad instead of appetizers. A buffet table or tall round tables decorated with the latest chocolates and hard candies for everyone to enjoy while watching a slide show of the Bride and Groom on a 24” TV (or larger).

Have a corner for the younger children. This is one tip that everyone seems to forget. Have a child table with child size chairs in a corner covered in white paper so that the children can draw or color. Encourage the parents to bring the child’s toys and have something set up to keep them entertained. This helps keep the screaming running child from knocking over the beautiful and expensive wedding cake to the floor.

If there are going to be children at the reception, consider having child safe tables with electric tea candles instead of real ones. You really don’t want to evacuate the building and have the sprinklers go off on your beautiful decorations.

Provide food for children. You may want to suggest that the parents stop by McDonalds on the way to the reception hall or have special children meal made by the caterer. Another way to keep the child from throwing food, that they refuse to eat, at the snooty Aunt or Grandmother that complains loudly about unruly children and of course the drunk brother-in-law thinking that someone has started a food fight and joins in.

Coordinate with the DJ or Band and the venue to set a time to set up and to stop the music to have enough time to tear down so that you are not charged extra for keeping the manager of the venue longer than scheduled. Get the schedule in writing for your own protection. My husband and I are DJs and have run into a problem where one person said that we could take as long as we wanted to tear down, but when it came to the evening we were yelled because we were there an hour after the manager was suppose to have locked the doors. The manager threatened to charge the couple extra money for her time.

Put a responsible person in charge of walking through the venue after most people have left to gather all the forgotten items. This will give one central person for lost and found calls the next day.

These are just a few tips that I have gathered through my experience as a DJ and working at a number of weddings and parties.

What great tips do you have for those getting ready to walk down the aisle over the next few months? How about locations? How do you deal with the colder temperatures?

Photo by: tobo