The little things...

So this is the stuff that keeps me up at night...

Who sets up the stuff at the church (programs, birdseed to throw, guest book, etc...)?

Who takes that stuff when you're leaving??

If you want to transfer the flowers from the Church to the RH, do you ask the florist, or someone who's going from the church to the RH?

Who's in charge of handing the programs to the guests, seating them, getting them to sign the guestbook, handing them the birseed at the end? I was thinking I'd ask my step-siblings to do this because they're not in the wedding but will be there... or do the groomsmen get there early and do all this?

Who takes the stuff from the RH at the end of the night? I'd like to take our talbe numbers.. the card box... idk what else but I'm sure there's more... maybe left over favors and placecard frames if they were forgotten?

How exactly does the segue from the dinner to the viennese hour go when it's being held in another room? the only way I've seen it done was at TWOTY last year, and they did a conga line... I don't think our band will do that...

OH! And when are we going to get to pick all of the food and cake, etc...? The BM said we'd get something in the mail when it's time to come do all of that, does that sound right??

TIA, obviously I haven't been to many weddings


ETA: I've been pretty quick with figuring out all of the lil acronyms on here, but I can't for the life of me figure out what it means to start the post title with 'NWR' All I can come up with is 'NewlyWeds Read'

NWR = Not Wedding Related

We had a DOC who took care of most of the things you mentioned below ... making sure everything was setup. If you don't have a DOC, then maybe your BMs will do it? Not sure ... we didn't get married at a Church. I'm sure one of the other girls will have an answer for you ...

You can ask a family member or close friend to hand out the programs, and someone else to be a 'guestbook attendant' if you want to involve others in your wedding day.

At the end of the night, your Maitre'D or Bridal Attendant will have all that stuff packed up for you to take home from the RH.

As for picking the menu, etc. ... we called our hall to setup an appointment with the Maitre'D for that. It was around 3 - 4 weeks before our wedding.

I had a planner so most of that I didnt deal with...but

The setup of programs, birdseed, etc. is usually dont by your BM/GMs...and can be done by them. handing out the bridseed afterwards can also be dont by them.

Programs are handed to the guest as the GMs walk them to their seats during your ceremony. If you want your flowers transfered-ask your florist-i dont know how often flowers are transferred from church to RH so i dont know.

At the end of your Receptions-your hall will put together all your stuff to takehome, extra favors, cake knife and server, etc. Card Box if I were you i would grab that before you leave or ask a family member to take it.

And yes, you RH will let you know when its time to pick your menu and cake.

NWR means not wedding related...the lingo is at the top of the tabbed screen

Thanks!!

Hahaha, and who makes the chat lingo list??

'EAL - EEK Another Lizard'

This is a great post. I've been thinking about the same thing since I don't have a DOC or Planner.

I've asked my FH's nieces that aren't in my bridal party to be the greeters and hand out programs, birdseed throws and seat people. I'm assuming I'll take that stuff to the church on the day of rehearsal and the church coordinator will give it to them. I have to confirm that though.

In terms of taking things from the reception hall, we'll probably have my family and Fh's family take stuff in their cars or load our car with like the card box and things like that towards the end of the evening.

The food and cake you'll pick like 2 months before the wedding...at least that's what my BM at the RH told me.

That's all the feedback I can give. Hopefully I have thought of everything .

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Posted by bluekat16

This is a great post. I've been thinking about the same thing since I don't have a DOC or Planner.

I've asked my FH's nieces that aren't in my bridal party to be the greeters and hand out programs, birdseed throws and seat people. I'm assuming I'll take that stuff to the church on the day of rehearsal and the church coordinator will give it to them. I have to confirm that though.

In terms of taking things from the reception hall, we'll probably have my family and Fh's family take stuff in their cars or load our car with like the card box and things like that towards the end of the evening.

The food and cake you'll pick like 2 months before the wedding...at least that's what my BM at the RH told me.

That's all the feedback I can give. Hopefully I have thought of everything .

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That's a good point, i wasn't even thinking of the fact that we'll be at the church for the rehearsal the night before...

I'm considering a DOC now though... I think it would make things a lot easier... but I already took the extra $$ we had in our budget and convinced fh to let me have the Super 8 video added to our package... and I booked music for the CH... I'm just not sure if he's going to go for this... maybe I just won't tell him think he'd notice??

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Posted by mandab

Great Post Girls!! Is DOC day of coordinator? It wasn't in the chat lingo section!!

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Yes, DOC = Day Of Coordinator

I def. recommend having a DOC. You dont need someone around for the whole wedding planning process, just to be there on the day of to ensure that things run smoothly. I believe having a DOC makes a good wedding, into a great wedding!

I recommend Christine Viola from Exquisite Affairs. She's awesome and so sweet!

Another one that has stumped me for months....DIY....do it yourself! I could not figure that one out!

Ok my friend had an aunt set up the churck...bows on pews, handing out programs, etc.

I am getting married on site so the Matire'D takes care of a lot of stuff. Thank god!

Also the band/dj usually makes the annoucement that the Viennese hour is open!

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Posted by Jenn04

Another one that has stumped me for months....DIY....do it yourself! I could not figure that one out!

Ok my friend had an aunt set up the churck...bows on pews, handing out programs, etc.

I am getting married on site so the Matire'D takes care of a lot of stuff. Thank god!

Also the band/dj usually makes the annoucement that the Viennese hour is open!

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HAHA I knew DIY bc I watch so much damn HGTV evvvvvvverything on that channel is DIY...

Thanks for the viennese info!


ETA: I'm seriously surprised that damn passed the **** test

1) I didn't have a DOC, but i did have a woman from our church who handled the entire rehearsal dinner, and handled all the stuff that needed to be set up(everyone calls her the wedding nazi lol)...so i guess she was KINDA like a temporary DOC??? Who's running ur rehearsal??? It's usually the same person who takes care of everything - but just make sure. We dropped off all our stuff at the church the day before & like i said, the woman we were working with took care of everything. I guess talk to the church because they may take care of everything but u want to be 100% sure. Afterwards, ur programs are gone, ur birdseed is gone...the only thing left really is the floral arrangements & stuff that the florist sets up...which they come back to after setting up the reception & break down.

2) If ur transfering flowers I'd assume it's the florist. Call ur florist and ask just to be sure

3) Traditionally the ushers(gm) handle seating guests & giving out programs. I actually didn't want to do this...they did help seat guests, but I had two close friends & two younger cousins do the programs because i wanted to incorporate them into the wedding...they were also appointed to hand out the rose petals after the ceremony.

4) Your reception hall takes care of packing up EVERYTHING at the end of the night....i remember the wedding being over & being like 'okay now what do we have to bring home' and our Mairte D was like 'everything is all set for you'...EVERYTHING was neatly packed in boxes u seriously dont have to worry about a thing that day - they dote on u hand & foot!

5) I got married at JT but they brought the Viennese into the same room....if they are holding it in a different room RH's usually just announce it after the cake cutting. no conga line lol.

6) We finalized our menu & everything about two weeks before. Our cake we did a little bit before that because we wanted a special design... so we gave them the info/photos a little more in advance so they could talk to the bakery...the RH is pretty on top of these things...i wouldn't start worrying about this stuff untill the month before the wedding.

hope this all helps!

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Posted by jtgarsik

Who's running ur rehearsal???

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I don't know!!!

I thought we/the priest run that show??

Do you practice everything that night? Like do you go over the part where you walk out, do receiving line, whoever's going to do the handing out of birdseed does it, etc... ?

I did start talking to a DOC, just getting up the nerve to propose it to FH... I'll have to double ck the info she sent me to see if she comes for the rehearsal, b/c i know some of the ones who contacted me do.

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Posted by tcotier

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Posted by jtgarsik

Who's running ur rehearsal???

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I don't know!!!

I thought we/the priest run that show??

Do you practice everything that night? Like do you go over the part where you walk out, do receiving line, whoever's going to do the handing out of birdseed does it, etc... ?

I did start talking to a DOC, just getting up the nerve to propose it to FH... I'll have to double ck the info she sent me to see if she comes for the rehearsal, b/c i know some of the ones who contacted me do.

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call the church first & ask....they usually have someone handle everything. if not THEN i'd move on to a DOC & all that other stuff.... as for what u'll go over at the rehearsal - They line up the bridal party, go through the order of walking down the aisle, where u go, etc....then they go through the entire ceremony - ie: rings, communion(if ur doing so), candle ceremony, readings, songs, etc(pretty much the whole order of the ceremony), and then they go through walking out and lining up for the recieving line...they'll usually go through it a few times so u get a good flow of the order of things...and if there is anything specific u want to go over just let them know(ie: my singers wanted to run through their songs) ...But definetly call the church and ask...because sometimes even if u have a DOC, the church may still say that THEY want to run the rehearsal - and then u'll be wastin' a bunch of money if u're doing the DOC thing solely for that purpose. My church wanted someone from there to run my rehearsal and i just pushed the fact that i already had a 'wedding nazi' that was going to handle everything