So often in wedding planning, we focus on the styling: the flowers, the colour scheme, all the beautiful bits that we love to swoon over. And they’re loads of fun! But also, there’s a whole other side of it too – numbers, logistics and more. This month, Revelry Events are bringing their top wedding planning tips about venues, buying in alcohol, and dancefloor size…
“You may have heard that we’ve written a book. Yep, we put all our wedding knowledge down on paper to help you plan your own rulebook-free wedding for just £3.99 – which is way cheaper than hiring us to do it. I mean, we’re really good so you can still hire us if you want, but if you’re looking for some insider knowledge without having to interact with us, then this is the book for you…
We’ve picked out a few of our favourite excerpts from the book to give you a sneak preview of the goodness you’ll find inside:
Venue wedding planning tips: how to find them
- Ask friends! Someone’s cousin’s friend’s neighbour got married somewhere you might like. It’s definitely worth a go.
- Instagram – follow some wedding suppliers you like the look of to see where they are working. Follow specific geographical tags like #london-wedding or #cotswoldswedding to see if anything new comes up.
- If you’re looking in a specific location, search ‘venue’ or the type of venue you’re looking for in Google maps, it will throw up various spaces that might not be listed in other directories.
- Council websites will have a comprehensive list of which venues in their area are licensed for civil ceremonies.
- Check directories. Some are a bit of a free-for-all, but there are a few good venue directories out there that are easy to use with great options.
Things to check before booking your venue
- Check what is included and not, so you aren’t being charged extra for things that you thought were part of the venue hire
- Look for hidden fees like penalties for late payments, post-event clean up, overtime of staff or security
- Make sure VAT has been added already, because that could be a nasty surprise
- Find out when other payments are due so you can have funds ready to roll
- Make sure you’re comfortable with their postponement and cancellation policies
Alcohol Wedding Planning Tips
So if you’re buying your own booze, how much do you need so you don’t over-order — or worse, run dry?
Arrival drinks
There are 6 full glasses of prosecco, Champagne or sparkling wine in a standard 750ml bottle. Allow for 2 glasses per adult for an hour long drinks reception — at least 40 bottles for 120 drinking guests. Add another glass if it’s going on for longer.
Meal drinks
Allocate half a bottle of wine (3 glasses) per guest and have enough for an extra glass if your meal might stretch longer than 2.5 hours. If the bottles are left on the table, you may need to allocate more per person, since self-serving guests do tend to be more generous pourers.
Typically, the preference between red or white is 50/50 amongst guests, but in the warmer months it will swing more towards white, or even rosé.
Evening bar
A good rule of thumb is to estimate 1 drink per guest every hour after the meal, so calculate how many hours of drinking you’ll have once dessert is cleared – typically 3 or 4. In general, guests drink more red wine at an evening reception than during the day.
Wedding Planning Tips for Dancefloor Size
If you need to hire a dance floor or mark out an area for dancing, how much space do you need?
Typically you can assume about 30-40% of your guests are throwing some shapes at any given time, but round this up if you’ve got a lot of party animals coming, or down if it’s an older crowd or you’ve got other activities going on at the same time. Not all companies hire out the same dance floor sizes so this isn’t an exact science, but here’s a rough guide:
100 guests = 40 dancers = 12x12ft dance floor
150 guests = 60 dancers = 15x15ft dance floor
200 guests = 80 dancers = 18x18ft dance floor
250 guests = 100 dancers = 20x20ft dance floor
And that my friends, it’s just a fraction of the jam packed golddust in the book, but hopefully enough to help you on your wedding planning journey. Want more? Of course you do, it’s flippin’ fantastic. You can order a copy at Amazon now!”
