We are in the early stages of planning and we have booked the venue and have...

I couldn't decorate my venue the day before as there was another wedding there. I arranged with our venue to take all our decorations, place settings etc over earlier in the week and they were absolutely amazing, went through everything with me and put it all out on the morning of the wedding. Suppliers who were also setting up on the day eg florist, chair sashes were coordinated to get there early too. It was all absolutely great, perhaps see if they would so something similar. Depends on how much you trust them but we had absolute faith in ours

This is when it's worth paying someone to come in. Many planners will operate this service. It will cost you £12-5 an hour per person but they do everything.
The venue may offer the service too ( for free)

Have a chat with a good friend or family member and tell them how you want it to be... get them to do it for you with a venue staff member... saves you stressing and they'll feel fab cos thwy have a big part in your day! X

I couldn't decorate the day before either but my venue were great and did it all themselves, I had plans of exactly what I had and where to put it and they did it all, there was so so much stuff and they didnot mind at all. I had all of my centrepieces,favours,ceiling lanterns,bunting,a huge memory table,table plan, signs etc.... Honestly there was loads and they got it all right. With my memory table for example what I did was mocked it up at home exactly as I wanted it then gave them a picture of it. there are ways around it if your venue will do the decorations which most venues will X

Normally the venue will do most of the dressing for you, we took all of our stuff the night before and explained where particular things needed to go, took all the place settings as well as a named table plan so they knew where everyone should be sat. Maybe even just send the groom and best man on the morning of the wedding to make sure everything is done properly xxx

Most venues won't let you decorate until the day of the wedding. Can you allocate the decorating to other people who aren't directly in the bride/groom party?

Rope in help. This will take some of the stress off you as they can finish it while you are getting ready.

I had same thing. Get married in April and a few weeks ago was told they'd had a party book for the night before. Luckily I have awesome friends who jumped straight in to offer and decorate it for me. People like to feel like they've helped in way possible so don't be afraid to ask for a favour xx

We are hiring a hall. But we have had to hire for all weekend to ensure that it is just ours and we can set up

Delegate others to do it

I wouldn't rely on being able to do it the day before. They aren't going to turn an event the day before so you could plan to have it done yourself and then last minute they tell you they have an event on, which they would have a right to do. They are most likely not given you a straight answer as they don't want to commit. We had a 3pm wedding and I done the table settings in the morning after the breakfasts. Being prepared was the answer. I got those folding crate box things from home bargains and in each one I put all of one of the table center pieces in the box, favours for that table, name places, table name and a photo of what the table should look like. I done a box for each table. On the morning of the wedding all my bridesmaids went round and empty each box on the right table and I went at the back of them and fixed them into position with a close friend who helped me plan them. I had plenty of time to relax after and felt better that I had controlled it. We had a vintage style wedding and each table had a different centrepiece design. The key is just being organised :) xx

We had to wait until 6pm the night before ours! Luckily we were getting married at my now husbands work place so his manager and myself had been prepared & had several meetings in the run up to the wedding so she knew exactly how we wanted it! Couldn't of asked for a more perfect day TBH x

My venue said we could decorate the day before. We arrived with all decorations in the morning for them to go "we have a function on today, leave all your decorations in the office we'll set them up in the morning" it was ok but not exactly how I wanted it! Whatever they say get it in writing x

wait til nearer the time. We had the same responses but it wasn;t an issue. they moved the breakfasts they had to the bar and they did the majority of the set up anyways. and they did a fab job. a couple of bits were missed but thats because i wasn;t organised enough to give them any written instructions

I'm having the same problem with our reception venue as they show live sports games to the public and ive asked to have everyone get there for 5pm. I've asked some of my friends who are attending the evening reception to help out whilst the ceremony is going on. That could be an option for you?

We had to decorate in the morning due to a Christmas party on in the room the night before, instead of worrying about it we just took it in our stride and stayed calm. I stayed at the venue with my bridesmaids the night before and took all the decorations the night before and in my room. My mum and her friend arrived in the morning as soon as we could get in 8am I think and we just set up, I showed them how I wanted 1 table and the girls did the rest, we took it in turns to head upstairs and get our hair done and really didn't take long with enough hands on deck (ate a McDonald's breakfast as we went) we were married at 1pm with plenty of time to get ready and have photos before. Don't panic it will all be ok :) xx

I actually work at a wedding venue and co-ordinate weddings, we have this question asked all the time. The reason they haven't given you a straight answer is because they don't want to promise something to you and then not be able to commit to that if they pick up a last minute booking, which does quite often happen. However we have appointments with all of our brides and grooms the day before and we go through all of the decorations and items in detail with the couple so that we can set them all up for them as we are setting up the room. Quite often if brides are staying on site they will pop up in the morning and just make sure everything is okay, or they will send a friend to check. My advice with this would be preparation. Do a mock up and take a photo to give to your venue, have everything you need for each table in separate boxes(a box for each table), right down to place cards and table names if you are having them,so that they know exactly what needs to go on each one. For me this is my favourite part of setting up for a wedding and I am more than happy to do it and I'm sure other venues will tell you the same

Keep in mind that if a supplier is putting on the table clothes chair covers etc that will need to be done prior to you doing you decorations/ centre pieces etc so just make sure that they can get in as early as possible xxx

One word. Delegate. Delegate delegate delegate. Make sure you have people around you who you trust and who know what you want, let them get on with it and supervise on the day. You don't want to spend your entire morning decorating when you should be enjoying the day.

It's not common to be able to get in the day before, so I'd just get as many people as possible on board and bang it all out!!

The chances of you getting in the night before will be very very slim. Are there any friends you can ask to help if they do breakfast your not gonna get in there till after 11 id ask friends to go an decorate ask the venue if you can go an do a trial with your friend so they know how you want it.