DIY Brides- Clean up?

I think if we had a smaller guest list, I'd plan on just doing it myself on Sunday and maybe asking family, but our list is close to 300 people.

I can't see having a DOC, I wouldn't trust anyone else to set everything up. But I will check out event staffers, maids, etc

We did the setup and cleanup. I helped set up things with my mom and some family and friends helped setup as well. It was a little too much help. So select who you have you help setup wisely - too many cooks in the kitchen and all that.... My mom and family cleaned up. She didn't want us staying to cleanup afterwards. Again - too much help with that form what i hear as well. People were just shoving things in boxes. Most of our decorations are things I wanted to keep and put up in our house afterward and a few things got dented, etc. So... It's doable but make sure you have a good set list of people that you want to help you and everyone else - thanks but no thanks.

ETA: we had 50 guests and access to the site from 1000am-midnight. Our ceremony was at 4pm. 1000am wasn't early enough to begin setting up - I wanted to be there to set things up because only my mom, FH and I knew how everything was boxed up and what it was supposed to look like... I was late getting ready for the ceremony.

I had to do this for my bff's wedding as well as my cousins wedding. It was god awful. PleasePleasePlease hire someone.

For my bff's wedding we spent the day before setting everything up. There were at least 15 of us and it took several hours and she had a smaller wedding.I started cleaning up during the reception because she had to be out of there at a certain time. It was not fun.

My cousin had her wedding in my mom's yard and we had to do everything. We were setting up while having curlers in our hair in 95 degree weather. Dh had to move hay bales in the same heat after the ceremony while in his suit. He was miserable. Step dad never go to sit down cause no one was hired to make sure the power didn't go out because of the overload on the crockpots. No one made sure the food was thawed before putting it in the crock pots.

No matter the price, it is worth it to hire someone, you do not want to be dealing with this or having friends dealing with it.

We're leaving to "end" the reception and will spend about half an hour just the two of us while guests leave and then go back to clean up with family and the bridal party

ETA: We're having about 50 guests for a lunch reception

My in laws did most of it. We were able to move all of the decorations into the back room of our hall (we helped before we left for the night) and my in laws came back the next morning to pick it all up. I wanted to hire somebody because obviously it was a chore for them, but they really insisted on doing it. Even some of our friends wanted to pitch in so the night of it was done in less than 15 minutes.

If you're doing this without help, I strongly recommend carefully thinking about what decorations you have an not necessarily going minimal but thinking about the logistics from beginning to end, just like you are.

Yeah, I'm a planner so I definitely will have all the logistics thought out and written down.

Hire someone to do it-- I helped set up for and tear down my brother's RD and I was NOT pleased (maybe cause I never got a thank you note for that, or the pies I helped bake, or the gift certificate I gave...).

I did. It wasn't bad. I had some people stay behind and help. It was nice to chat, wind down, etc.

At my friends wedding we had to. It was the wedding party, brides parents and the couple. It wasn't bad.

This is one of the reasons we didn't book with a particular venue. We didn't want to clean up the next day or have to ask other people to help us clean up. So we went with a venue that does everything for us!

My mom is planning a clean up crew for some teens at church to make some monet

We have to clean up after our reception too. Some of our close family has agreed to help us, which I am so grateful for. I have a feeling my mom will just say to leave and they will handle it, but I will feel bad doing so!

I am really lucky and get the venue the entire weekend. We will go clean it up before opening gifts. If it's not cleaned up right we don't get our $500 deposit back

I was MOH in one DIY wedding. The groom and GM set up (with specific instructions from the bride) and then the entire bridal party, their spouses/SOs and the parents helped tear down. It actually went pretty quickly because there were so many hands. The bride and groom did not help- they were immediately on their way to their hotel. In their defense, they were both virgins until their wedding night AND they had an early morning flight to Costa Rica lol. HOWEVER- no one TOLD me I was needed to tear down so I was definitely not expecting that at the end of the night lol. My now-FH was not super pleased that he was also roped in, but since I had to help and we were staying together then of course he stayed too. So if you are expecting your bridal party to help you take things apart, please make sure that is communicated to them before hand!

ETA: Our venue is not DIY but we are bringing some decor items that need to be removed at the end of the night. For example, we bought the vases from the florist (cheaper than renting), there's candles, family photos, guestbook, cake server, toasting flutes, etc. that we need to take with us. My parents are planning to park my dad's SUV in the venue parking lot ahead of time, we'll box it all up at the end of the night, put it in the car and leave it overnight. Our venue is a country club in a neighborhood so it is a secure place to leave a car overnight. The gifts and cards will be coming back with my parents to the hotel overnight, not staying in the car.

We are making assignments for each of our gm and bm's for wedding day. Having parents bring home the gifts with them, having bro in law pick up the flowers, and having others help with taking down the decorations and centerpieces. Having my sister take our kiddos for the night , and just some other small things. We've already asked them all and they've agreed to help out so that way we can leave for our hotel.

Hire someone OR if you are DIYing, get a place that you have for the whole weekend, so you can clean the next morning...

I'm lucky that my FIL's have offered to do that part. We are having a tented reception. The caterer we hired will clean up and pack up all the rented dishes and glassware. They will also clear all the trash off the tables. We will be leaving at the end of the night to stay elsewhere (we're staying at the property where the wedding and reception are up until that night), so the next morning we have to clean up all the decor. It'll just go back in boxes and into the van to go home with us. The rental company takes care of the tent, tables, chairs, linens, etc.