Event set-up but most importantly breakdown?

I agree that I'd try to find some inexpensive, but dependable labor who can show up and do this. Daughter was a BM in a wedding, where all the girls were "drafted" for set up and clean-up, and it was really stressful. Because of the timing with the venue, the girls were already fully dressed when they were setting up the water-filled floating candles. It wasn't super hot out, but daughter said before the wedding even started she felt sweaty and her hair was hanging because they were rushing around trying to get everything set up. Even worse was clean-up. They had to empty out all that water from the candle vases; she said by the time they were finished they were all splattered with water and exhausted. Luckily, that wedding occurred well before hers, so by the time she was planning she knew she did not want their wedding party to have ANYTHING to do with set-up or clean-up. I'd look for someone on Thumbtack or think about who you know with ties to any youth groups (e.g., a high-school church group, or members of a HS club or athletic team, etc.) who might be interested in making some money. Good luck!

Right, so I would ask you DOC if her and some of her staff would be willing to help with breaking down decorations and centerpieces for you. That way you and your friends don’t have to worry about it.

I might talk with your DOC and ask if she'd be willing to take on the task of hiring and supervising the staff she'd need to fully handle setting up the decor and cleaning it up again. I understand it's not something she typically does, but if you're willing to pay her for it, it might be a service she'd be willing to try, to see if it's something she might want to add to the menu of options she offers her clients. Daughter's venue came with an event coordinator, but she left at the end of dinner, leaving the venue banquet captain in charge. That meant we needed to have someone to pack up all the decor, etc. We knew we didn't want it to be us who would have to take care of it. Daughter talked with full-service DOCs, but they included a lot of stuff the venue coordinator was already doing for us, so they seemed like a waste of $$$, when we really only needed a small range of services covered. We LOVED daughter's florist (it's her own small business), and we explained we had this one particular need, and asked if she'd be interested in providing that service (not something she typically does) and we offered to pay her about half the cost of what we'd pay for a full-service DOC. She agreed to do it, and it worked out great for us. We fully trusted her, and she got a chance to see how she felt about potentially adding another option to the services she offers. It's probably worth asking before you look for another separate vendor.

My fiance and I have decided to decorate and take things down on our own. My venue is being very sweet and is allowing us access the day before our wedding (there is no event scheduled the day before our wedding), and giving us until midnight to day of our wedding to get everything taken down. The day before we will be setting up before our rehearsal and after our reception ends at 9pm we will take everything down. Our bridal party and our families have offered to help us out. If you do not want to spend the money in hiring a company to clean up (like I didn't), I would ask around to see if you have any friends who don't drink that would be willing to help.