For those doing DIY set up, decor....

This might sound crazy, but I teach high school and I'm hiring my student council president and secretary to set it up. They will have graduated by then, but I know they can handle it based on all the events we've done for school. All they have to do is set up my center pieces and a few side tables. I'm going to do the church before the dress rehearsal the night before.

I'll have them set up at 2:00 and our reception starts at 6:00

Right now my biggest plans are the centerpieces. Im not sure how anyone could transport them - completed - the to venue so we're just going to put peices together that day.

We're going to put the vase-filler stones into plastic baggies, one for each centerpiece, rubberband the silk branches together (also one set per table), then put everything together the day of, on location.

I am having my moms friends set up and my Aunt and Uncle. I am planning on taking pictures of my centerpices set up so they can see what I want.

Thankfully our venue is giving us 2 days before the wedding to set up! I've got 2 aunts, 2 cousins, MoH, Mom, 2 Grandmas, and 2 FSIL, plus me of course who will be up there setting it up!

This is something I haven't quite figured out, and its a bit stressful! I'm thinking of asking a few girlfriends who aren't in the wedding party...and maybe a few men if I map it out for them???

Yeah..the timeline of things is one of the things that keeps me up at night haha. We moved the wedding closer to home so that's a little better. We might be able to set things up the night before..but it depends if the place has something happening.

I haven't completly done my timeline yet, but I have inlisted (and still taking offers) my WP and friends to help with the set up. We will either do it the night before, or early in the morning with a break for us to rest and get ready. I need to hammer those details out. I purchased some storage tubs from Walmart that are wide enough and deep enough for the centerpieces to go in and put a lid on so they can be stacked. I may need to purchase more, but that's how we'll get them transported.

I have a trusty group of church ladies to help me set up. we also get the venue extremely early in the morning and the wedding wont start till 6 pm so we will have plenty of time to set up I plan on at least being their for a little bit of it

I set-up my hall the friday morning before my wedding. My wedding had 150 guests. I had my mom, aunt, cousin,and MOH help. We knocked this out in about 3 hours. You can see the kind of DIY I did and how much we set-up here http://happinessiscreating.com/my-wedding/

We are having our wedding & reception at a local park. I rented the shelter for the night before so we can have rehearsal and then decorate for the reception that night.

For the wedding, we reserved the picnic area where the wedding will take place starting at 7am. Not a lot to do for that. FH, BM, GM will set up chairs, put chair decorations out, set up sand ceremony table, guest book table and a tables to hold the programs, fans & sunscreen.

I have a good friend at work who will "oversee" the guys and table placements, etc for me : )

I had originally enlisted 4 family members to set up the morning of until we switched venues. Luckily my new venue only rents from Friday to Sunday and my wedding is on a Friday. They are letting us come throughout the week during to slowly set up as we please, which works for me because I never wanted to relinquish control in the first place!!

I'm having my BM's, parents, and a few friends help setup the chairs and tables the night of rehearsal. Our wedding will be outside and our Pastor's home, so I can't decorate til the next morning. Then the day of myself and anyone there early enough will decorate before getting dressed. We''ll start decorating around 9 then have our hair done around 11 with pics at 2:45, and ceremony with reception to follow start at 5.

My plan is similar to Sue P. - we didn't rent a shelter the night before but we will be able to practice. Im just worried about setting stuff up the night before, because although the park is very hidden, what if some hoodlums like to hang out there and they mess everything up? We may just have a whole bunch of people just set up in the 3 hours before the wedding, get ready in an hour, and have everyone back and relaxed by the time the wedding starts at 10ish

Since we're doing a DIY backyard wedding/reception (to cut cost) at one of the rental units within the resort & it's a destination wedding we plan to have a 2-3hr. intermission after the ceremony. This way while we go for photos etc. the guest will have an opportunity to take in the town of Bethany Beach, Delaware, change clothes (if they need to) for the White Party reception, nap, shop &/or visit one of the many beaches along the coastline. There will be a welcome package that will contain a list of places to see & things to do nearby. I have a WP (FSIL) but I'm not sure who else she'll be recruiting to help w/setup. I know we're going to get there 1 day before to get the bulk of things set up & the rest will be up to the WP discrection of how to delegate.

Right now im planning to set up the church the night before, and my ceremony starts at 1:30 the next day so i will start setting up the reception at 7 or 8. it shouldnt take too long because im presetting everything into cardboard boxes so its really simple to just take it out of the box, put it on the table. the tables and chairs will already be set up.

@PurpleSun - the shelter for the reception is fully enclosed and locked when not in use, so the park ranger will unlock it for us when we get there Friday afternoon/evening and lock it up when we are done decorating. Saturday he will unlock it when we are ready to have caterers' etc come in.

Wedding is Sat. We get the venue on Weds and turn the keys over to them on Sunday night. It was so worth the extra cost. We have a lot of family coming in and we will use it for dinners weds and thurs and sunday brunch.

Start the Earlier the better!!!! You never know if things will run over longer than you expected. Take pictures of your set ups... leave notes/instructions for your helpers. Have the Men help with the set up. Or an Aunt and your cousins. The bride and her mother should be pampered at the salon before the wedding, not sweating up a storm doing set ups. Arrive at the venue 30 - 60 min before the guests arrive to give a last look over and direction on how to "fix" anything.

The venue did our set up. We used the venue's free linens, free centerpieces, and all they had to do was set 1 favor at each place setting for us.

Meghan H. ~ WOW!!!! I LOVE your wedding, thanks for sharing!!!!

I have a day-of coordinator, and a wonderful WP and parents who plan to set it all up. We cannot access our space until noon, and our ceremony starts at 4pm. Luckily, all the tables, chairs, linens, and tent will already be set up before noon by our venue, so all we have to do is put the centerpieces and other decor out.