Setting up reception venue?

Depends. some venues set up, some don't... hiring a coordinator would work too and could help make your day less stressful. Every wedding I've been to the family helps set up, but that really depends on your family

It depends. Everything is going to depend on your venue. My venue handles all the table and chair set up and my florist will handle getting all the centerpieces and other floral decor in place...Some venues and vendors do this, others don't. It's all going to be based on your budget and what you want to pay for. I will say that you are going to be way too busy to day of and the day before to handle a lot of this stuff yourself, and most of the people in your family (parents and siblings) are going to be as well...so I'd try to avoid putting that responsibility on them.

We will probably decorate the reception venue the night before. The ceremony venue does the decorating for the ceremony, so we don't have to worry about that one.

All the comments above make sense. I work at a venue. We set up all the tables and chairs (unless chairs are ordered through a vendor, then the vendor places the chairs). If the client does a package that includes the linen, etc, we will place the linen. The vendors usually place their own items such as specialty linen or flowers. Just check with all your vendors.

I've heard it's easier having a day of planner. I'm not going to have one but I have lots of faith in my vendors and have had many planning meetings with my decorator, caterer and DJ. I should mention our wedding is in my cousin's backyard so lots of preplanning is a must! AND, my vendors and I will be working on the set up starting the Wednesday before the wedding. I am supplying a detailed breakdown of setup and time line. I'm hoping that will be enough.

I'm not super crazy about how everything is set up, I am trusting my vendor's expertise.

That is why we decided to splurge on our venue, because they set up EVERYTHING for us and then take everything down at the end of the night. The only thing we are adding in and doing ourselves is the centerpieces.

As others have said above, all depends on all your vendors. For my daughter's wedding, we set the centerpieces (because she had two different kinds and was very specific on how she wanted them placed!), the venue set up the tables, the rental company set the chairs, the florist finished the centerpieces, and the caterer did the place settings. Took a whole village!

I would talk specifically with any vendors you are using. If no vendors, perhaps family or friends can help you out!

I will be setting the centerpieces up myself. However, my venue did have an option to rent them and in that case they would have set them up (but I didn't like any of their options). So the day before the wedding my family and friends will all get together to help get things set up.

I'll be doing it the morning of the wedding, with some help from bridal party and moms. I'm crazy about where things go and my mom will just do it how she wants if I'm not there so I'm taking care of it. I'm ok with that :-)

We are having our reception in a private room at a restaurant, so my mom is going that morning to set everything up. They offered to do it for us--and most likely have it done when she gets there--but she is super OCD about that kind of thing. She wants it "done right"...go figure...

Check with your venue. The banquet manager at our venue handled setting up all the decorations for our reception. We dropped them off to him with pictures of how we wanted it the Thursday before and they took care of all the setting up and breaking down.

For my daughters wedding this weekend, the venue will set up all tables and chairs where we want them. My daughter and I will get all the above decorating done Friday and I have family members who were begging to help, so they will come in at 10 on Saturday to dress all the tables...that's it. I'm thinking it won't take more than a couple hours because of so many family members available. It's great to have a very large family!!

Set-up and clean-up are included in the fee.

Every venue is different. I would call yours and ask very specific questions about what they will take responsibility for setting up and whether there is a charge.

I'm a big fan of hiring a day of coordinator. A good one is worth every cent.

Our venue only set up what they provided. I hired a planner/coordinator to do the rest and, boy, was she worth the money! Most planners have different packages, so you can get the one that meets your needs and budget. And having a planner meant that my family and friends got to relax, enjoy the day, and just be guests instead of having to work my wedding and be exhausted or miss out on the experience. Just my two cents!

Thank you everyone for all the suggestions!!!! Don't want to make our family set up and I am very picky, so I will definitely be looking into a day-of planner or venue that will set up.

My venue sets up the tables, chairs etc but I am going to have a few friends there to make sure the center peices are set up right and everything else is where it is supossed to be. I am acually going to take pictures (set up in house) so she has her easy to read instructions.

My venue and caterer do set up and tear down ands box up but i hired a ' helper ' because I an concerned that it won't look right. My helper will assist the venues doc in putting together my centerpieces, escort card table and guest table. She will also be packing every thing up at the end of the night (making extra sure that I get the top layer of cake to take home and eat!)

I'm planning on giving her a couple hundred bucks and a meal. I feel like it's worth not worrying over, and I do not want my mom, sister or girlfriends ' working ' on my wedding day. I think they'll have enough of a job trying to keep me calm!