Room Turnover
In February we returned to Froyle Park for the first time in a little while. It is a venue we are extremely familiar with, we have worked there plenty of times before.
Our lovely couple chose to have both their Wedding Ceremony and Wedding Breakfast in the same room. Froyle Park do actually provide different rooms for both purposes, however their Ceremony room was not large enough to accomodate the number of guests our cliens had.
We are quite experienced with room turnarounds where we turn around the same room being used for the Wedding Ceremony for the Wedding Breakfast and I have to say, it certainly is a tall order. Especially given the time constraints of a wedding day. This is the second time we have undergone such a project at Froyle Park. Pleased to say that thanks to my amazing team, yet again, it was a success and our clients were extremely pleased with how everything turned out.
Here are a 6 things that must be considered if you are going to have a room turnaround at your venue:
It is important to have very clearly assigned roles for who is doing what. Who is packing away the chairs from the ceremony and clearing away perhaps the wedding programs and any confetti. When it comes to setting up the Wedding Breakfast, who is responsible for placing the menu cards and place names, favours and place settings? You don’t want it to be the case of the Decorating Company assuming the Coordinators are taking care of something but the Coordinators think the Wedding Venue have it sorted. However the Venue have left it to the caterers. With time pressures, you do not want to have efficiency compromised with unnecessary confusion regarding such matters. Clarity is key.
Here at Afmena Events we require 2 hours minimum for a room turnaround. It is imperative that you are realistic with the expectations on your vendors with making the magic happen. However also bear in mind, that if the Wedding Ceremony is running late, this will have a knock-on effect on the room turnaround. It is not fair to then expect your vendors to complete the same work in less time just because the wedding ran late. This type of pressure can result in mistakes happening and finishing touches being left incomplete.
If your guests are going to have to wait around for at least 2 hours to facilitate a room turnaround, it is a great idea to provide them with enough beverages, canapes and entertainment to keep them sweet.
As much as it is not imperative, it does help if you are using vendors who have experience working together. This can help to ensure the smooth running of the transition.
An experienced stylist will advise you that it is best to style your ceremony with it in mind to be able to repurpose the items afterwards for the Wedding Breakfast. So for example, for this wedding, the same arch we used where the Bride and Groom exchanged their vows, is what we used to frame the couple for their Sweetheart Table. Likewise with the floral arrangements that aligned the Ceremony Aisle, we then repurposed them as centrepieces for the Wedding Breakfast.
You will need to bear in mind that where you save money on decor (with your items being repurposed) you will spend on staffing. It takes an army of workers to turn a room around in 2 hours (with a dancefloor and staging, for 250 guests we needed 15 staff members) and then of course you have to bear in mind that the staff are working a 9 to 5 shift pretty much and will need to be paid accordingly.
To have a conversation about your room turnaround, the ideas and logistics, feel free to give us a call and we can talk through the details: https://www.afmenaevents.co.uk/contact-us We have plenty of experience and know what we’re talking about. :)
Afia Bayayi x