Planning your 2021 Wedding

Congratulations! You’re engaged!!

This is such an exciting time in your life, and a huge milestone to celebrate and enjoy. You have an amazing journey ahead of you in the lead-up to your wedding day, and we couldn’t be happier to be a part of it. We totally get that wedding planning can often feel overwhelming, time-consuming, and just plain confusing at times! Throughout this blog we hope to help you on your wedding planning journey and make the process a little easier. Keep reading for some helpful planning tips, creative styling inspiration, practical checklists and much more to get you started with your wedding furniture and decor hire. Enjoy!

Choosing your venue is going to be one of the first priorities you have, so many options to choose from. Do you get a marquee, find a community hall, or an established venue in your favourite place? We have a few great blogs to help with these decisions. Planning a marquee wedding, we’ve got you covered. Need to know the best costal venues, check them our here.

Not sure whether to have a sit down wedding or cocktail style? This can play a large part into the decision making process as well. We love both! but understand that doesn’t help you to decide, head over to this blog where we list the pros and cons of each style for you.

We love forecasting upcoming trends and keeping our finger on the pulse when it comes to all things furniture design and modern wedding styling. Finding inspiration and creating a concept for your big day can be overwhelming – follow the link here to see some of our favourite wedding styles all put together in one handy style guide to get your creativity flowing!

With so many different suppliers to research and book before your wedding, where does furniture hire fit in? This is a question we receive often from our couples, and it really depends on both your wedding date and the style of your event. We always recommend booking in your key pieces as soon as possible, but also have flexibility for those smaller items you might want to add closer to the day.

Remember, the wedding industry is seasonal and weekends do get busy, so you definitely want to give yourself enough time to lock in your furniture and decor to avoid missing out on your first preferences. If you’re wondering when exactly to secure your furniture hire order, see our helpful timeline below as a guide to get you started!

10-12 months: Dining tables and chairs

If you’re planning a sit-down wedding reception, dining tables and dining chairs are the first key pieces you’ll want to lock in ASAP. This is especially important if your wedding is being hosted on a weekend, after a public holiday, or any time during peak season (usually autumn and spring).

8-10 months: Cocktail furniture and backdrops

Whether you’re planning a full-blown cocktail reception, or a relaxed cocktail hour before dinner, you’ll need to organise some occasional seating for your guests. We recommend securing your cocktail furniture at the 8-10 month mark, including dry bars, stools, service bars, lounges, sofa packages, cafe tables and ottomans. This is also a good time to secure any of those one-of-a-kind statement pieces like backdrops, drink carts, signing tables or ceremony arbours. If we only have 1 or 2 of each item, it’s first in best dressed!

6-8 months: Tableware and catering items

At this stage, you should have a pretty good idea of what your menu will look like (for example, alternate drop vs feasting style), and the kind of beverages you’ll be serving throughout the day, so you can move forward with securing your catering items. This is where you’ll want to book tableware such as crockery, cutlery, glassware, napkins and charger plates. Remember, we have our 10% reduction policy in place for all tableware dependant on RSVP’s, so you can always amend your numbers closer to the date.

4-6 months: Decor, textiles and accessories

By now, you probably have a clear “vision” in mind when it comes to the style of your wedding, so you can finalise your hire order with any additional styling decor to help you bring this to life. Think about items like rugs, cushions, vases, candle holders, cake stands and accessories to pull your overall look together and complete your setting. This is also your chance to triple check that nothing has been overlooked or forgotten.

1 month: Finalise guest numbers

With 4 weeks to go until the big day, you should have now finalised your RSVPs and can update your quantities accordingly. Once that’s been done, you can finalise your invoice and relax knowing that you have everything you need to deck out your wedding! Organising your wedding in less than 12 months? Don’t stress; we have a huge inventory range and will always do our very best to accommodate your preferences – no matter how last minute! We can suggest alternative options and make suggestions to help you create the perfect hire plan for your day.

We love being apart of weddings, working from the Gold Coast to Byron, Brisbane, the Sunshine Coast, South to Coffs Harbour and beyond! With our years of experience in the industry there’s so much more we can share with you. Get in touch with our team for a copy of our latest hire catalogue, or to chat through your wedding ideas.