somethingprettyBy SomethingPretty editorial · Published · 7 min read
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Your wedding booking has several clocks: supplier access, setup, guest arrival, service, music finish, guest departure and final collection. They are not automatically the same period. Build a schedule around the actual tasks and venue permissions, then confirm which supplier owns each one. This guide helps you identify impossible handovers, missing labour and unclear overtime charges before a tight access window becomes a problem on the day.
Start with the venue's exact access rights
Ask for the earliest time suppliers may arrive and the latest time all equipment must leave. Confirm which rooms, loading areas and storage spaces are included. Access to a car park does not necessarily mean access to the reception room, and an event finishing at midnight does not automatically allow suppliers to work until two in the morning.
Check whether another booking occurs before or after yours and how that affects access. Ask about rehearsals, early deliveries and next-day collections separately. If the venue offers flexible access verbally, request a clear written arrangement before relying on it. Your schedule should use confirmed times, with open questions visibly marked. Otherwise a generous-looking plan can hide a booking that gives your suppliers much less time than they need.
Source: ACCC: understanding contracts
Ask suppliers to estimate their own tasks
Send each supplier the proposed layout and venue information. Ask how long unloading, setup, checks, pack-down and loading normally take for your specific order. Let them identify equipment, staffing and access needs. A florist installing a hanging arrangement has a different job from placing bouquets on tables, and a band may need a sound check before guests enter.
Do not reduce every estimate to fit the venue window without asking whether the task is still workable. The answer may involve an earlier access booking, additional paid labour, a simpler design or a different venue. Put those choices in front of you before accepting the service. A schedule is useful when it exposes a constraint, even if the first result is that your preferred plan cannot happen as imagined.
Draw the sequence, including shared bottlenecks
A supplier schedule needs dependencies as well as arrival times. Tables may need to be positioned before linen, centrepieces and place cards can be installed. A delivery vehicle may block the only loading point. A ceremony-to-reception change may require guests to move before staff can begin.
Ask the venue who coordinates that sequence and which tasks cannot overlap. Leave practical space for handovers and checks instead of filling every minute with work. If two suppliers need the same lift or doorway, make a deliberate order. The couple should not be expected to negotiate a loading queue while getting ready. A named coordinator or venue contact should hold the working schedule and know whom to call when a delivery is delayed.
A fictional timeline that fails before guests arrive
Suppose the venue allows room access at 1 pm and guests arrive at 3 pm. Furniture installation takes one hour, and the stylist needs ninety minutes after the furniture is in place. If those tasks cannot overlap, they require two and a half hours. The two-hour access window is thirty minutes short, even before checks or unexpected delays.
The solution is not to label both suppliers as arriving at 1 pm and assume the arithmetic disappears. Ask whether earlier access is available, whether the tasks can genuinely overlap, or whether the setup can be simplified. Price any agreed change. These are fictional durations, but the method works with actual supplier information. Build the sequence from confirmed task requirements rather than the time you hope each task will take.
Keep labour, cleaning and waste responsibilities visible
Ask who moves furniture, removes decorations, washes hired items and takes rubbish away. A venue's standard clean may not include dismantling installations or sorting third-party packaging. A hire company may collect equipment without gathering it from every room. Obtain the exact service rather than assuming collection means a complete reset.
Safe Work guidance treats hazardous manual tasks as a workplace risk that needs management. Do not solve a missing labour quote by casually assigning heavy lifting to guests after the reception. Ask professional suppliers about suitable equipment and staffing. If family members volunteer for light tasks, agree what is realistic and provide a clear handover. Keep potentially hazardous work with competent providers and follow the venue's instructions for equipment and access.
Sources: Safe Work Australia: lifting, pushing and pulling · SafeWork NSW: hazardous manual tasks
Understand overtime before authorising it
Ask what triggers additional charges: supplier delay, an extended reception, late guest departure, delayed collection or another condition. Check the charging unit, minimum block, rate, applicable tax and approval process. Different suppliers may charge differently, so extending the event by half an hour could affect more than one invoice.
Confirm who can approve extra work. A musician should not need to interpret several guests' requests as permission from the couple to extend the booking. Ask the venue what happens if overtime is not available because of another booking or operating restriction. The existence of an hourly rate is not a promise that extra time can always be purchased. Record the fallback plan, including how the event finishes if the schedule runs late.
Plan the night-time handover and next-day collection
At the end of the reception, someone needs to account for personal items, gifts, hired goods and leftover stock. Decide who receives these items and where they go. Keep valuable property separate from general rubbish and recycling. Ask whether the venue permits overnight storage, whether it is secure and who carries responsibility under the agreement.
Give collection suppliers a contact, address, time window and description of what will be ready. Find out whether a representative must attend and what happens if collection is late. Check that the proposed next-day plan works if the couple is away. A family member can help if they agree, but the role should be specific and manageable. Avoid leaving them with an unknown quantity of equipment and an instruction to sort it out in the morning.
Issue one final schedule with clear owners
Put the confirmed version in one place and give each supplier the information relevant to its work. Include arrival points, venue contacts, access times, task dependencies and the escalation route for delays. Ask for acknowledgement when a change affects someone's responsibilities. A late revision should clearly replace the previous version.
Use SomethingPretty to record confirmed access and labour costs beside the venue comparison. Keep the detailed schedule alongside it, because a total cannot show an impossible setup sequence. Review the plan with the venue shortly before the event and identify who has authority on the day. A workable schedule gives suppliers room to do the job you booked and leaves guests free to enjoy the celebration without becoming an unpaid pack-down team.
Check the small items that need an owner
Menus, place cards, candles, gifts, signs and personal decorations can fall between supplier scopes. Make a short handover list showing who delivers each item, who places it, who removes it and where it goes afterwards. Ask before assuming venue staff will assemble favours or transport boxes from a family car.
Label boxes with their destination and the contact responsible, keeping valuable or personal items separate. Photograph an agreed display if that helps the person setting it up, but avoid an elaborate instruction pack for a task that has not been accepted. Check venue rules about candles, attachments and decorations before buying them. A small item can still create extra labour or damage concerns if it arrives without permission. Clear ownership prevents the end of the night becoming a search for somebody willing to take everything home.
FAQ: Does venue hire include setup time?
Only the actual booking terms can answer that. Ask for supplier access and guest-facing hours separately, including which spaces may be used. A venue may offer early access as an extra, a conditional arrangement or an included service. Confirm it before booking suppliers around an assumed start time, especially where another event uses the room first.
FAQ: Can we leave decorations at the venue overnight?
Ask about permission, location, security, collection deadlines and responsibility for loss or damage. A room being unused overnight does not automatically make it available for storage. Confirm whether another function begins before your collection. Keep personal valuables separate and choose someone who can attend the handover if the couple will be elsewhere.
FAQ: Who pays if a supplier runs late?
The answer depends on the agreements and circumstances. First ask how delays are handled operationally, then clarify any extra charges and approval rules before the event. Keep records if a dispute occurs. This guide does not allocate legal liability between suppliers, the venue and the couple; it helps identify that the issue needs a written process.
FAQ: Is it cheaper to do all the pack-down ourselves?
The invoice may be lower, but check what the work involves and whether you have permission, time, suitable equipment and willing help. Heavy or technical tasks need appropriate professionals. Include transport, cleaning and collection costs in the comparison. A plan is not workable merely because it assigns unpaid tasks to people who have not agreed to do them.
Bring the details into your plan.
Use confirmed figures, keep unknowns visible and record the dates agreed with your providers.
Sources and editorial notes
Sources checked 23 October 2026. Worked examples are fictional illustrations. Rules and provider terms can change; check the official source for your circumstances.
- Safe Work Australia: lifting, pushing and pulling ↗
- SafeWork NSW: hazardous manual tasks ↗
- ACCC: understanding contracts ↗
- ACCC: clear total prices and mandatory charges ↗
General information, not an individual legal, financial or contract assessment. AI-assisted drafting with source checks; independent professional review has not been completed. About our guides · Suggest a correction