The Takedown

I am going to talk about the aspect of weddings that nobody likes to mention: the takedown. Oh, the dreaded takedown! It is so much more fun setting up a wedding and making everything look beautiful than it is to tear it all down. It’s great to see the months (and in some cases years) of hard work and ideas come to life but taking it all down and loading it out is a completely different story.




Some venues allow you to come back the next day and take down but more often than not, everything has to be taken down the night of the wedding. That means every single chair cover, sash, candle, cake stand, favour box etc has to be out the door. Let’s face it, the last thing the bride and groom want to do is untie 200 chair covers and sashes at 2:00 in the morning after the biggest day of their life! Although your family and friends may not admit it, it is also the last thing they want to do. Weddings are fun and emotional but they are also very exhausting and by 2:00 am and after 4 glasses of wine most bridal parties are spent!



When hiring a wedding planner it is very important to find out exactly what they take care of and what is up to the bride and groom



• Will they tear down tables and chairs if the venue requires it?

• Do they clear place settings, including cutlery and glasses?

• Will they mop floors and wipe down tables if necessary?

• Can they remove empty bottles from the venue and return for recycling?

• Do they charge a minimum of time for takedowns?

• Do they charge extra for after 2:00 am or on long weekends?

• Will they return all of the rentals including those that were not rented through them?



The return of rental items is a very big issue. You might have rented items from 5 different rental companies and they all have to be returned the day after your wedding. Do you want to wake up the day after your wedding and spend hours driving around the city returning chair covers, arches, candles, cake stands etc? Do you even have the right vehicle to facilitate this?



At RSVP Event Design we take care of everything for the takedown and I mean everything! We do not charge a minimum of time or any extra for coming in at 2:00 am. We will come in and untie every chair sash, wipe down tables, climb ladders to remove ceiling draping and even mop floors. We will return everything even if it is not rented through us. It’s not the most glamourous part of our job, but as the planner it is a very big part of our job and we are happy to do it!