What to do if it rains on your big day

What do you do if it rains on your big day? It’s the thought we all have when it comes to planning any event, especially if it’s outside. Especially if it’s a wedding.

Unfortunately, for couples in the UK, it’s hard to tell what the weather is going to do, not matter what time of year it is. Damn our unpredictable British weather, ey? While we can’t control the weather, we can definitely share some advice and do a little sun dance on the morning of your event…

  1. Shelter those guests

Hire a red carpet (or whatever colour matches your theme) and a marquee walkway to shelter you and your guests from the cars into the venue. They look snazzy and will keep everyone dry and happy.

  1. Provide a basket of umbrellas

Buy a white tin bin and fill it with pretty umbrellas for your guests to use. You could write on a chalkboard, “For rain or shine”. They also add to gorgeous wedding photos, if it’s raining or sunny.

  1. Have stands and buckets

If it is raining, your guests will have wet coats and drippy umbrellas. Make sure they’re not draping them over your beautifully decorated chairs and pop some coat stands near the entrance and buckets for umbrellas.

  1. Bring in the blankets

Buy a few blankets, roll them up, tie some string around them and pile them up in a wicker basket. They look beautiful and will keep your guests warm and cosy if it’s cold and raining outside.

  1. Light me up

Hire a large open fireplace for an out of season wedding and keep everyone warm. We could even bring in some warm, mulled cider to keep everyone’s insides warm. Yummy!

If you need some help sourcing and hiring for your wedding, even if it's just a bucket of pretty umbrellas, contact us today.

by admin

How much booze do you buy for your wedding?

While planning your wedding, you will hit a fair few brick walls. How much booze to buy is usually one of them. Let us try and help you...

What to buy

First things first, decide exactly what alcohol you'd like to buy. Sit down and write a list of all liquids you think you need. This will depend on your venue as some venues provide, for example, a glass of bubbly before the reception or a bottle on each table. However, if you are providing the whole thing, day and night, or have been asked by your bar hire company what you want, you'll need to decide early on, for the sake of your budget.

A free bar doesn't mean a lot of choice, and your guests will know that. The more you try and offer, the more expensive and difficult it'll become. We suggest wine, beer, select spirits, and soft drinks

Your shopping list could consist of the following:

  • White wine
  • Red wine
  • Lager
  • Ale (preferably real, from a keg)
  • Vodka
  • Gin
  • Whisky
  • Mixers and soft drinks (cranberry juice, coke, lemonade, tonic water, soda water, lime cordial)

We hope you agree with us when we say this is the ideal booze shopping list!

How much to buy

It is really difficult to know how much booze to purchase. Buy too much and you'll be drinking lime cordial for years. Buy too little and you'll have guests wandering around with no drink in their hands to clutch, not to mention they could leave your wedding sober (!). There's no solid way of calculating exactly how much you will need, it depends on a number of things: how many guests, how many hours your wedding will be, how wide the choice, and of course, how much you friends and family can drink.

The best way to know how much is to talk to others. Track down someone who has had similar size wedding to you and ask them. Failing that, we've done some research and found this:

One couple had 120 guests and spent £2400 on alcohol:

  • 80 bottles of red
  • 80 bottles of white
  • 60 bottles of prosecco
  • 6 bottles of 1L gin
  • 6 bottles of 1L vodka
  • 3 bottles of 1L whiskey
  • 2 bottles of sambuca

This is excluding beer and soft drinks which they bought from the venue. The also said they did a semi-free bar i.e. after a certain time they charged £1 a drink which they made £300 on. In the end, they said they spent £1900.

This is a well stocked bar that didn't run dry with some pretty hardcore guest, all in all, a successful bar.

We hope this has somehow helped you if you are planning a wedding or party of some sort. We can help stock, organise and run your bar, contact us today.

by admin

Wedding Venue Planning

There are many things that you must consider when planning a wedding, one of the most important is the venue. The venue itself will set the tone for the entire day, and it is certainly something you will want to remember fondly. Pop Up Bar Hire have come up with a list of pros and cons for the most popular venue options.

Marquee Wedding Venue

Festival wedding marquee idea
Source: Boho Weddings

Marquee venues are a complete blank canvas for both bride and groom, meaning that you have the flexibility to tailor the venue to your exact vision.

Pros:

  • Can make it what you want - decor, size, layout
  • Can offer a really big space for larger weddings
  • Unique location
  • The wedding can go ahead come rain or shine
  • Hand picking the bar - this means you can tailor it to your own personal tastes. This is exactly what Pop Up Bar Hire is able to offer! We can advise you on the best drinks to have, as well as ensuring the whole bar is fully stocked and staffed
  • Choosing the catering - get the food you want for your big day! Why not head over to Street Food Warehouse if you're going for a festival vibe (or just love street food) - they can sort out any kind of street food vendor.
Wedding Bar Menu Ideas
Tailor your bar menu with Pop Up Bar Hire

Cons:

  • Whilst marquees can be successful all year round, they are most successful during Spring and Autumn - air conditioning is very expensive, whilst heating can be hit and miss
  • Hiring of other facilities such as tables and chairs, lights, dancefloor, toilets (depending on where it is located)
  • In general, more organisation has to go into a marquee wedding because you have to find a caterers and bar hire, among other facilities. However, at Pop Up Bar Hire we do all the leg work for you, ensuring that the bar side of the wedding at least, runs smoothly
  • It is likely the wedding itself will take place outside which could be problematic due to the UK weather (however, there are indoor options available in many locations)
  • There many not be a huge amount or any accommodation available for your guests

Barn Wedding Venue

Source: marrygrams

A barn as the wedding venue offers a rustic charm with beautiful surroundings and many venues are able to offer extra space for bigger wedding parties or even accommodation.

Pros:

  • Location and surroundings can be truly breathtaking
  • A smaller and more private venue which means exclusive hire is more likely to be an option
  • Minimal decoration is needed as the barn itself still looks gorgeously rustic
  • This venue can be cheaper overall than the marquee option because more often than not, you can get a package deal with regards to food and drink, plus you don't have to think about all the extras such as, lighting, tables, chairs etc.
  • Works with all weather conditions - perfect for the UK

Cons:

  • Whilst some barn venues might offer enough accommodation, this is not guaranteed so can result in a lot of travel for guests (and even yourself) to the nearest hotel
  • Difficult to access if it's in a particularly rural location
  • Less flexibility with regards to food and drink options
  • Make sure to ask about toilet facilities and facilities in general as some only provide porta-loos, and have only basic food prep and cooking facilities
  •  The majority of barns don't have the best heating/air conditioning, so this should be taken into consideration when choosing time of year, particularly for the unpredictable UK weather

Hotel Wedding Venue

Source: The Landmark London

Hotel weddings are becoming more and more popular because they offer package deals. Hotels can produce large (and small) package weddings which include everything from accommodation to catering and the bar. In short, the venue takes care of everything so you can relax (a bit more).

Pros:

  • Every single aspect of your wedding is executed both efficiently and professionally
  • Well established hotel venues have amazing reputations which means you really can put all your trust in them to pull off your perfect wedding
  • Accommodation for yourself and your guests (particularly those who have travelled far) will almost always be available
  • Offering package deals means that a hotel wedding can be the answer for those who have a specific budget
  • Staff will be very experienced so you can rely to ensure your wedding runs without a hitch

Cons:

  • Significant lack of flexibility - they many only work with certain vendors or only offer a couple of menu choices or restrictions on table layout etc
  • There can be hidden costs
  • Lacks uniqueness - if you're someone who has always dreamed of having that unique wedding everyone will forever remember, a hotel might not be the venue for you
  • Whilst they can be great for people on a budget, they can also be significantly more expensive - particularly those well sought after venues

Country House Wedding Venue

Souce: PopTop

Similar to a hotel, a country house as a wedding venue has become another very popular choice. This type of venue is ideal if you're wanting that more formal atmosphere, but have more control over the wedding details.

Pros:

  • More flexibility than hotels to create your dream wedding
  • Exclusive hire of the venue means that it'll only be you and your guests in the venue so it feels more intimate
  • Beautiful location, surroundings and building
  • Accommodation can be part of the package deal
  • Still offer package deals which means everything will be taken care of for you

Cons:

  • This type of venue is expensive, be prepared to shell out a significant amount if your heart is set on it
  • Depending on the size of the venue, accommodation might not be available. Similarly, if your wedding party is too small, then you may not get exclusive access to the venue
  • Can be difficult to find or access for guests
A few things you should consider no matter what type of venue you are going for:
  1. The number of guests - the larger the wedding, the more expensive it will be
  2. Location - take into consideration how far your guests are having to travel
  3. Availability - keep your options open, your dream venue might not be available
  4. Accommodation - is it included? If not, then how are you going to accommodate people?
  5. Parking - seems mundane but it is so important, is there parking? If so, is it private? Is it included in the price? Is it safe? How far away is it from the venue and/or accommodation?
  6. The Bar - is there one? Pop Up Bar Hire offer a variety of different bars perfect for weddings without one.

Author: Georgina Dransfield

by admin