THE VOW EXCHANGE VENUE GUIDE : Arrive at The Recommended Time

WELCOME TO OUR VENUE GUIDE TO GETTING HITCHED WITHOUT A HITCH.

TODAY WE ARE ADDRESSING THE DANGEROUS DECISION TO:
*** ARRIVE TO THE VENUE TOO EARLY ***

Having planned over 1500 weddings, the planners at The Vow Exchange have seen a thing or two. And since we are passionate about ensuring our customers leave blissfully happy, we are sharing our top advice ensuring the ONLY thing hitched at the wedding is the couple!

The wedding day can be a complex day with many moving parts. With several details all circling in for a landing, couples feel the need to pad their day with extra time to ensure a seamless day. In working with a traditional venue, couples are given a full open day to set up & take down. With 10-12 hours of venue access couples are able to make full use of the day arriving as early as needed. The Vow Exchange & The Chapel on The Corner venues however work a little differently. Working off the concept that all those little details are taken care of ahead of time on our end, there is no need to arrive to the venue an hour or more before your event is set to begin. Whereas couples could technically rent our venue for the entire day (if they so desire), it’s the short term 30 minute or 2 hour rental that allows our concept to really shine. Couples are able to arrive to our venue and need only the time they booked. There is no decor to set up, no food to set up, nothing to clean up & no need to pay for extra time in the venue. However, the feeling of needing to pad your time is strong, and for that reason couples feel the need to arrive before their access time to the venue. I mean what’s an extra 30 minutes or an hour right?

HOUSTON WE HAVE A PROBLEM:

Arriving at our venue too early can put the couple, their vendors & their guests in quite the pickle. It’s a problem we have dealt with for years. The couple and their entourage arrive early (sometimes and hour or more) only to find they are interrupting the earlier wedding! There they are, the dress & flowers in hand and no where to go. Then to make matters worse, the groom arrives! So long first look as the bride stands outside in full view of her groom. This is a no good situation on a beautiful sunny day, but we have seen it made so much worse in the case of bad weather. The ONLY place to go is in your car until your access time. Additionally, couples who have tried to sneak in early between events find a messy or incomplete space. At best the chalkboard has the previous couples’s names, the HVAC is off and the candles are not lit. At worst the chairs are disheveled, the trash is full and the venue manager is unavailable to help you & your vendors while they scramble to get the space ready. It’s a terrible experience every single time it happens for the couple and for us who want to focus solely on YOU!

THE FLAW IN THE PLAN:

Our venues are very different from all the others. We are rare in that we allow you the option to rent the space for only 2 hours. In order for this option to work, we will be renting it to up to 4 couples on a single day. Each couple benefits from the HUGE cost savings of a full day rental at a more traditional venue, however the trade off is not having oodles of available time in the venue. Arriving too early for your event will most definitely interrupt one of two things, a previous event in the venue or the set up of the venue for your wedding. It takes our team 30-45 minutes to set up the venue so it looks as beautiful for you as the day you booked it. Early arrivers distract from the set up process resulting in a venue that is not fully set up, temperature controlled or cleaned. Like checking into a hotel, no one wants to get access to their room that is still a mess from the previous guest or missing the amenities you paid for (such as the personalized decor & a room full of lit candles). Lastly, we want to be sure our work is done so we can direct our full attention on YOU. We want to help you carry in your flowers & the dress. We want to help your vendors get their equipment in and set up. However, we can't be available to ensure you get the most of your time in the venue if we are not yet ready to receive you.

OUR ADVICE:

Show up at the start of your venue access time! We have designed the experience precisely to allow the perfect amount of time to get settled, get down the aisle, get married, get hugs, and get pictures. We have literally done this HUNDREDS of times (no exaggeration) and we speak from experience. Our experience is what you pay for when booking our venues, and the peace of mind that you need only arrive at your venue access time to enjoy a perfectly timed wedding with out a hitch .