I thought I looked over the paperwork closely for our reception venue, but apparently I did not. I just learned that the neighborhood where our reception is being held has a noise ordinance. A noise ordinance that they monitor very strictly. As in, there is a police officer that “reminds” you of it an hour before. We were planning to have the entire reception outside (weather permitting). The music has to be completely off by 10:00 PM! Arg.
 |
Image via Joy Reactor
One cannot listen to music at all if we need to turn it off! When I looked at the timeline for the wedding, the dancing itself wouldn’t begin until 8:45 PM, so this rule was just not going to cut it. As we thought about what to do, Christi had a brilliant idea: have the formal dances and an hour of “family friendly” music on the outside patio as planned. Then at 10:00 PM, move the music and dancing indoors and let the AFTER PARTY begin! This would give the younger crowd a second wind (greasy late night snacks drunk food would be set out as well!). Also, this would provide a natural time for my grandparents and some of the older crowd to head back to the hotel.
A few logistical issues that still need to be sorted out:
 |
Personal photo
Well obviously, something has to be done. Hopefully we can coordinate some up-lighting with our DJ, but we also need furniture to fill up the space. There are some high-top cocktail tables that we could reuse from the cocktail hour, but what we really need is something for guests to sit on. Lounge furniture, baby.
Just to see what was available for rent, I contacted a local company. To rent this five-piece set (including delivery and setup)…
 |
Image via Extravagant Productions
…was $900.
Umm no.
So like Mrs. Brooch, we are planning to turn to Craigslist. It would be fun to have sleek white furniture that would turn the reception into a nightclub, but I am not anticipating finding this. Instead, we will target antique or vintage furniture because:
We won’t actually purchase any furniture until probably the month before the wedding because of storage issues, but some quick CL browsing left me feeling very hopeful!
Image via Craigslist (expired listing)
Image via Craigslist
Image via Craigslist (deleted listing)
Image via Craigslist
Has anyone else gotten secondhand furniture for their wedding? Were you able to resell it afterward?
We actually nixed a venue on our list because of a similar ordinance. Music had to be off at 10:00 pm and since the entire venue was outdoors and required rented tents, that meant there was nowhere to take the after party either! It was a total (for lack of a better word) buzz kill. Glad you guys found a way to keep the party going! Also, those last two Craigslist couches are amazing!
Too bad about the music but luckily you caught the contract fine print this early. I really like the vintage look of the couches (like @Camel, particularly the last two)! How many do you think you’ll need to get? Are you going to do draping as well?
I love those couches you are finding on craigslist! Definite upside to having to move your party indoors. They will make for some great pictures!
I don’t mean to put a damper on your plans, but my immediate thought about buying used furniture off CL was – “OMG WHAT ABOUT BED BUGS?!”. Now, maybe that’s just because I work in a hospital and I’m paranoid about anything bug-like, but bedbugs aren’t exactly the wedding favor you want your guests to take home (nor do you want them invading your existing furniture during storage). This is a very real problem and EXPENSIVE to fix (on par of thousands). Please be careful…
im glad you found an alternative! lots of places have those – makes sense if you’re in the middle of a city, but i’ve always been confused about it when the venues arent close to anything. i love that vintage furniture!
Personally, I would be way too terrified of bedbugs to buy upholstered furniture off of Craigslist. I would rather rent from a reputable company than have to worry about buying something infested (I have also heard that it is getting much harder to sell upholstered furniture on CL for the same reason, something you might want to keep in mind if resale is one of your main reasons for going that route).
I love your CL finds, I can’t wait to see what kind of pieces you use for your after party.
I actually started collecting furniture and painting it months before our wedding. I got most things on CL (some from neighbors).
We wound up selling a lot of it and not using it, but it was so much fun to hunt pieces down, fix them, and paint them.
I love what you’re doing!
I love the idea, and gosh some of the finds are just delightful (I wish I had a big enough house to have all of them). We too have a 10 pm noise ordinance issue. I’m not completely sure what we’ll do yet.
And here I was thinking you were going to hold a silent disco 
next years trend maybe?
Mrs. Squirrel, Tampa, FL Age and Occupation: 25, Genetic Counselor Fiance's Age and Occupation: 27, Graphic Designer/ Engineering Student Engagement Date: March 17, 2012 Wedding Date: May 2013 Venue: Davis Island Garden Club About Me: I am a DIY loving, science dork. I like to eat green peppers every day and I wish all clothes would be made with bows and lace. I moved to the South for grad school and stumbled across Mr. Squirrel, aka Southern Gent extraordinaire. We moved to Tampa, Florida and are starting a new life together. We are so excited to get married! Our ceremony will be in a Catholic church and the guests will then take a boat ride to the outdoor reception. We are channeling a Midsummer Night's Dream and plan to have lots of twinkling lights, moss, and whimsy in the air.
Latest Gallery Pics