After hosting over 120 weddings here, we see first hand the amount of people running around behind the scenes to bring a wedding day together. It’s the hustle and bustle, all the last minute changes and the sheer determination and love of weddings that means you’ll often see suppliers up ladders, working all hours of the night, drenched from the rain, covered in mud, juggling a crying child while editing photos, lugging furniture back and forth, helping a guest who’s celebrated a little too much or even down at the harbour collecting their own seafood in the early hours of the morning- just to make sure a couples dreams come true and it’s a job well done!
We’ve spoken to suppliers across the whole day and we’re looking at exactly how much time and manpower (person power) goes into each and every day. I have to say, I knew it was a lot, but this has come as a shock to everyone! No wonder we all need to double up on the concealer after a wedding season!
We will start with the venue as it’s the bit that we know most about… It’s also worth baring in mind that all the stats and figures shown are based on pre-coivd. We all know how many extra hours of admin went in to postponements and changes!
Venue- Launcells Barton
Support/Communication after booking (6hrs)
Visits x 3 (8hrs)
Admin (3hrs)
Set up (cleaning, venue prep, bar prep, ordering/deliveries, gardening, lawns, maintenance, check-in ect) x 5 people over 3 days (av 120hrs )
On the day 5 people x 14hrs ( 70 hrs)
Clear down/ cleaning 3 people (av 12hrs)
Total 10-12 people hours = 219 hours
Catering- Dish Cornwall
“10hrs of admin per wedding plus meetings and tasters another 8hrs (18) involving all 3 of us,
Wedding itself involves 3 full days of prep (2-3 chefs x 10hrs a day-30hrs)
Wedding day 2-4 chefs + coordinator x 12hrs, (48hrs) 4-8 waiting staff x 10hrs (60hrs)”
Total- 9-12 people total= 156 hours
Photography- Mark Shaw
“1 – 2 hours emails/chat at least, 1 hour pre-wedding shoot, 3 hours travel, 12 hours coverage on the day, 14 hours editing so..”
1 person- approx 30 hours
Band- Cut the Mustard
Admin with clients and band members.- 1 person, 5hrs.
Music prep, learning requests and first dance etc.- 5 people, 10hrs.
Travel- 5 people typically 3hrs each= 15 hrs.
On-site (5:30 load-in, 00:30 load-out)- 5 People, 7hrs= 35hrs.
Total 5 people- 65 hours
Flowers- Bleujen
” Admin, first consultation at least an hour, and then anything up to three hours plus for second consultation, emails and any other follow up calls.
More time is taken in ordering flowers, conditioning and any other prep, anything from 2 to 4 hours for this.
The final making and set up is two days and we will have either 2 to 4 members of the team working on a wedding. (48hrs- 96hrs)
-This does all vary a lot as it really depends on budget, size of wedding etc etc.”
Celebrant – Cornish Celebrants
“General admin, accounting, travel, meetings, phone/video calls,
writing (including research/inspiration time),
printing, and the actual ceremony it works out between..”
2 people –35-40 hours
Hair- Hannah Woodgates
2-6 hrs emails/ chat with bride
2 hours for the trial and then anything from 3-6 hours on the day
1 person- 10-14 hours
Video – Yeti Film
“Couple of hours admin speaking to couples prior to the day. 12 hours wedding day plus travel before and after. Editing roughly 30 hours ”
1 person- 54 hours
Decor & Hired items- Do Me a Favor
6-8 hours Physical prep
6 hours admin/meetings/ emails
4-6 hours travel, set up and take down
Total 2-3 people 16- 20 hours
Cake- Peboryon
Emails & Quotes- 2hrs
Sketch- 2 hrs
Consultation- 2hrs
Tasting- 2hrs
Baking average 3 tier wedding cake- 11-15hrs
Delivery set up- 2hrs
1 person- 20-30 hours
Make up- Gemma Sutton
Communication/support 2-3hrs (1-2 people)
Admin 1hr
Travel- can be hours, can be days if it’s international. Avg 4hrs
Prep- 1hr
On the day- 4hrs – (1-3 people)
Clean kit ect- 1hr
2-5 people- 12-14 hours
And so, the total amount of supplier hours that go into a wedding are…..674 to 746 hours!! and 37- 48 people! That’s crazy! Wow! That’s 19 working weeks!! That’s almost 5 months of solid working hours for one amazing day!
What’s also interesting is that only 206 hours are on the day itself, 468-539 hours are in prep, correspondence, meetings, admin & set up! No wonder we all feel like we know our couples so well when we finally get to see the big day!
I love the wedding industry and I love the people in it and, although most of the time we only get to see each other in passing on a wedding day, seeing these amazingly creative people bringing their talent and expertise to the day and seeing just how happy couples are at the end of it all, makes me incredibly proud of everything we achieve each and every week!
