If planning an outdoor ceremony. Your backup plan must be chosen on the Online Planner with us.

We will go with your plan A of outside ceremony and your reception plan unless you tell us differently.

You have until 48 hours before your venue entrance time to change the original inside setup plan.

 Your Plan B options are:

1)     (Most Popular Option) LFM staff sets up the Great Room for the reception as planned but leave an aisle down the middle and allow room up front for the bridal party and officiant. The head tables can be decorated in the back storage room and carried in by preassigned family/groomsmen after the bridal party has exited the ceremony area. Guests may turn their chairs to face the front for the ceremony. No transition of the room is needed, and guests are ready to go for the meal & toasts. This is a great option if there is more detailed decorating involved for tables.

2)     The LFM staff sets up the Great Room for theater seating (rows with an aisle down middle and on outer edges) Following the ceremony, the officiant directs guests to relocate to the loft, the covered wrap around deck, or down to the Lower Level for 15 minutes for a receiving line or (non-alcohol) cocktail time. Your preassigned 5-6 family/wedding party friends roll out the tables and rearrange the furniture as you’ve mapped out. One table will already be decorated in the back storage room as a guide, and you’ll have printed photos for your helpers to use for reference in their decorating transformation. Remember, your loft tables will already be set up and decorated by you upon first arrival to the venue. Announce when your guests may return.  This is not a bad option if it’s super-hot as they’re covered by the shaded porch for a very limited time and have lots of room outside. This option requires simple table decorations that take little time to set up.

You may still proceed to have an outdoor ceremony and wait until the weather blows over almost up until the guests arrive, but your family will have to assist in set up of the chairs ON THE PATIO (not wet grass if that late decision is made. The staff typically sets up 6/7 AM the day of the ceremony and we simply can’t get it all done with just 1-2 staff last minute. Mopping up so many chairs is also tricky. If you need to wait until just before guests arrive and utilize family, it’s worked fine if you’re willing. You may also want to extend the outside start time a little, but that’s not the end of the world either.

Worst case scenario: The inside Great Room will already be set up for your reception so it’s just like choosing Option 1 above.

***Nobody, including the LFM staff, can force your guests to go out in the rain or extreme heat or cold.