Turquoise Événements’s La Vieille Brasserie Wedding Checklist (Lachine)

Following yesterday’s blog post about 14 Things You Need To Know Before Getting Married At La Vieille Brasserie In Lachine, here’s my Turquoise Événements’s La Vieille Brasserie Wedding Checklist!

This list is only meant to help you assess which vendors you may want to hire, taking into consideration the nature that is La Vieille Brasserie as a venue (nothing included). If you need suggestions for wedding vendors, check out my Turquoise Événements’s Recommended Montreal Wedding Vendors 2020 blog post!

Food & Beverage

• Caterer(s)
• Sweets Table caterer(s)
• Midnight Table caterer(s)
• Cocktail caterer(s)
• Wedding cake
• Liquor license
• Alcoholic beverages
• Non-alcoholic beverages

Because the kitchen at La Vieille Brasserie is quite small, I don’t recommend having more than 1 main caterer serving your dinner. However, if you go buffet style or need food throughout the wedding for different things (cocktail versus midnight table versus sweets table, etc) or food delivered that does not require and further prep, then it can work. I used 1 caterer who did most of the cocktail, the sit-down dinner and the midnight table, with two additional food providers handling the cocktail and the sweets table. Remember to also get your liquor license from RACJ and then to assess all of the beverages – both alcoholic and non-alcoholic – you will need for the bar. Remember all the small details too: lemon wedges, bar mix, straws, cups, glasses, etc.

Entertainment

• DJ
• MC
• Lights
• Sound system
• Photo booth/photo station
• General entertainment

So many small details to think of, who knew? If you are going the DJ route, make sure to clarify whether or not he/she has their own equipment (mainly the speakers) or if you need to rent those too, as you cannot use the ones at the venue (go figure). Do you also want an MC? A multi-tasking DJ/MC? Lights? Photo booth or photo station? Dancers? (yep, we had surprise dancers at ours lol).

Staff

• Photographer(s)
• Videographer(s)
• Officiant/notary
• Set-up/dismantle staff
• Waitstaff (waiters & bartenders)

Obviously, you’ll probably want a photographer and maybe even a videographer at your wedding, those were obvious. But, don’t forget about the officiant/notary/celebrant for the ceremony aspect! And, because nothing is included with La Vieille Brasserie, you’re also going to need set-up and dismantle staff, to: set-up the room(s), prepare the bar, set the decor, etc. and then put it all away too at the end of the wedding. You’re also going to need some waitstaff throughout the wedding, like waiters and bartenders. My recommendation for a 100 person wedding (which is pretty much the max capacity of the place) is to hire 3 people who are able to both wait tables and bartend, as you’ll have 2 bartenders and 1 waiter during peak bar periods and then 2 waiters and 1 bartender during peak eating times (without needing to hire a fourth person).

Decor & Rentals

• Dinnerware rentals (cutlery, glasses, plates, etc.)
• Furniture rentals
• Decor
• Flowers

Ah yes, all of those fun things like plates, napkins, forks, knives, glasses, etc. are not included in your rental of La Vieille Brasserie. That means you’re going to have to not only find a vendor who can rent these to you, you’ll also have to figure out how to get this into the venue and then out at the end of the wedding too (but really, please do read my other blog posts on my recommended Montreal wedding vendors and also 14 things you need to know before getting married at La Vieille Brasserie. You may also choose to rent some cool furniture, like a different table set-up for yourself and your future spouse, some cocktail tables for outside, sofas to create a lounge area, etc. You can’t forget about the decor of the space: from hanging string lights (La Nouvelle Tablée rents them), to tulle, vases, candles, center pieces, etc. And of course, flowers! The easiest is to go the fake route, but I was adamant about having real flowers at my wedding.

Others

• Stationery
• Favours
• Gift table/card box
• Transportation
• Ceremony

Personally, we opted for using the least amount of stationary/printed things possible. The only really essential stationary we couldn’t really get away from was the menus, table numbers and seating chart (and I did them all myself). Will you be giving your guests wedding favours too? Have you thought about where guests will put their gifts and having a card box for money enveloppes? Will your wedding party require specific transportation? Have you mapped out the wedding ceremony? So many small details to think about!

Wedding Planner or Day-Of Wedding Coordinator

Last but not least, perhaps you should consider hiring a wedding planner, or even just a day-of wedding coordinator! Being an event planner myself (with a husband in the events industry too), even we had a day-of wedding coordinator so that they could handle the logistics and permit us to enjoy our day. I’m not going to go into much more detail, as you can read an entire blog post I wrote about the importance of having a day-of wedding coordinator. On the other hand, if planning isn’t your thing at all, then I really recommend you hire an actual wedding planner, that will help you from beginning to end (I also wrote a blog post about the importance of hiring a wedding planner). In either case, I would be more than happy to be your wedding planner or your day-of wedding coordinator (:

I may have only organized 1 wedding (my own) and been a day-of wedding coordinator once (a second experience coming up in 2020!), but I have more than 10 years of event planning experience (including 5 years of professional event planning experience in the corporate world and I’m the face behind all of Turquoise Blog’s Foodies & Bloggers Dinners and Insta Foodie Dinners), a Master’s Degree (M.Sc.) in marketing with a focus on event planning and a passion for events 🙂

My Wedding Planner rate starts at $600* and my Day-Of Wedding Coordinator rate starts at $300* – contact me today for a quote! The first meeting is always on the house!

– Elise
eliseberniergravel@gmail.com
514-775-4191

*Pricing depends on how much time your wedding will take to plan, as well as any meetings (phone, in-person) and day-of wedding coordination you require

**All opinions are mine and all photos are mine unless otherwise credited