Question Thread III : Wedding planning edition

Posted by: Dignan

Question Thread III : Wedding planning edition - 29/05/2007 19:33

With all the marriage-related questions going on, I thought I'd add to the mix with a couple questions of my own. I'm actually pretty late in the game as far as the planning goes, but I may need your help as the date approaches (June 30th is right around the corner).

Here's the problems I'm tackling at the moment:

1) Bachelor party! This is a bit of an odd one. My best man and I are not the drinking, partying types. Neither are a couple other groomsmen, including my fiancee's 19 year old brother. I'm going to be doing something very geeky, which is to set up a projector and play video games on a big screen (wild and crazy, isn't it?). The problem at hand: where do I do it? The issues that make it difficult are that I can't do it where I'm living now or where I'm living starting July 16th, and it has to be somewhere that can take us for the whole evening through the next morning. I thought someone here might have a brilliant idea that I hadn't thought of before.

2) Does anyone know of free software that can help figure out seating charts? My fiancee and I are on The Knot (a wedding website), and they have one built into the site, but I'm not a fan of it. I was hoping there was something else out there that people might use to figure out where to put people at banquets and things like that.

3) Similar to the last question, does anyone know of software that will help in planning where to place things in a room? This is actually about the move rather than the wedding. I've been using an Excel spreadsheet to approximate a room layout, but it's just not meant for this application.

That's all for the moment, but I'm sure that as the date approaches there will be a ton of things I've forgotten to think about. Thanks for any help you can give me!

Posted by: wfaulk

Re: Question Thread III : Wedding planning edition - 29/05/2007 20:02

Sierra (the computer games company) used to have a nice software package to do this that was like $30, but Sierra's out of business now, so I don't know where that program got to. Similar programs I remember from the time were made by Broderbund and Better Homes and Gardens. Check them out.

However, yeah, there are a bunch of programs that will help you do this. Search for "floorplan software", "interior design software", etc.

While searching for some of this, I stumbled across some other things that look useful. RoomArranger. How about this online tool?

Posted by: LittleBlueThing

Re: Question Thread III : Wedding planning edition - 29/05/2007 20:16

Quote:

1) Bachelor party! This is a bit of an odd one. My best man and I are not the drinking, partying types. Neither are a couple other groomsmen, including my fiancee's 19 year old brother. I'm going to be doing something very geeky, which is to set up a projector and play video games on a big screen (wild and crazy, isn't it?). The problem at hand: where do I do it? The issues that make it difficult are that I can't do it where I'm living now or where I'm living starting July 16th, and it has to be somewhere that can take us for the whole evening through the next morning. I thought someone here might have a brilliant idea that I hadn't thought of before.

Where? No idea

But just FYI - we had a joint stag/hen do and all went to an amusement park (Alton Towers in the UK). Don't think we touched alcohol all day - but the last picture we have as fiancees is in front of a guy in a bear suit!!

Quote:

3) Similar to the last question, does anyone know of software that will help in planning where to place things in a room? This is actually about the move rather than the wedding. I've been using an Excel spreadsheet to approximate a room layout, but it's just not meant for this application.

QCAD is a simple (well, compared to autocad) GPL CAD program that works very well under linux and windows.

http://www.qcad.org/

I used it to plan my kitchen.
Then I converted it to PoVRAY
Then I rendered it - a lot.

I *may* have gone OTT...

Posted by: hybrid8

Re: Question Thread III : Wedding planning edition - 29/05/2007 21:00

Location for gaming: Do any of you guys currenty live in a condo? Inquire whether or not the condo has party rooms which can be reserved by its residents. Bring in a screen and your equipment.

Planning house/rooms: Live Interior for Mac OS looks very nice and includes a lot of pre-made models as well as support to import Google's models. http://www.belightsoft.com/products/liveinterior/overview.php

Posted by: gbeer

Re: Question Thread III : Wedding planning edition - 30/05/2007 00:34

Quote:
I used it to plan my kitchen.
Then I converted it to PoVRAY
Then I rendered it - a lot.

I *may* have gone OTT...

I salute you Sir! To get those results with that cluster of SW represents dedication indeed!

Posted by: altman

Re: Question Thread III : Wedding planning edition - 30/05/2007 06:16

Bachelor party - a friend had the very lucky coincidence that there was a star wars exhibition on in the Barbican (in London) at the time. Lots of original props. We all went round that then to the pub, which was exactly what was called for.

Seating plans. The way we did it was to print everyone's name out on pieces of paper, use a paper plate to signify each (round) table, put some prittstick on the plate then put the names onto the plates. The rule was that once the prittstick had dried, you then couldn't move the name, which cuts down a lot of the indecision

Hugo

Posted by: Roger

Re: Question Thread III : Wedding planning edition - 30/05/2007 07:06

Quote:
2) Does anyone know of free software that can help figure out seating charts?

It's not free (it is cheap, though), but we used Perfect Table Plan for our seating plan. Then I took the SVG output from that and tweaked it in Inkscape.

Posted by: DWallach

Re: Question Thread III : Wedding planning edition - 30/05/2007 13:42

We decided to punt on the problem. We had "reserved" tables for immediate family, but otherwise allowed people to sit wherever they wanted. Somehow, everything worked out fine.

Posted by: JBjorgen

Re: Question Thread III : Wedding planning edition - 30/05/2007 13:47

Quote:
We decided to punt on the problem. We had "reserved" tables for immediate family, but otherwise allowed people to sit wherever they wanted. Somehow, everything worked out fine.

Ditto.

Posted by: Dignan

Re: Question Thread III : Wedding planning edition - 30/05/2007 17:57

Thanks for the tips, guys. I've tired that RoomArranger program, and it looks nice but it's extremely hard to figure out how to do things. I'll keep playing with it, though.

I saw that Perfect Table Plan software, but I just can't bring myself to pay for a program that I'm going to use once. I have another free (and worse) program that I'm playing around with now (I can't remember the name).

I'm going to have to consult with some people from around this area to figure out what I can do for the bachelor party. My future condo (which won't be livable until we return from the honeymoon) has a facility with a cinema room, so I might try to see if I can get that for the night.

Again, thanks for the help!

Posted by: canuckInOR

Re: Question Thread III : Wedding planning edition - 30/05/2007 18:02

Quote:
1) Bachelor party! This is a bit of an odd one. My best man and I are not the drinking, partying types. Neither are a couple other groomsmen, including my fiancee's 19 year old brother. I'm going to be doing something very geeky, which is to set up a projector and play video games on a big screen (wild and crazy, isn't it?). The problem at hand: where do I do it?

You might want to check into renting a screen at one of the local movie theatres. The big chains may be financially prohibitive, but some of the smaller art-flick type places may work out. Out here in Portland, there are a number of small restaurant/theatres, where the theatre is decked out in comfy chairs and tables for your food -- maybe there's something similar in your neck of the woods? The all-night thing might be a challenge, though...

Quote:
2) Does anyone know of free software that can help figure out seating charts? My fiancee and I are on The Knot (a wedding website), and they have one built into the site, but I'm not a fan of it. I was hoping there was something else out there that people might use to figure out where to put people at banquets and things like that.

Post-it notes.

Posted by: Dignan

Re: Question Thread III : Wedding planning edition - 04/06/2007 13:28

Greetings! I'm sorry, but I still have a few questions. First, some updates on my others:

1) Still looking for a place. It's tough to simply find a room that can be rented out all night. That's all we need, just a room that fits seven people and can be booked for the whole evening (and obviously has electricity and bathroom facilities somewhere).

2) I tried Perfect Table Planner. It's good, and my father bought it for me because his business might use it in the future (I was hesitant to fork over even the small fee for just a one-time use).

3) None of the floorplan programs I've tried are good. They are all nightmares when it comes to ease of use. The only one I've been able to tolerate so far has been ConceptDraw 7, but it's still incredibly frustrating. I'm also just using a demo version, because the full version is $400.

Now for my new questions:

4) Does anyone have any creative ideas for dining room furniture? After mapping out where furniture would go, I've ended up with not a lot of room for a table and chairs. The goal is to be able to seat eight people for Thanksgiving next year, but I don't think we could even fit a six person table that took a leaf. I'm looking for some creative tables first, and then possibly some attractive stacking chairs second. I found a good option for a table here, so we're considering that. I thought I'd check here for a second opinion one what to look for an where.

5) Does anyone know of some cool things to do in the Amalfi area of Italy? That's where the honeymoon is (that and Lake Como). We're planning on going to Capri and the blue grotto (and churches, etc), Herculaneum, and maybe Pompei. Any other ideas? Oh, and my fiancee is already frothing at the mouth over the lemons of the area. She's a lemon-aholic (she'll grab a bottle of lemon juice at the store and drink it straight).

Posted by: Daria

Re: Question Thread III : Wedding planning edition - 04/06/2007 14:36

Quote:
Quote:
1) Bachelor party! This is a bit of an odd one. My best man and I are not the drinking, partying types. Neither are a couple other groomsmen, including my fiancee's 19 year old brother. I'm going to be doing something very geeky, which is to set up a projector and play video games on a big screen (wild and crazy, isn't it?). The problem at hand: where do I do it?

You might want to check into renting a screen at one of the local movie theatres. The big chains may be financially prohibitive, but some of the smaller art-flick type places may work out. Out here in Portland, there are a number of small restaurant/theatres, where the theatre is decked out in comfy chairs and tables for your food -- maybe there's something similar in your neck of the woods? The all-night thing might be a challenge, though...

Pittsburgh actually has a place which is entirely set up for this, called cyber exchange or something like that. They do parties, either just renting their place or also getting you a cake or whatever. No clue if the concept is elsewhere but we are seldom first.