You’ve been there, used their public Wi-Fi or bathroom, taken pictures on the steps with the lions, and always dreamed what it would be like to be Carrie Bradshaw. To get married at the New York Public Library is no walk in the park. To host a glamorous event at one of New York’s oldest and finest venues, you need to study all the nuances of the venue. Luckily, LLG is here to give you a study guide with our Top 5 Lessons Learned working at the New York Public Library (NYPL).

Lesson 1: It’s Not Actually a Venue!

The sooner you can accept this inherent detail, the easier it will be to swallow the bill. The library was not established to be a wedding venue. What do we mean by this? It comes with nothing. NYPL brings name, and fame, and you have to bring absolutely everything else. This means, aside from all the typical wedding items (photo, video, entertainment, design, catering) there are rentals.

Ah, the rentals. Aside from the obvious chairs, tables, and bars, there is every single piece of flatware (forks, knives, spoons) and glasses. And we haven’t even gotten to the best part yet; the entire kitchen! Yes. You must provide the entire kitchen (down to every last serving tray, tasting spoon, and trash can). The kitchen requires, at minimum $30,000.00-$35,000.00 for a party of 200+. This can be as much as 10% of the overall budget. It’s a library after all!

Lesson 2: It's Not a Venue, It’s a Public Space

The NYPL’s primary function is to be accessible to the public. For vendors, this means that we have to work around strict hours which translates to a limited time to make a non-venue look like a venue. The library is open to the public from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm. That means from 7:00 am (6:00 am if you pay for an additional hour) - 9:59 am your vendors are working on strategically placing items behind the magic curtain (pipe and drape) for the ceremony and/or cocktail hour. The reception area can be worked on until guest arrival, though in silence! Hidden behind a sanction is a door you’ve probably passed on the way to the bathroom that when opened uncovers the impressive high-ceiling ballroom fit for New York’s finest soirees.

While the reception area is of lesser worry for time, all items for the ceremony and/or cocktail hour must be set up and hidden within three hours. Not to mention, not all vendors arrive at the same time; there’s no fun without a little stress! Those three hours, though, are a warm-up for the one hour the vendor team has to set everything up. As we all know, the best combat for stress is…help! Having a large team is the only way a ceremony for 200 gets set up, or an entire cocktail hour in less than a full 60 minutes. Everyone on the team has to be a team player, willing to work together and help one another out with any task. Like everyone grabbing lighters to light the hallway candles with seconds to burn.

Lesson 3: Emphasis on Public Space

Hours of operation are not the only challenge with the library being public. Since it is a public space and a New York City staple, that means your guests will not be the only spectators to your wedding. This applies mainly to the photos you will take around the library. Any time you take photos on the streets of New York you will have to deal with crowds, but since people are flowing in and out of the building and actively walking on the steps where many photos will be taken, it takes extra effort to clear space. We typically combat this with adding security so that people know to clear a space for our most important people - you and your family!!

Not only are we considering tourists and visitors outside the library, but inside as well. The library has to be accessible to the public during its hours of operation, but as mentioned we need to store all of our items for the event so that it can be easily set against a ticking clock. We have to be creative with our store to make the library look the same as it always does to the general public. In your design or rental bill, we will, then, have to add pipe and drape. Under the stairs, in the hallways, and behind the magic curtains are all your rental items waiting to be set out.

Here’s the added challenge; the library is not only a public space but a historical space. Meaning, its purpose is also to maintain its historic look, meaning there is usually a lot of construction going on. And this construction is extremely unpredictable, with an emphasis on unpredictable. Even the storage locations that are “always” available for events (like under the stairs) are subject to changes. For your vendors, every inch of storage space counts. So we had to be able to think on our feet, and purchase excess pipe and drape to be able to account for any pop-up changes.

Lesson 4: Buying Time

Clearly, time is everything at NYPL. The clock is constantly ticking and in this case, the best way to relieve that kind of stress is to buy more time. Literally. You can purchase an additional hour for setting up on the day of or even an additional day. This helps mainly with the load-in dock which, as mentioned, eats up the most time. The loading dock only allows one vendor in at a time. Then, from the loading dock vendors file into the only freight elevator to disseminate materials to the appropriate floor.

Outside of buying more time, planning ahead and managing a tight schedule helps convince time to be on your side. For your entire vendor team, this means open communication months leading up to production day. On the day of, the line of communication only continues with phone calls and quick texts for status updates. The earlier you can sign on your vendors, the more time we have to build relationships with the entire team. The library also has a strict vendor list, so all your vendors will have thorough experience which only makes us stronger!

Lesson 5: Expect the Unexpected

Planning ahead will get you far, but it will not take you all the way to the finish line. With any event, at any venue, there will always be surprises that pop up on the day of. The stakes are just a little higher at NYPL since there are strict regulations that make our avenues for sourcing a solution a little narrower than usual. Resourcefulness and paying close attention help remedy surprises. Having a team member present in each of the set-up locations (especially the loading dock) is critical to getting ahead of issues that could eat up time.

Strength in numbers for all vendors is key here, to ensure you have enough people not only to set up the multiple working spaces but to run errands if there is anything missing. While this is a good safety net for your vendor team, more staff does increase contracted costs for you. A small price to pay for peace of mind!