Anyone setting up an events venue should give some thought to how noise might affect their surrounding area. Even in the remotest of locations, your ambient level will likely be reduced leading to the potential of an issue.
To help you out we have compiled a list of the Top 5 causes of noise that need to be considered.
1. Instrumental & Recorded Music
Whilst all others can be considered as contributing factors this is the main cause of complaints for a wedding venue. The vast majority of weddings have some kind of music which by its nature reaches the loudest point late in the evening.
Recorded and live music each have positives and negatives as far as noise control is concerned. We’ve written more in-depth articles on controlling each of these here.
Sometimes it can be as simple as turning things down, in more sensitive situations a directional speaker system or acoustic marquee lining might be required to provide a solution
2. Guests – Congregating Outside – Ingress/Egress
Guest will need to arrive, move around and then leave the venue. Even the most respectable of parties will increase in volume as the afternoon/evening progresses. As a venue owner, you will need to consider this before the event and work out a plan for how the impact on your neighbouring properties can be minimised.
Guest arriving/leaving can be helped by providing a member of staff to co-ordinate the carpark and guide them along designated routes.
Considering the areas people will congregate is also important – rather than giving guests the free run of your venue, designate outside and smoking areas that have been selected for there relative noise protection.
3. Traffic And Taxi Pick Ups
General increased traffic levels due to weddings can be classed as a nuisance. If your event runs till midnight it’s likely there could still be traffic later than 1am and although in itself might not be considered a noise problem it can be a contributing factor that pushes a neighbour to complain.
Taxi’s and pick ups. This one is much the same as people noise really, combine the sounds of cars coming down your drive, drivers honking to get people’s attention and the odd shout for someone to hurry up and get in and you’re definitely going to be making more noise than the ambient level around you.
We always suggest that you communicate with local firms in advance and advise them of preferred routes in and out of your venue
4. Trades Loading In/Out
In most cases hosting a wedding will involve multiple trades visiting your venue to provide a range of services. Once the wedding is over you will need to make sure that packing up is done without causing you an issue. You’ll be dealing with professionals in this instance so in most cases it will be as simple as considering the process yourself and recording this into a simple Noise Management Plan, this can then be passed on to any vendor coming onto your site.
This might include a few rules for them to follow – e.g. no bottling out after 22.00, setting routes that they should follow or switching engines off whilst vehicles are loaded etc. Once you have written the plan, it’s done for all and you only need to send it on.
5. Guests – Staying Onsite/Camping
If you have guests remaining onsite overnight you may need to consider the noise that will be emitted after the event itself has concluded.
Again, setting a few house rules early on can really help. People are much more receptive to being reminded of a house rule later in the evening as opposed to hearing it for the first time. If you can designate noise protected areas where people can congregate later on then make sure these are communicated in advance.
Setting in a cool down period can also be a good idea. If the event goes from 100 to 0 as soon as the last song finishes it can lead to a little “over-excitement”. Winding everyone down with low-level music or however you see fit can be helpful bringing a more natural conclusion to the party.