At-Home Weddings

Sometimes, the ideal wedding doesn't require a banquet hall. If you have a flair for decorating or a vision, you may decide to show off your newly-acquired house with an at-home wedding. Or perhaps you've always imagined getting married in the backyard of your childhood home with your closest friends and family appreciating the scenery. There are many ways to create an extravagant event or an intimate, quaint gathering at home, so gather the tiki torches,  picnic benches,  croquet set,  and gingham linens. 

There are multiple advantages to at-home weddings as well as some possible run-ins to consider; a summary of the major pros and cons of staging a wedding at home are listed below.

Advantages

• The stress of booking a reception site is gone--you can plan the event around your schedule without site fees, time restrictions, and regulations.
• Your location is what you make of it; you don't have to work around the decor of a site location. Since you're choosing an at-home wedding and you know the location well, you probably already have a vision of how to optimise the space. You can put exactly how much money into decorating as you'd like without worrying that the extravagant price of a site will go wasted.
• If you're using your own home, a wedding is a chance to show it off to your friends or family while providing an incentive to fix it up for the occasion. Renovations should all occur far enough in advance of the wedding so that it will definitely be finished before the guests arrive.
• You and your guests will not need to travel from one location to the next. This saves money on transportation and helps make for a relatively hassle-free wedding; no one can get lost, into an accident, or stuck in traffic.

While these advantages are exciting, don't forget to consider the possible drawbacks of an at-home wedding.

Disadvantages

• Since you will be planning and preparing almost everything yourself, there are some issues you probably won't even think of (and would just be easily taken care of at an event site). Because of this, it's usually recommended that you hire a wedding planner, even if just for a consultation to get you moving on the right track.
• Once you add up all the costs, a wedding at home may not be much cheaper than a traditional venue wedding. That's why it's important to do your research, plan ahead, and budget accurately.
• At the end of the event, there may be some damage. Between tent stakes in the ground and a hundred people trampling on your lawn (or carpet ), there will be quite a bit of clean-up.
• You'll have no privacy for at least a week before the wedding. Unlike just showing up somewhere, you and your vendors have to start preparing and getting things set up in advance. This is another reason hiring a planner may be a good idea.

Planning Ahead

All of the planning issues that are part of creating a wedding still apply to at-home weddings, namely budgeting, staying organized and on schedule, and hiring vendors. When it comes to logistics, here are some major issues to think about:

• Wedding Size: Perhaps you want a 200-person wedding, but you're not sure if you have the space for it. You need to realistically look at how much room you have (without furniture ) and decide how many people you can actually hold; having a wedding in a small apartment or home is harder to pull off than having an outdoor wedding on a spacious property. Regardless of whether you are partying indoors or out, the rule of thumb is that each person needs four square feet of space. For example, a 50-person wedding requires a 200-square-foot space not including furniture, and a 200-person wedding requires 1000 square feet. If you realise that your home is too small for the guest list, you might need to thin it out. Consider maximising space for indoor weddings by moving your furniture elsewhere and leaving the space open.

• Indoors/Outdoors: Having an outdoor wedding during Spring or Summer is a great way to host a casual wedding. However, outdoor weddings have a whole slew of possible issues that come along with advantages, with weather being one of the biggest. If it rains, can everyone fit into your house? Will you rent a tent  to keep people dry or cool despite the hot sun? To consider these issues further, check out the guide on Wedding Rentals to get some information on tents and other useful items for throwing a wedding at home.
• Outdoor weddings at home do have their advantages: they're perfect for summertime, they keep everyone from traipsing through your house, they keep your house and furniture from being destroyed, they are easier to clean up, and they usually provide you and your guests with more space. A key to making it clear that the inside is off-limits is by locking the doors.

• The Yard: If your house is in need of a paint  job, the lawn is no longer any shade of green, and the flower  garden looks more like a graveyard, you should consider doing an overhaul. Clean  the exterior of the house, mow  and fertilise  the lawn,  trim  shrubs, pull out the weed whacker  from storage,  and invest in some mosquito powder  to sprinkle into the lawn. Remember that the yard is the backdrop for an outdoor wedding, so use the plants  and flowers  to your advantage. Check out these guides on decorating the ceremony and reception, as well as wedding colours and themes. for inspiration. You want to create an ambiance that suits the formality of the wedding with decorations, food, and drink.

• The Interior: If you will have people in your house for the wedding, you may want to consider hiring a professional cleaning service.  See if you can strike a deal for two cleaning sessions--one prior to and another after the event.

• Parking: Find out about rules and regulations for parking in residential zones so that your guests don't all wind up towed or with tickets. Notify your neighbours about the wedding and the scale of the event. You might want to offer an invite  to avoid conflict. Check local ordinances regarding noise curfews and regulations on port-a-potties.

• Power: You might need a generator  for an outdoor affair to help power a band, heating  or cooling,  and lighting. If you are going to be running heavy-duty electrical cords,  make sure you keep them out of the way to avoid accidents.

• Port-a-potties : You'll need a minimum of one per 50 guests. To be safe, consider renting one per 20 guests. Put them in a well-lit spot to ensure convenience once the sun sets. The bare requirement is a sink, but nicer ones have a mirror  and light.

• Kitchen Facilities: If your kitchen  is small or off-limits for the wedding, you'll probably need to have the caterer come prepared with all the necessities. Otherwise, check into what you will need to rent, keeping in mind simpler food and drink options, outdoor grilling,  and the potential to prepare your own food in advance.

• Pet Problems: It's unfortunate that your pets, considered members of your family, can't join in the festivities, but it's better for you, the guests, and the animals. Without animals around, you don't have to worry about them jumping onto the cake table, dirtying guests' clothing, or potentially acting up and biting someone due to the new situation. Send them to a boarding facility instead of locking  them up in the house.

• Lighting: Check the grounds after dark to find any spots that could lead to accidents. Place lights or candles  around the pathways, or incorporate more festive lighting into your decorations.

• Garbage: Even if you hire a cleaning service, have plenty of cans  and bags  available, and specified containers for recyclables. If you set a precedent of cleanliness, people are more likely to respect your space and follow suit.

Related Guides

Wedding Rentals	Choosing a Location	Choosing a Date	Outdoor Weddings	Destination Weddings