Planning an at home wedding?

CelticBride2010

My fiance and I would like to have our wedding at home. The problem is...we have no idea where to start on planning this. We have a guest list of about 75 people. Help?

J&K10910

Well obviously you'd need all the normal things you'd need if you were planning a wedding elsewhere, except venues.  Photographer, caterer, DJ, etc.  In addition to normal things like that, keep in mind you'll need a lot of rentals, like tables, chairs, tents, dance floor, bar.  You'll also need some sort of event insurance, just in case something happens like someone falls on the dance flood and breaks their ankle.

pinkpinot

Where are you from? What month do you want to get married? What is the weather like? After those questions are answered, I'd suggest looking into tent/chair rentals if you could host in your backyard. 

ring_pop

You do the same thing the rest of us do. Figure out your budget. Guest list is already done - good. Venue done - great. Figure out your vision. Research rentals and caterers. And all of that.

Soon-to-be Mrs. Vogt

I would suggest looking at the knot's checklists. This shouldn't be too different than any other wedding you plan, except you will need to rent EVERYTHING (chairs, tables, linens, china, etc.) because your venue won't have them. If you are planning on being outdoors at all, make sure you have a weather plan B (like renting a tent in case it rains). Also consider restrooms. Even if you have 2 or 3 restrooms at your house, that's probably not enough for everyone (and do you want all 75 people running in and out of your house to use the restroom). Any specific questions that you're not sure about?

J&K10910

Dance floor, not flood.Also, it might be beneficial for you to invest in a wedding planner.  He or she would help make sure you don't miss anything important like linens or place settings. 

J&K10910

Parking, too, is a big thing to think about.  Where is everyone going to park?  And bathrooms.

vallyhoo

My best friend did this and it was great because they have a great home for entertaining. The only thing that hasn't been mentioned is consider hiring a cleaning service to come in after because you will be exhausted and probably not feel like cleaning everything up.

danieliza1127

There are a lot of things to consider when you're doing a wedding at a personal home.  For 75 people you need to think about:Does your city/town require a permit?What will you do about parking?  Need a permit for that?Rent tables, chairs, linens, dishes, glasses, silverwareCaterer and wait staffBar, liquor, bartendersBathrooms - do you have enough to accommodate 75 people?Those things on top of your normal things like decorations, an Officiant, music/DJ, wedding cake, and flowers.

ac_in_dc

I went to an at-home wedding once where they rented port-a-johns that were very nice and fancy, not gross at all. Something to think about too, I guess. I'd look up some kind checklist in a wedding guide or something to make sure you're not missing anything (like the insurance someone mentioned above).