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Outdoor Weddings
kelli016
member
Outdoor wedding/reception.
Im thinking about having both the wedding and reception in either my paretns backyard or my fiance's grand fathers. I just dont really know where to start. I mean Im going to need tents and tables and chairs and linen and dishes and all of that. It seems over whelming. Does anyone have any pointers for me. We wanna do it at the end of april in 2011 so i have time but i still wanna plan out how much this is really gonna cost us and i dont know where to start. I have my dress already and i think i wanna do a tangerine with pink for my colors with gerber daisys for my flowers. Please any advice would be helpful! thank you!!
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Re: Outdoor wedding/reception.
Additionaly, you'll find that florists have connections with bakers, caterers have connections with rental facilities, etc. Ask around!
Hope this helps
Things to think about:
You'll need to rent tables, chairs, linens, dishes, glasses
You'll need to hire a bartender and a caterer
Is there enough parking available?
Can the bathrooms handle the extra use?
Does the city/county require a permit?
Is there outdoor access to electricity for lighting and music?
Are you willing to handle all of the set up and tear down? (You can't expect friends and family to do it for you)
Start by going to a party rental company. They can give you an estimate of the number of tables, chairs, glasses, plates you'll need based on area + guest count. They'll proably do tent rental/set up/take down as well. You'll need a catereer - who can provide the details on food, drinks, servers, bartenders etc. Think about hiring a day of coordinator. Just get a florists & DJ and your set!
I too had an outdoor wedding in my mom's yard, and I will tell you, it was an INSANE amount of work, definitely more expensive in the end than a venue, and totally worth it for us.
Everything the prev. posters all said is good, particularly danieliza, pay very close attention to the toilet issue...one thing we had a lot of trouble figuring out how to handle was how to have that many people tramping in and out of 3 bathrooms and still keep it clean, etc.
As for tents/food etc,, do the rentals and food first. We found that lots of caterers who specialized in off-site catering had experience working with rental companies, and our caterer did everything for us in terms of working out how much of each item we needed, and I was able to look at what was being ordered and make sure I had what I wanted without the stress of dealing with yet another vendor. I also think you should make sure the caterer has a mobile kitchen unless you have a massive kitchen they can use (think at least double ovens, loads of space, 2 fridges, etc). Talk to lots of people in your area, insist on references, and then actually call them and ask about ease of set-up/clean-up, billing issues, etc.
The other thing to think about is that it's at home, which means it can, and should be, more relaxed (not necessarily informal, but more YOU) and that there are way more risks of things going askew because you don't have a "staff" per se. We had loads of family and friends who went way out of their ways to help us, and that was amazing. If you don't have that, I strongly recommend hiring a DOC to help keep things smooth.
Honestly, having everything at home was the best decision we could have made, and 6 months later people are STILL telling us that it was the best wedding they'd ever been to, not because it was fancy/extravagant, which it so wasn't, but because it was so perfectly "us" and all about the love, not the picky details normally associated with a wedding.
I have some info in the links below, and feel free to page me on the July 09 nest board if you need more info.
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We are doing a family style meal with wine and beer so we won't need a bartender and we will need fewer plates than a buffet. We will also be using disposable flatware--and disposable salad/dessert plates--the meal will be on rented china. The caterer brings her own staff of servers and helpers.
We decided it was worth the effort because it will be a truly personal event for my daughter and future son-in-law. With some organization and time--which you have it can be done. Good Luck!