Keep Wedding Costs Down- Host It at Home!

One of the most expensive elements of any wedding is the venue. Unless you want to spend a few thousand on something nice, your other options are pretty limited and even if you want to do your wedding on a budget- you'll still want it to be nice. One way you can get around this cost and still have the wedding of your dreams is to have it at home! If you (or one of your close loved ones) has a large garden then this can make the perfect setting for a glorious outdoor wedding. Here's how you can go about it!

credit to this website Think of the practicalities

First things first, you'll need to ensure it's practical. For example, think of the parking situation. If you have relatives that live close, you could ask them to walk, carpool or get a taxi instead of driving to save space. It could be worth having a chat with your neighbours, letting them know that there's likely to be a lot of cars in the street that day and seeing what their thoughts are. Some might offer to let your guests to use their driveways if they have an extra spot. If you have a parking area nearby, be sure to direct guest to this. Another consideration is access, if you're hosting a garden wedding and don't want everyone traipsing through the house, make sure there's plenty of access to get straight through to the back without having to squeeze past bins or deal with a gate that keeps slamming! If the wedding will be outdoors, you'll need to hire a portable toilet (or a number of them) for guests to use.

Hire a wedding marquee

One way to ensure your wedding still looks like a wedding (despite the fact it's being held at home) is to hire a wedding marquee. This gives you essentially an 'indoor' space so it's perfect if you don't get the best weather on the day. And it can also set the scene and make your wedding look really beautiful. Once you have the table and chairs set up with flowers and decorations and stunning fairy lights strung up in the marquee it will completely transform the space. While there will of course be a cost to hire a wedding marquee, it will be far cheaper than hiring a venue, and the company should set up and take everything down for you meaning it's hassle free.

Think about food

Having your wedding at home can also enable you to save money on food costs. Sure, you could still hire caterers to come on the day, or go down the route of a hog roast company who would come and feed everyone. But with your own kitchen nearby and very little hassle involves with transporting it into the garden, it makes sense to do it yourself- with the help of your close friends or family. A day or two before, start preparing buffet items and have them securely wrapped and put in the fridge. Then after the ceremony, you could allocate a couple of people the job of bringing everything out and filling up the buffet table in the marquee.

Decide on the decorations

One of the best things about having your wedding in your garden is that you can spend time ahead of the event making your garden beautiful. If you're having a long engagement, a year or two before you could start getting some plants established so they're in full bloom by the time your wedding rolls around. A few weeks before the wedding, you could fill your flower beds, pots and borders with inexpensive blooms from the garden centre. Far cheaper than buying lots of wedding flowers from a florist! When it comes to your decorations, bear in mind the garden theme. Natural/ rustic decorations will look great- mason jars tied with twine full of wildflowers or tealight candles are one example of this. Check out sites like Pinterest for more ideas.

Hosting your wedding at home can save you a tonne of money, while also making your day more unique and even more special. If you love your home, why not have the happiest day of your life there?!

Would you have your wedding in your garden, or is it something you've considered?