Is anyone having an at-home wedding?

Slightly different, but along the same lines, we're getting married at our cottage.

I guess the biggest factor in figuring out if you'll truly save money is guest list. We're inviting 80, and that's just too much for our place to handle on it's own, so we're tenting our front yard and having a floor installed - it's pricey. We're probably not saving a ton of money, but it's what we really wanted to do.

Some things we're trying to figure out that you might want to keep in mind:

-Renting bathrooms (Our quote is $1100 for a 2 stall trailer, which was shocking to us haha)

-Where to store all the ice, how to keep drinks and mix cold when we only have 1 fridge

-Backup power for lighting, dj equipment, sound, etc

-I decided to get sola (wood) flowers instead of real as we're getting married in July and don't have anywhere cool to keep flowers before the wedding

We're going to hire a day of coordinator to handle everything so we don't have to ask friends or family to do it. Also just to have an extra set of eyes on my lists to make sure I'm not forgetting anything!

Overall, I think it's absolutely do-able! You should go for it if it's what you want!

My cousin did an intimate at home wedding it was lovely. they decorated the entire house and had the officiant come and we had SO MUCH food and drinks!! we all dressed up as well and had nice photos it was amazing you should do this!!!

At home weddings can give you a feel of romance I think. There was a time that almost everyone got married at home. If you have the space and want a more intimate affair I think it would be perfect. It definitely needs a lot of careful planning though.

A wedding at home is great and how you can make it work with the size given and guest list. Altering the living room into the altar and the backyard for reception can be beneficial. Vice versa to see if the set up can work best that way.

Renting a home that has everything and hiring a caterer for the day and coordinator to ensure all goes well based on your budget.

FH and I were planning on doing it in my family home originally, but unfortunately the way the back yard is set up just didn't work. So FH's parents stepped up to the plate and offered their home instead and did a complete overhaul of the back yard just for us! Obviously they'll reap the benefits long after the wedding lol! but the fact that they did it in time for us to have the wedding in July meant the world to us.

Basically my future MIL took everything into her own hands so I didn't have to lift a finger, she just asked me about location and what kind of wood I like and just some of the finer details involved with the process. I also did hire a planner with some of the saved money, just so that I had that piece of mind that everything would still be organized and all the vendors would have a go-to person the day of and I wouldn't be running around putting out potential fires myself. So I'd definitely look into that, unless you're comfortable enough with allocating certain duties to friends and family. Which most of mine are fine with, as well as myself leading up to the day, but I want guests at my wedding as my guests, not the problem solvers the day of the wedding.

Weddings used to always take place at home so its definitely do-able. My grandmother's wedding (this was in the 1940's) was at her parent's home. They had a tea with sandwiches, wedding cake, and punch.


I think money saved would really depend on what kind of wedding you want. If you want an afternoon tea reception with minimal decor (which I think is awesome and so sweetly vintage) then you would save a lot of money. If you are wanting something more elaborate and thinking of things like professional landscaping for the gardens and a dance floor and/or stage for a band, I don't think you will save very much at all.
What type of wedding are you envisioning? Would you want it inside or outside? How many people do you think you will invite?