At-home weddings offer couples, family, and friends an opportunity to experience a unique sense of intimacy. Whether marrying in the bride’s family home, the groom’s family garden, or saying sacred vows in the couple’s shared home, such venues offer a sense of warmth and comfort, unparalleled in formal settings like churches and event halls.
If you are planning your wedding in your home or another private space, you may need some ideas on how to bring it all together on-budget and according to your vision.
Here are four tips to help you plan an at-home wedding to remember for a lifetime.
1. Review Your Interior and Exterior Space You Plan to Use
Whether you are planning an indoor or outdoor wedding, you’re likely to use both spaces to some extent. You probably have a good idea of where you plan to say your vows and where you want your guests to sit. However, there is more to consider, such as:
- How people will enter the ceremony area and find their seats
- Where people can leave their coats and other personal belongings
- Where everyone can legally park without disrupting neighbors
According to Sarah Radasky of Sarah-Allen Preston Designs, quoted in a Martha Stewart Weddings feature, “seeing a space that you are so familiar with in a different or unexpected way” is vital to pulling everything together for the perfect day in your favorite space.
2. Choose a Wedding Theme or Specific Direction to Tie Everything Together
The best thing about choosing a wedding theme is that it is completely up to you and in your hands. When you close your eyes and envision your big day, what do you see? A rustic, boho-chic, elegant or romantic scene? Your living room bathed in lavender or cream colors?
Bride Story suggests, above all, that your theme should help you tie your day together in harmony. A theme isn’t meant to lock you into something, but it will help you stay focused — on time and on budget — since the possibilities for weddings can distract and overwhelm couples.
3. Prepare Wedding Guests for Your At-Home Affair Right Away with Your Save-the-Date
Give your treasured wedding guests an idea of what they will experience when they show up to your wedding as soon as possible. Once you’ve compiled and built your guest list, send your guests beautiful save-the-date cards that stylistically reflect the theme of the wedding and offer all the important details, such as the time, place, parking options, and location of the reception. Wedding-focused websites like Minted.com recommend providing guests with practical information that might include bringing a sweater or a light jacket for an evening wedding in the garden.
4. Make Necessary Adaptations to Your Home to Accommodate Everyone
Depending on the size of your guest list, you’re not likely to have enough restroom options for everyone you invite, so it’s crucial to make contingency plans. Bring in things like restroom trailers, extra lounge seating, and power generators to keep everyone comfortable and to avoid overtaxing your home’s resources.
Treasure Your At-Home Wedding Forever with Good Basic Planning
Taking on an at-home wedding is a big and exciting project, and you can pull it off with grace, style, and joy with good basic planning. Considering your guests’ comfort by giving them an idea of what to expect, in terms of weather and how to dress, and letting them know you have thought it through is a great way to give you and your groom peace of mind to relax and enjoy your big day together.
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