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Home wedding

A home wedding is a wedding held at a private home, often of a family member or close family friend.

Contents

[edit] Capacity

A typical home would not comfortably host more than 30 people, so an outdoor wedding in the yard might be called for. For an indoor wedding, depending on sight lines, you may be able to have some guests in what would technically be considered another room.

[edit] Layout

Indoors: besides the TV, whatever is the focal point of the room (a fireplace, a picture window, etc.) naturally works as the focal point for the wedding. The bride may be able to make a dramatic entrance down a flight of stairs, or simply enter from another room. You may wish to have guests use existing furniture, remove bulky furniture and use rented chairs (common in mid-century home weddings), or simply ask guests to stand (in which case you'll need to consider the length of the ceremony).

Outdoors: as in most outdoor weddings, take time to consider where the sun will be during your ceremony, and how your guests will be facing. What will the backdrop be? Will you need to rent chairs?

[edit] Food

Depending on the overall feel of the event, food can range from catered dinner to a down-home barbecue, or from a buffet of finger sandwiches and crudites to a vast selection of homemade pies.

Home weddings can be even more personal with homemade food, although depending on the size of the event, simple hors d'oevres may be most appropriate, followed by wedding cake or other desserts. On the other hand, for an intimate wedding, a sit-down dinner is not entirely out of the question.

One consideration is that cooking should not be done during an indoor ceremony. The sounds and smells of cooking would detract from the gravitas of the event.

[edit] Facilities

Conventional wisdom demands one bathroom for every 50 guests; however, most home plumbing systems will balk even at that, and your wedding day is no time to deal with a backup. Consider renting a portable toilet--privately rented portable toilets, particularly from companies specializing in weddings, are vastly superior to what you'd expect to find on a construction site.

[edit] Parking

Parking is perhaps the most difficult aspect of planning a home wedding. Some options:

  • ask neighbors for permission to use their driveways
  • offer shuttles from the nearest public parking area
  • encourage carpooling

[edit] Tips

  • unplug the phone during the ceremony!
  • arrange to have the home professionally cleaned before and after the event.
  • consider the different "zones" and anticipate traffic flow just as you would in any other venue. An indoor ceremony, cocktails in the yard, and dinner indoors is a good option: it allows for tables and chairs to be moved without too much fuss.
  • if catering a home wedding, ensure your caterer is aware of the facilities he or she will be dealing with. Larger weddings may require the renting of a cooks' tent to add food preparation space.

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