The team at The Wedding and Event Creators are back with some tips on how to make your at home wedding extra special!

A home wedding can take many forms. It could be a simple backyard wedding with a small guest list of your nearest and dearest, or a wedding on a large property complete with a fabulous marquee, delicious food trucks, and glamping for the guests. Many things can make your home wedding the perfect day for you and your partner – from adding personal touches here and there, creating intimate nooks with break-out furniture and subtle lighting, and getting the logistics right before the event.

Inject Personality Into Your Wedding

The best part about having your wedding at home is that there are no restrictions when it comes to injecting your personality into the festivities. Adding some personal touches like photos or a slideshow of you as a couple, photo frames of loved ones who have passed on and couldn’t be at the wedding, or your favourite music blasting throughout the night. Another fantastic idea is to have a pop-up bar in one corner serving a signature cocktail that represents you as a couple.

As for wedding favours, some unique ideas to wow your guests could be a personalised stemless wine glass, a succulent in a pot, a honey jar, a luggage tag or a hand fan (perfect for a balmy summer wedding). If you’re looking for a one-of-a-kind COVID-19 related wedding favour, you can’t go past a personalised hand sanitiser bottle with the words ‘Spread Love, Not Germs’.

Make a Blank Canvas Intimate

Having your wedding at home can bring a unique set of challenges being that you’re often starting with blank canvas. To create a romantic, intimate vibe, we love to create nooks and separate areas where guests can mingle by styling a combination of lounge and occasional chairs, cushions, rugs and other soft furnishings.

Lighting can also bring the event to life by setting the mood for your guests. First, consider the existing lighting you have to work with and determine what lighting you need to buy or hire to create a whimsical atmosphere. Dimmed lights such as fairy lights, festoon lights or tealight candles can all add to the reception experience by softening the space. Also consider what utility lighting you might need, for example, for guests to make their way to the bathroom, you want a well-lit path. You may also need more lighting around areas such as the food table or bar.

Make It Fun

By styling existing feature areas like a vertical green wall on your balcony or a beautiful old tree in the backyard, you can turn something ordinary into something special for your event. Try adding a neon sign or fun props to turn a plain backdrop into a photo wall or fixing some fairy lights or bunting from a tree to transform it into a charming backdrop for your guests to take photos. Alternatively, why not hire a photo booth Kombi van or a green screen photo booth. Having memories that guests can take home with them in the form of a photo strip means that they will remember the event for years to come. And don’t stop at photo booth photos – the best photos are often the candid ones your guests take of the wedding bash. To easily collate all the amazing photos the next day, come up with a fun wedding #hashtag guests can use during the event when posting their photos. Display your wedding hashtag in small photo frames on some of the tables at your home and make sure your emcee announces the hashtag at the start of the night so you don’t miss any memories.

Another idea to add some fun to your at-home wedding is to have lawn games for your guests to play while they are waiting for you to arrive during cocktail hour or throughout the night. You can find some lawn game hire items here.

Think About the Logistics

Just because your wedding is being hosted at home, doesn’t mean you should feel like you have to be the hostess all night and make sure your guests are comfortable. It’s your day and you want to be as in the moment as you can with your new hubby. The best at-home weddings ensure everything is already taken care of or pre-planned before their guests arrive.

The first thing you want to consider is parking for your guests. It’s a great idea to outline this on the invite so guests know exactly where they can and can’t park. Next, it’s important to think about bathrooms. Are you going to let guests use the toilet inside the house? Are you going to hire portaloos? Have you got signage and plenty of toilet paper stocked up?

Another key consideration when it comes to hosting a wedding at home is accommodation for your guests. Whether you have some guests stay at the house, others camp in the backyard or property or others stay in nearby local accommodation, it’s good to give your guests plenty of time to organise where they will be staying.

The last and probably most important consideration when it comes to hosting a wedding at home, especially one that is to be held outside, is a backup plan in case of rainy weather. Do you have marquees available if the weather is bad or an undercover area that could be used in the event of rain? Other logistics to consider when planning an at-home wedding include bins, seating, lighting and potential noise complaints from neighbours.

All Images: The Salty Shutter 

About The Wedding and Event Creators: At The Wedding and Event Creators we offer a range of services, from wedding planning, set up and styling, coordination and a large hire range.