Planning a Garden Marquee Wedding at Your Own Home
If you have been researching the costs of planning a wedding in Ireland, then you already know what the costs can be. Weddings aren’t cheap – but you may be able to offset a few of the venue costs by hiring a garden marque and having the wedding reception in your own home, instead!
The Benefits of Hiring a Garden Marquee
There are more than a few benefits to hiring a garden marquee for your wedding. While the most important of these might be the savings you stand to make – there are a few others as well. Some of which are as follows:
- You can choose where you want to place your marquee. You might hire a garden marquee and have your wedding in a field if you felt like it, as long as you get the appropriate permissions, this gives you freer reign over when, where, and how you want to celebrate your big day.
- The scenery could be spectacular, depending on where you choose to place your garden marquee.
- You get to choose your caterer instead of relying on the one provided by the hotel (Lewis Marquees).
- A home marquee wedding provides an intimate setting where all your closest friends and family can relax.
Keep in mind that a garden marquee wedding isn’t (as the Irish Times puts it) fuss-free – but it will save you many overheads and help you make memories you will cherish forever. After all, isn’t it a fantastic concept to marry in the same space you will start your lives together?
How to Create the Perfect Garden Marquee Wedding (in a Few Easy Steps)
Before you start planning your at-home wedding, there are a few key considerations you should make. Ask yourself these questions before you decide to go forward with a garden marquee wedding.
- Do I have the space for a garden marquee? If not, do I know an area that I would be allowed to use for the day of the wedding?
- Is your garden suitable? If it is overgrown and strewn with rubbish, it will all need to be cleaned up and prepared, which leads us to the next question.
- Do you have enough people willing to prepare the garden for you? Doing so means not only cleaning away any mess and making the garden beautiful before the ceremony – but also ensuring that the marquee is erected in the days beforehand. Tables and chairs, decorations, catering, and separate areas for dancing, eating or talking all need to be set up, not to mention the usual business of preparing each table to suit your theme, style or color scheme.
- Do you need permission from your local council? (This article by HER helps outline some of the agreements you might need)
After you have carefully thought through all of these considerations and you still want to have an at-home garden marquee wedding in Ireland then continue with the first step of our guide.
Step 1 – Choosing Your Space
A garden marquee can go up anywhere that there is enough ground space. Most people will have them in their garden for ease of access to both kitchen and toilet facilities. While caterers may be able to provide some of their equipment if you choose to place your marquee in a field; everyone will still need access to toilets. Ergo; if you plan a wedding in a field marquee make sure you hire some portaloos as well.
If you are having a wedding at home, you will need to consider your neighbors. Are they going to be happy with a hundred or so people in the street for a rowdy night of loud music and drinking? An excellent way to get around this is to invite them all for a drink during evening celebrations.
Step 2 – Preparing Your Space
No Irish garden marquee wedding can take place until your chosen area is pristine enough to create fantastic photographs and beautiful memories. Prepare your space well in advance, using any flower beds to accentuate your color scheme. For this, you will need as many hands as you can find, so enlist friends and family to turn that space into something extra special.
Remember – you will also need help to erect and dress your garden marquee and the more people you have to help you, the easier this will be for you. Give yourself as much time as possible in the days before the ceremony to start setting up.
Step 3 – Getting That Permission
If you choose to have the full ceremony in your garden, you will need the usual marriage certificates regardless. They can be found by visiting the government website here. Apart from this, you might also need permits for erecting a marquee in a residential area. Check with your local area council well in advance in case you need to change your location to accommodate this.
Step 4 – Make Sure You Are Insured
Insurance is necessary in case something goes wrong. A one-off event insurance policy is the best way to ensure you have complete coverage for your at-home garden marquee wedding. Check your home insurance policy, and, if not covered, look for insurance similar to what can be found on Event Insurance.
Step 5 – Don’t Forget the Deets!
Details such as hiring a caterer, toilet facilities, server, and music must all be carefully planned in much the same way as a typical wedding might be. Take into consideration how much access to electricity and facilities your hired staff are going to have.
Step 6 – Enjoy Your Big Day!
Lastly, after all that planning and all that work, you will be able to have an at-home garden marquee wedding without worrying about things like transportation, venue bookings, or hotels!
We specialize in photographing Irish weddings from the most straightforward ceremony to the largest party. Our photographer provides clean, detailed, and wonderfully atmospheric photographs to help you commemorate the special moments in life. Contact us now for wedding photography of distinction for your at-home garden marquee wedding.
