THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO HAVING YOUR DREAM TENTED WEDDING
Is dreamy tented wedding inspiration on your Pinterest board? If so, you’re in the right place!
Many couples who choose tent weddings want to get married in a meaningful location. Whether it’s at your family’s summer home, your parents’ property, or a family farm, your wedding will be so special!
Tented weddings require a lot more work than a traditional wedding venue or venue that hosts weddings regularly, but don’t let that deter you from your dreams! With the right wedding planner and some careful with details planning, your dream wedding will be pulled together flawlessly.
That’s where I come in! I’m Lindsay, a Toronto and Niagara-based wedding planner who specializes in planning outdoor tented and private estate weddings.
Today, I’m sharing my best tips to help you plan your stress-free tented wedding! From budgeting to decor, you’ll find everything you need to know to plan the outdoor wedding of your dreams.
Plan for a Higher Budget
A tent can create an elevated, entirely one-of-a-kind space for your wedding reception. With the help of professional vendors, you can bring your unique vision for your wedding to life!
With a unique space comes added expenses that can add several tens of thousands of dollars to your wedding budget, that wouldn’t be considered at a wedding venue. Remember, with a tented wedding, you’re creating a venue from scratch. You’ll need to secure rentals for essentials (and extras) typically included in a traditional venue.
When creating your tented wedding budget, consider essentials like:
Utilities including power, lighting, and climate control
Flooring (guests can’t stand on grass or dirt!)
Kitchen tent to ensure catering is close to guests
Set-up and tear-down costs for all rentals, tents and structures
Fire inspection, electrical inspection, tent structure inspection fees
Many different types of permits based on your municipality
Insurance and SOP permits
Washroom and parking facilities for all your guests
Furniture, including tables and chairs
Glassware, dishes cutlery, and so much more!
Before starting to dream about your tented wedding, work with a professional planner to create a budget that prioritizes your desires. Working with a full-service wedding planner like Lindsay Plank Events will help you design a realistic budget to have the tented wedding of your dreams.
Setting Up Your Rentals Takes Time
Although it may seem like a piece of cake, setting up your rentals takes time!
Now that you’ve added space in your budget for rentals, you’ll need to factor in extra time in your wedding week or weekend schedule to arrange for set up.
The most important rental, of course, will be the tent itself!
All professional tent companies will handle the set-up and take-down of your tent. You’ll need to communicate with the rental company to arrange a date and time for setting up. This typically falls within a 3-4 window prior to your wedding date.
Once your tent set up date is confirmed, it’s time to organize the set up and take down crew for your other rentals!
You’ll need to hire other professionals to set up any furniture (tables, chairs, linens, lounge, etc.), additional decor, tableware, or other rentals. You’ll still want to assign someone to double-check that everything was delivered to site and set up according to plan.
Also think about who will be handling the tear down that evening or the following day for your rental company to come pick up. Following the wedding, the rental company will require that the chairs be stacked, tables collapsed, linens packed up, and all items neatly arranged in one spot such as a garage or enclosed space. Consider who will be responsible for collapsing and tidying everything at the end of the evening and the day following the wedding. LPE has a service that can handle this for you!
Whether you’re hiring professionals or using friends and family, ensure you have allotted enough time and hands to get everything done. Setting up tables, chairs, and decor can take several hours. It’s better to have too many people helping than too few!
Plan with the Weather In Mind
When you’re choosing your decor for your tented wedding, it’s important to think about typical weather for the time of year. Plan ahead to avoid wind or heat ruining your decor!
Use heavy, solid decor pieces that won’t be easily moved by the wind. If you’re using table numbers or place cards to mark guests’ seats, look for options that can’t be easily knocked over.
When choosing your table linens, opt for heavier or textured fabrics. Adding linens with weight makes it more difficult for them to be picked up by the wind. We want to avoid any glassware, liquids, or candles falling over!
Hosting an outdoor wedding requires having a plan A, B, C, and D+ to ensure you are covered for all elements that may be thrown your way that day. Weather is the one factor no one can predict or change on your wedding day.
Don’t Forget Indoor Utilities
Tented weddings feel like an outdoor wedding, but you’ll need room in your budget for indoor utilities!
Electricity is a must for any tented wedding. Budget for a generator(s) as well as an air conditioner for heating and/or cooling. Having a large wedding? Add extra restroom facilities so guests don’t have to worry about long line ups. As a rule, you should have a bathroom for every 35-45 guests.
When planning your wedding, ask your band (or DJ), lighting companies, and caterers about their power requirements. You’ll need to factor these into your plan!
Once you have that information, your wedding planner can help you figure out:
How many watts will be needed?
Will each vendor bring their own extension cords?
How many plug-ins will each vendor need?
Based on this, do we need to bring in an extra power panel to accommodate?
Have someone in your corner to ensure you ask the right questions and you have everything you need so it’s all organized.
Most Importantly, Hire Professionals!
As a wedding planner, I’ve organized a LOT of tent weddings. You know the difference between couples that hire professionals and the ones who don’t?
The couples that hire professionals always have smoother weddings, along with being more present with their friends and family!
Professional vendors work weddings and events all the time. They have the experience and skill to troubleshoot and prepare for any scenario. They know the challenges you face with a tent wedding and can help you plan ahead (and well) from the beginning. We can provide feedback and information from the start to avoid issues or disappointments closer to or on the wedding day.
When should you hire a professional vendor?
In the wedding planning process, you’ve probably had a few friends or family members offer their services to cut costs. However, there are a few services where you should always hire a professional vendor! Especially when hosting a wedding on a private property for a tented wedding.
When hiring any of these well vetted vendors, pick companies that have worked tent weddings or similar settings in the past. Tent weddings are A LOT more work than traditional venue weddings, and you just don’t want to risk it on vendors that don’t have the experience.
If you’re unsure, your wedding planner or coordinator will be able to help you find the right vendors to hire for your event.
Ready to have the tented wedding of your dreams in the Toronto, Niagara, or Muskoka region? Contact me here to get started planning your special day!
