Hosting a Wedding at Your House? 5 Things You Need to Consider

Party, Wedding

When my father-in-law proposed to his girlfriend, the first thought that popped into my mind (aside from woohoo! we love Gayle!) was, I hope they decide to have their reception at our house! Hands down the best part of our house is the backyard and this lusciously amazingly huge patio that begs to host events.

Over the last several months, we’ve had a lot to consider in preparing our house to host their small, intimate family wedding reception al fresco on our patio. Probably the biggest issue I’ve personally experienced is wanting to embark on (pay for) too many new projects and plant too many flowers and trees and everything else to make the reception as beautiful as possible.

The following is a list of key considerations if you are planning to host a wedding reception or other party at your home:

1. The Neighbors

Do you have neighbors? Sure, most of us suburbanites do. Unless you live on several acres or in a really rural area, you should be thinking about those lovely (or maybe not so lovely) folks that live around you. Nobody wants the cops to show up and ruin the party because the neighbors got cranky! We live in a neighborhood on acre+ properties in the Phoenix metro area, so weddings are actually common on these types of properties.

Last year, our neighbor hosted a wedding and left a nice note and a $5 gift card to Starbucks in our mailbox. WHAT A GREAT IDEA! It’s a neighborly courtesy – let everyone know about the extra cars, ask for some leeway on the music and noise, thank everyone for understanding. Here is what I wrote:

Hey Neighbor!

We are hosting a small wedding reception at our house on Saturday evening March 30. Please excuse the extra traffic, cars, and music (we promise it won’t be too loud). We appreciate your understanding as we celebrate this special day with our family!

If you have any questions, please contact me at ###-###-####. 

Thanks so much and have a great week,

Jessica and Chris

2. Parking

While it may not matter for a small group of people, hundreds of cars could spell trouble in a suburban neighborhood. You should definitely consider the following questions:

  • Do you live in an HOA or town that limits street parking?
  • Big driveway? Open space in your front yard?
  • How big is the event and where will everyone park?

If you can, you should park your own cars out of the way to maximize space. We provided a card with directions to our house from the church and polite suggestions for where to park. I created the map and directions card in Adobe Illustrator but you could just as easily use PowerPoint or Google Slides,

3. The Bathroom Situation

I don’t know about you, but I’m not thrilled about guests traipsing through my house to use a bathroom. We conveniently have a bathroom with an exterior entrance off our patio which solves this problem. If you don’t have a setup like this, you might want to consider renting facilities. Gone are the days of the nasty plastic port-o-potty. Now you can rent luxury restroom trailers. Here is a place the rents them in the Phoenix area, where I live: Bathroom Trailers

4. The Work Involved (and how much this may cost)

If your property is perfectly maintained at all times, this might not be a concern of yours. For the rest of us, there is likely a lot of work involved on your part in cleaning up your property. We had piles of mulch and soil in random places, plants that were not yet planted in the ground, a garden fence unfinished, and the list goes on. I wanted to plant flowers both out in the yard and in pots on the patio to beautify the space.

Here are some things to consider:

  • What area will guests see? Chances are there will be some areas along the side of the house to stash less visually appealing outdoor items.
  • Is there adequate lighting at night? If not, you might want to consider LED string lights and solar light stakes.
  • Can things such as barbecues and lawn equipment (think shovels, wheel barrows, that junk that is just laying around) be stored in a garage or shed?

5. Insurance

Last, but certainly not least, insurance. I am not an insurance agent or a fancy lawyer so I can’t tell you what you should or should not do in this situation. You will need to contact your insurance agent. Our wonderful agent told us we were covered for our particular situation given the number of people involved and that it was not a reoccurring event. You can look into One Day or Event insurance. TheEventHelper.com offers one-day insurance plans for weddings and other events.