For some, there could be nothing more special than gathering everyone you love at the house you grew up in on your wedding day. Hosting at home offers something even the most beautiful venue can’t recreate: the chance to celebrate somewhere already filled with memories, and to create an event that feels deeply personal.
As romantic as it sounds, though, the reality can be quite different from the fantasy. There are suppliers to coordinate, marquees to erect, generators and lighting to consider - not to mention the prospect of welcoming 100+ people into the family garden. It’s enough to overwhelm even the most good-natured and willing of families.
For Eve Simmons, who got married last summer at her parents’ home in Buckinghamshire, the emotional pull of bringing all of her friends and family together somewhere so special to her outweighed the logistical challenges.
“Having all your favourite people at your family home is something you would never expect to happen in your life - and that was the most special thing,” she says. “We put so much effort into making it exactly what we wanted, and having it at home meant we had the opportunity to make it as personal to us as possible. We had total control over the atmosphere and experience.”
Hosting at home, however, makes you acutely aware of the logistics a traditional venue would normally handle. “You have to think about things like the power and lighting, and a lot of stuff that a venue would just crack on with,” says Eve. “That was nerve-racking - and for us, the most stressful part was the set-up. We laid tables for 160 people ourselves which, in hindsight, I wouldn’t do again. It was boiling hot, we had our rehearsal dinner to get to and it took way longer than we thought it would.”
The hot weather presented another unexpected challenge, with Eve’s parents tasked with keeping the garden looking beautiful through a heatwave. “Even though they were so happy to do it, I did feel guilty at times about how much they had to do,” she says. “I also worried that on the day, they might not be able to enjoy it - that they might feel like wedding planners.”
Thankfully, those fears proved unfounded.
“The emotional aspect for us really overrode the practical challenges,” says Eve’s mother, Sophie Williams. “We were absolutely knackered afterwards, but we wouldn't have had it any other way.”
Her biggest advice? Be organised, stick to timelines and choose your suppliers carefully, focusing on those who come recommended locally. Without a venue taking care of logistics, a home wedding can become incredibly labour-intensive, with everything from parking and access for both guests and staff to portaloos, generators and lighting all needing to be considered.
“That can be really stressful,” Sophie admits. But alongside the unexpected challenges came something else: joy.
“It was just so relaxed and lovely on the morning of the wedding to have everyone getting ready there, in our home,” says Sophie. “It also meant the grandchildren could be a big part of the day, just heading into the house at bedtime. Maybe, from our point of view, it would have been a bit easier to do it somewhere else, but the hard work was so worth it.”
Perhaps that’s the trade-off of marrying at home: you take on the invisible admin that a venue would normally take care of, but in return, you get to celebrate one of life’s biggest milestones in a setting that already means everything to you.
