Help with planning a Farm Wedding Last Minute !

How's the bathroom situation? Depending on your guest list you might need to rent some.

My advice: don't do this.

It's TONS of work, lots of expense and it comes with great liability.

Portapotties, the nice ones.

Miles of extension cords.

Heating/cooling for the tent.

Parking/transporatation.

Landscaper to fix any damage to the property.

A lawyer to fix any damage to the friendship.

To be honest, DIY weddings where you have to bring stuff in are almost always more expensive and more work. I'd keep your original venue.

Bathrooms and parking. How's the walk to the tent situation? Would it be muddy if it rained?

Don't forget bathrooms! And preferably not porta potties cause those are gross. Are you doing everything under the tent? Keep in mind that create your own weddings are often pretty expensive. Even if you have the venue for free you still need to rent all of that stuff which can cost a pretty penny. Good luck to you!

Climate control. What if it's cold? Does the tent have sides in case it rains?

Toilets! Unless your friend is willing to have people in and out of her house all night AND she is certain her plumbing is up to the task of X number of people using it (and her TP and soap and towels) all night, you're going to need porta potties.

Trash cans, recycling bins, anything for waste disposal.

Dishes, linens, etc.

There are toilet trailers with actual stalls and sinks that you can rent. That might cost a lot though.....

They have hosted a ton of parties there themselves and actually have a bathroom built out in the land .

Don't forget about linens, dinnerware, glassware. Also dance floor and extra tables for cake, gifts, etc.

Bathroom is VERY important and can be $$. Don't expect one household bathroom to accommodate all your guests. And navigating standard porta potties in the dark while wearing formal wear is also not pleasant. Look into bathroom trailers.

Servers? Bartenders? Liquor license or permit? Cost to transport liquor to the site?

Also, how big is the bathroom....there are rules about ratio of toilets to guests. If you have 150 people you need more than one bathroom....

Make sure to get something to keep bugs at bay - at least here, in the evening during the warm months the bugs are out in force. I would say maybe those citronella torches, they'd look alright and also be functional.

@cutenickname got it... servers, liquor license, etc.

silverware, dishes, other walkways (or heel protectors for ladies)

ETA: you said there are bathrooms... how many? The general idea is one for every 10-15 guests.

I'm not saying this can't be done, but its often a nightmare and never-ending headache.

@cutenickname got all that figured out .

There are a lot of small details. I'm going to post what I normally do regarding backyard/outdoors weddings (my husband and I had our wedding in our backyard)...

It can be done! But things to keep in mind...

- It probably won't end up being much less expensive than a venue.

- You are responsible for EVERYTHING.... Tent, tables, chairs, linens, dinnerware, lighting, generators, bathrooms/restroom trailers, heat (very important!!!), fans/air conditioning (also very important! Heat/AC depends on time of year), etc.

- Make sure to determine good placement of everything... You don't want the guests to have to trek really far through the field/yard to get to the restroom... Also take into account the terrain and bumps (our yard looks flat, but it really had lots of bumps to it!).

- Catering/bartending is on you, so find reputable vendors.

- Make sure you have adequate and relatively close parking.

- People will want to go in your house (if the ceremony/reception is close by)! Make sure you are prepared to deal with that beforehand (do you care? If you want them to stay out, make sure to put a sign or other means up to let guests know).

- Hire a day-of coordinater! Ours was definitely one of the best expenses we had Because it's on your property, you just don't want to have to deal with guest questions the day of - and there will be plenty of little things that you know, because it's your place, but guests will ask/have to figure out.

- Have chairs, not hay bales. I admit I wanted hay bales, but we did not get them, and it was a good decision not to. In addition to the general need for chairs, you probably should get two sets of chairs... Ceremony location chairs and reception chairs (unless people are sitting at tables to watch the ceremony). We considered having one set of chairs and us/family/friends/guests moving the chairs to the reception location after the ceremony. Ultimately, I decided to just get two sets (a "cheaper" set for the ceremony, and nicer, sturdier, white ones for the reception). I'm glad we did that so we didn't have to bother guests with that, plus now that I'm on Wedding Wire (surprisingly I wasn't before my wedding!), I realize that would have been poor etiquette.

- The catering company may have to use your kitchen in your home. Ours did. All companies may not, but some might, so this is something to consider.

- We considered renting a sound system and just using an iPod as well, but we didn't want the hassle or to worry about it malfunctioning, so we found a DJ who gave us an excellent deal for JUST playing music (he did end up emceeing a little, but we hired him solely to play music and make sure it flowed/didn't mess up).

A backyard wedding is definitely possible, and I don't know how much more stressful a backyard wedding is compared to a venue wedding, because my husband and I started planning backyard from the beginning. Just remember there are a lot of details you have to cover since you're building it from the ground up.

I'm also not a huge proponent of using anyone else's property besides your own for a backyard wedding... It puts a lot of pressure on stress on that person, and it's not even his/her event. You/they may want to look into liability insurance.

Some costs for our backyard wedding...

Tent, Tent Sides, Heat, Lights, Extension Cords = $1973.08

White Chairs, Tan Chairs, Tables, Generators, Grill, Coffee Urn (60-cup) = $768.90

Restroom Trailer (nice restrooms, not port-a-potties) = $1121

Day-of Coordinator (and she gave me a steal of a deal!) = $360

That right there is over $4200. That doesn't include ANY decor or any other vendors (photographer, DJ, caterer, etc.). Catering was $4685. Alcohol is not included in that catering cost.

Like I said, backyard weddings are completely doable, but they are by no means less expensive. Our wedding all said and done including every last detail came to $21,161.77. We had 90 guests (11 of which were kids).

@cutenickname these bathrooms are big our guest list is 60 people and there is 4 bathrooms .

Have your photos taken at the farm, and go with the professional (all-inclusive?) venue for which you already placed a deposit.

2 close friends who had DIY weddings hated their lives. So much more stressful to coordinate multiple vendors, with all of contracts, requirements, schedules....don't do this to yourself. If it rains you won't even enjoy the farm.

Jennifer, you were offered the yard, don't assume the bathrooms in the house are included (you may have already gotten permission).

@LeahH @A.L.C we have crunched the numbers and we actually are saving more and are able to offer our guest a lot more . @Delfina our caterers will provide dishes and linens .