Tent costs

It'll depend on the size of your wedding (guest-wise and area-wise). Larger tents will cost more of course. I'm not sure on pricing but if you want dancing, you may need to rent a dance floor as well which goes hand in hand with having a larger tent AKA $$$$. I googled pricing and this was what I found, but it could also vary by area:

From The Knot:

For a 20’ x 30’ structure, expect to pay between:

$150 – $250 for a High Peaks Tent

$200 – $250 for a Canopy

$190 – $250 for a Pole Tent

$325 – $400 for a Frame Tent

For a 30’ by 50’ structure, expect to pay between:

$525 – $600 for a High Peaks Tent

$1000 – $1400 for a Frame Tent

For a 40’ by 120’ structure, expect to pay between:

$1700 – $2200 for a High Peaks Tent

$3600 – $4200 for a Frame Tent

Source: The Knot - All About Tents

If it requires lighting, that’s more and if there isn’t an electric source you’ll need a generator

It can add up quickly. I could have had a 50 by 100 for 150 for the 36 hours. That included delivery, setup, and tear down. That was high peak with sides. Call around and get quotes.

Also, if you're planning on getting drapery for inside the tent, that'll cost you a upwards of $1,000 if your inspiration is from Pinterest. I'll come back if I think of anything else

My wedding is in MA. My tent is 60x40 and about $1800 just for the tent.
i found one for $1400 (the cheapest I found for the size), but for the extras I wanted, the other tent was better (this is all pre sales tax)

Im also getting lighting and flooring, and a dance floor. Chairs (tables etc). And a cooling system. Sometimes sidewalls are an add on.
All in, approximately $10k is going to my tent company.

Oh yeah, generator if necessary. Another unforeseen cost is any potential ground leveling, if necessary.

Ugh not being able to edit posts. I wanted to add that I found dance floors and lighting to both be alarmingly expensive, both close to $1000 each

We had a 30x60 tent, with sides. We also had to rent heaters, tables, chairs, dance floor, lighting, and a nice bathroom trailer. I think with all of that, it was about $5000.

My husband and I had a backyard wedding at our home in 2015 🙂 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 coordinator! 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, do not use hay bales as seats - people have allergies to hay and the bales are very uncomfortable to sit on. I admit I wanted them, 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.
- 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, 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.

Our wedding expenses:

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).

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Hi ,

Thanks for sharing. I am planning a tent wedding in MA too. What company did you hire?

Sandy