What to do about sand floor

There are those foam interlocking tiles that can be rented. I'm not sure what they are called...

Why don't you have your reception somewhere that isn't made of something you don't want?

I think it is going to be pretty expensive. 60 by 80 feet is quite an area to cover.

You could have just a portion of it covered for a dance floor? that way, you aren't paying for such a huge covering

^ Why did you choose a venue that had a significant undesirable characteristic

Rent flooring. Putting down hay is technically another option, but that could be problematic with allergies, and then they whole ring will smell like hay if it didn't already. This was one factor in why we chose to not have our wedding at my FILs stables.

Why don't you just find a non-sand venue if you don't like sand?

We are having it at my fiances family farm, and he really wants it to be there, otherwise I would have picked a different venue.

Why would you have a reception IN a riding arena and then have an issue with the presumably already there arena material. I mean I'd get it if it was dirty packed and they upgraded to an engineered arena- but I assume you knew what it was when you picked it.

cheap suggestion? find a new venue.

Is plywood really that expensive for a 60x80 space? I've done trade show booths that were bigger than that and flooring was maybe a few thousand dollars.

If that's too much, why not use the financial burden as a reason to find another venue? I assume your guests will be less thrilled than you are about attending a wedding at a riding arena filled with sand. I mean...that's a stable right? A riding stable?

Good luck and think about changing your avatar to a pic...you may get more thoughtful responses.

I just saw pictures of a friend's wedding that was on a ranch, and the whole "floor" was loose dirt. She said kids were running around kicking up dust all night, and in general was just awful for guests. However, she also said that the reason they had stuck with it was because covering an entire area was just too expensive and not worth the hassle.

I'm saying this because I don't know that there ARE any inexpensive options. Can you use this as an excuse to get a new venue with his family? Or have a ceremony there and reception elsewhere?

Can you have the wedding somewhere else on the farm other than the riding arena? Like a grassy area?

60x80ft.... for a slightly larger area than that, do you know what the rental company wanted to do sub-flooring and staging(which would be necessary on that kind of floor?)

$48,000. Just to ensure I have not made a typo - FORTY EIGHT THOUSAND.

Find another location on the farm. There's no cheap way to do this.

I'm in the same boat in planning my wedding. The arena is the best location as everywhere else is not flat or there may be mud due to the spring season. A lot of unhelpful people and answers on here.

So what did you end up doing?