Wedding planning!!!!!

For those who have planned and had an outdoor wedding, what tips do you have for me? What did you find essential? What company did you use to rent the tent, tables, chairs, etc? Did you like them? Any suggestions when dealing with a rental company?

We are getting married next summer. We are going to have a super private wedding with just family, then a huge reception at our house. I envision an outdoor dance floor, tons of lights, stuff like that. I'm hoping to chat with other ladies who have planned an outdoor wedding because I'm sure you are the ones who have those insider tips I'm looking for!

http://www.norrispartyrentals.com/weddings-c-42.html?useYB=1
http://weddinglinensdirect.com/index.html

for linens and stuff check locally they were cheaper here. also your bridal shop may be able to get you discount on invites, and flowers etc, maybe even a photog. I planned and paid for an outdoor wedding. Never got married did it with under 10,000

We had our wedding/reception outside but we used the back garden of a French Restaurant in San Antonio. It was nice because I didn't have to worry about pretty much anything, the restaurant provided and set up all the table and chairs so all we had to worry about were the decorations. It made it so much easier....I really didn't want to deal with having to rent and deal with another company.

I guess, that's not much help.  

We didn't get married outside, but we had the reception at our house. We used the shop and a huge tent. We rented from a local place for the tent, tables and chairs. I would NEVER do it again. We couldn't pick up our stuff until Fri (day before the wedding) or we would have to pay for more days and it was already super expensive. Setting it all up and then having to have it down and back by Monday morning was terrible. It's way more stress then it's worth imo. Unless you have tons of money to blow of course.

as far as lighting goes. DJ's usually provide great lights for the dance floor. I would have to find my planning book and blow the dust off to give you actual detail for detail. Good luck it's a lot of fun!

Quoting ☣iLL-Legal Alien:" We had our wedding/reception outside but we used the back garden of a French Restaurant in San Antonio. ... [snip!] ... really didn't want to deal with having to rent and deal with another company. I guess, that's not much help.  "

that's quite a bit of help, actually. We don't know if it would be cheaper to have the wedding somewhere and let them deal with it all, or if we should do it ourselves. I like the idea of doing it at home, but it may be more expensive.

Quoting CerealMakerWife♥:" We didn't get married outside, but we had the reception at our house. We used the shop and a huge tent. ... [snip!] ... back by Monday morning was terrible. It's way more stress then it's worth imo. Unless you have tons of money to blow of course."

thank you. This is my biggest concern.

Quoting Amberchik78:" that's quite a bit of help, actually. We don't know if it would be cheaper to have the wedding somewhere ... [snip!] ... let them deal with it all, or if we should do it ourselves. I like the idea of doing it at home, but it may be more expensive."

We had a very private/small wedding too...there was 20 of us in total. We had the wedding in the back garden then came inside for the reception, the restaurant took care of all the linens (with my choice of colors) and the set up of the seating for the guests. One of my close friends brought all the table decorations/party favors and the staff at the restaurant helped her set it up. And to make it even easier, they had their own bakery so they made our cake too...it was all so easy and I was thankful because I was working 10 hr days 5 days a week and DH was stationed in another state...and we had to plan it in like 3 months...so I definitely needed it to be as uncomplicated as possible.

Quoting ☣iLL-Legal Alien:" We had a very private/small wedding too...there was 20 of us in total. We had the wedding in the back ... [snip!] ... in another state...and we had to plan it in like 3 months...so I definitely needed it to be as uncomplicated as possible."

that's amazing! I wish we had a place like that around here!

Quoting Amberchik78:" that's amazing! I wish we had a place like that around here!"

Yeah I was so thankful for them...definitely told everyone about them after that! lol