Searching for the perfect New England venue for your wedding? If you want your wedding day to be completely customized and feel unmistakably you, an outdoor tented wedding reception might be for you!
Today, we’re sharing our best tips for planning the tented wedding of your dreams in New England. And as wedding planners who regularly transform private residences or unconventional spaces into party venues, we’ll share some of our favorites that we’ve planned for inspiration, too!
First things first: how do I know if I should have a tented or private residence wedding?
If you know you want your wedding to look unlike any wedding you’ve seen before, a tented or private residence wedding is for you! We find that our couples typically want their weddings to feel more “out-of-the-box” than a typical wedding. You probably don’t want a stuffy sit-down dinner in a ballroom or a traditional cake cutting. You aren’t looking for a venue that feels “fine”, either. You want a space that you can completely personalize.
That’s why we love tented weddings– they give you endless opportunities for flexibility! We can transform a private residence, estate, or wedding venue into a one-of-a-kind space for your wedding day or weekend. And don’t stress if you don’t have access to a private space for your wedding. As planners, we love nothing more than helping our clients find the perfect venue for their tented wedding!
If you’re planning a tented or private estate wedding, you need to hire a wedding planner.
And we don’t say that lightly. There’s more to a tented wedding than you would think! No matter if you have access to a private residence or you’re looking for a venue to completely customize, hiring a wedding planner who’s experienced with tented weddings is a must. Why? With an untraditional venue or residence, we truly have to build your venue from the ground up. We have to source everything from tables, chairs, linens, decor, to vendors and more, for your space. You have endless options to customize your day!
But, endless choices also means endless logistics to handle. Which is why couples come to us at The Perfect Match! When you hire a wedding planner who specializes in tented weddings, you know you’ll be perfectly taken care of.
Here are some of the things your wedding planner should handle when it comes to your outdoor tented wedding:
Designing a stunning and cohesive outdoor space outside and underneath the tent
It’s truly an art to make your tented wedding look beautiful from every possible angle. Even though you’re outdoors, you still need to recreate the guest experience and cohesiveness you would have at a traditional venue. You want your guests to feel like they step into the tent and feel completely transported.
Here’s some gorgeous tented wedding inspiration from other New England weddings we’ve designed!
Take a peek at Laney and Brian’s tented wedding, held at a private residence in Maine. We completely transformed the yard with the addition of their tent, making it feel lush and colorful! We added so many beautiful floral and greenery arrangements to truly bring everything together. And as wedding planners, we make sure that everything under your tent has a function and adds to the flow. We added a dance floor in the centre of the room, with couches surrounding for guests to sit. Disco balls hung over the dance floor to bring an element of fun!
The Viewpoint in Maine was the backdrop for Lexi and Sam’s wedding. After their ceremony, they moved into their outdoor tent for their wedding reception. The gorgeous floral chandeliers and the dainty lights hanging from the ceiling add so much warmth and character to the reception space!
Organizing the details you never knew you needed for a blank-slate wedding
With all that customization comes endless details to address! A blank-slate wedding means more rentals, vendors, and work than your traditional venue wedding. Things like parking, lighting, restrooms, guest flow, running water, and electricity must be planned for and secured in advance. Trust us, you don’t want to be thinking about how to deal with the overflowing trash can on your wedding day. We also plan for all of your vendors, like caterers, florists, and any rental delivered, to arrive at the perfect time. Luckily for our couples, we handle all of these details behind-the-scenes for them. Because during your wedding planning process, you truly don’t have the time or energy to think about these pieces!
Coming up with Plan A (and B, and C, and D) to make sure everything goes smoothly
No one wants rain, heat, or wind to ruin their day– so we keep it that way! Our team works hard to plan for every possible scenario so we can execute on your dream day. One of our Perfect Match couples, Linnea and Jenn, held their wedding at an outdoor venue. They were determined to have their wedding and reception outdoors regardless of rain or weather! Knowing this, our team prepared endlessly, creating multiple plans with complicated logistics so we could execute regardless of weather. And in the end, Linnea and Jenn had the perfect, rain-free, outdoor wedding they dreamed of.
Want to learn more about nontraditional wedding venues perfect for your New England tent wedding? Click here to read more!
Whether it’s a blank slate venue, a tented celebration on your family property, or a private estate, we’ll create your dream wedding venue from the ground up! If you’re looking for a wedding planner in New England or New Hampshire for your blank-slate wedding, we’re sure to be the Perfect Match. Check out our wedding planning services here!
