Let’s talk about Weddings!

I know weddings were something we all briefly talked about.  I have some ideas:

the ceremony itself would be in the large field, behind the shop.  The bridal party would exit the home through French doors, walk through the yard and garden to where to ceremony would be held.

There will be a lot that is needed, so just follow along and write down your questions As you scroll through this site. Hopefully I will have answered them before you get a chance to ask.

The three main categories are as follows:

Have room for guests

Have food options for guests 

Have bathrooms for guests

People! There will be a lot of people, I would make the maximum amount of persons 85

Here is why

When people arrive we need to have somewhere for them to park.  Our parking lot can not park that many vehicles so the best option would be to park in the front field.  To successfully use the front field I would recommend gravel from the pavement to the grass past the gate.  That way the hill can be shaped so low cars can easily make their way into the field and also it keeps the area being driven on most frequently from turning into mud.

What else do we need to have room for our guests? We need seating, we need seating for the ceremony itself and seating for eating and partying!  For the ceremony seating I suggest the cost effective and cute idea of crafting long benches.  These benches are to be used in the grass field for guests to sit and watch the ceremony.  For the wedding party itself I would love to build a platform with an archway or even save the one you have previously used in the past.  
When the ceremony is finished guests would make their way back through the garden and to the yard of the main house.  In the yard would be rectangle tables with chairs.  This is where guests would find their table number for their food and to mingle with others.  
In the yard of the house we also need room for our guests to dance!  I suggest a dance floor that comes right off of the covered deck.  Not the same height but a step down.

The picnic table can be moved and this area can now be used for a live band if the couple was looking for that, food, or even tables up on this part of the deck for the newlywed couple to sit together and watch over the dance floor/party.  To keep this area somewhat private I love the idea of having movable/portable hedges.  When you’re staying at a resort they are popular to hide certain areas and I would take this idea and create four that could stretch from the tree in the driveway to the fenced horse turn out.  

To accommodate our guests we also need more restrooms.  The two in the house are wonderful but we will need two more.  Porta Potty’s would be fine for this.  Rent them out per event or throughout the summer when this becomes popular.

Another option is build another bathroom behind the shop and tie it into the new septic tank. 

Most weddings have food, our Airbnb has a great kitchen but preparing food for 85 would be a challenge. Some ideas we can offer guests are that we can work with local restaurants who cater. Another option would be a food truck, this was brought up by a couple who is interested in using the venue.  Park that food truck in front of the upper barn door.  Guests could easily access it to and from the yard of the main house where they would be eating and enjoying their time.

Weddings in the area are between $4000 and $7000 for just the venue and chairs.  However they do not provide any housing if the wedding party wanted to spend the night.  So it would be a great idea to host events like this.

Some numbers:

Purchase chairs, on the cheap side about $15 a chair.  I obviously would try and get a deal on some.  However 15x85= 1275. This cost could also be avoided if we rent chairs and push that cost to our guest. Long term it would make sense to purchase chairs.
We need to build nice long tables.  $250 a table.  Having 10 of these tables would be ideal.  So $2500 in custom tables.  A great deal honestly. 

Benches for the ceremony would be simple and cost effective.  Each bench seating 6-8 people.  I would make 16 sturdy and cute benches. $200 a bench.  $3200 all in on benches.

A platform for the wedding, an archway, trellis.  Something cute. Building a small gazebo would be lovely and might be something to do in the future.  For a few grand we could be a lovely gazebo that would last and be great for many years to come. In the meantime if we just wanted a nice archway we have something for a couple hundred dollars.

Bathrooms! Porta pottys are around $150 a month and they get cleaned every week.   Additional cleaning is roughly $60.  We need at least two more bathrooms for that many guests so $300 a month, for about 8 months out of the year. Another bathroom option is Build two bathrooms on the backside of the shop and tie them into the septic system.  With permits this would be around $8500 for me to do.  This would be an addition to the shop, not inside the shop.  Permanent extra bathrooms for events.

A dance floor is another expense and to make it nice this one is somewhat “expensive”

A 16x24 dance floor would fit well in the space and have enough room for those interested in dancing.  It would need to look nice, be functional and sturdy and have the ability to be taken apart and set up with ease on any mostly flat surface.  Realistically looking at $3500 for 

something like this. 

We need more things to make it cute! We have some lights, string lights to go all over the yard and potentially around the wedding ceremony too. We also would need an basic audio system however most couples will have hire out a DJ or we can supply one as well. Having flowers in the garden and not many vegetables but a small manageable about will also make it cute. This is already something in progress.  I would love to add stepping stones through the garden an more pea gravel so the walk from the house through garden to ceremony is all beautiful.  Miscellaneous cute upgrades would be under $1000.  

For food, the catering or food truck cost would be pushed onto the guests.  However we still may need to provide plates, cups and things like that.  Roughly $4 a set for everything.  4x85= 340

Providing disposable plates/dinnerware may be a better option to help with cleanup. Nice disposable plates/cups/utensils run about $200 for two sizes of plates and utensils. This is per set so it would be a cost for every event with food.

This year being our first year I think we can provide the home for two days if it is wanted and also hold a ceremony/reception.

The price point I would aim for this year would be $4000 to just use the property for weddings. Using the house to still prepare and enter and exit. Using the yard / field / garden.

This is us provide chairs for ceremony and for dining.

This price does not include the Airbnb. Most likely guests may rent the home for two nights and then pay $4000 for the wedding package.  So the total payout in that situation is roughly $5000-5500.

With this being the targeted revenue your investment would be recovered within three weddings.