Do -it -yourself wedding?

Question

i am getting married and plan on doing the following myself:

providing food, music, and decorations

invitations and programs

flower arrangements.

i am having trouble finding an establishment that will allow me to have my ceremony and reception without having the place do everything i want to do myself. i live in port richey fl, pasco county. anyone who can help, thanks

Answer 1

First of all..  DON"T

This your wedding. Find someone else to take care of details. You can be involved with decisions but you will regret doing everything yourself.  

Answer 2

Do it yourself!!!!  My husband and I did everything ourselves to ensure that this day was truly about us and not some cookie cutter wedding.  I took a quick look at a map of Pasco County, FL and you have some great waterfront parks.  The beach is such a beautiful place to get married.  My suggestion is to rent a beach shelter.  This will give you access things like parking, bathrooms, a tent... and will also allow you to have fun doing everything else.  We had an outdoor wedding and there are things to think of like renting chairs and tables, but the beauty of the surrounding saved on decorations!  If this idea appeals to you, be sure to check with the park officials.  They will most likely have great tips.  Good luck!

Answer 3

Hi.  I agree with josieshs.

You will need to look at "service club" types of venues, such as:

Elks Clubs

VFW Halls

Lions Clubs

Amvets

The big "sticky" point here is food.  It really depends on your state Health Department rules.  However, it has been my experience that these places will let you bring in your own food.

If you do not care about serving alcohol, you can also look at church halls.  Almost all churches also have fellowship halls.  Some will rent them to non-members, others won't.  Most will not allow alcohol.

You may also want to call the city or county offices and see if they have "meeting rooms" available for rent.

Good luck in your search.

Answer 4

You are having problems finding a place which will allow you to do a DIY wedding for a few reasons.  

As far as the food goes, a lot of venues which have a restaurant and/or kitchen have health code regulations which prevent you from bringing outside food to their establishment.  If someone gets sick from food you bring there, they can be held liable.

Also, as far as the other things such as music and flower arranging go, they would rather have professionals again because of liability and time constraints.  They need people who KNOW what they are doing since they have to work around these people as well.  Sometimes there may be multiple weddings in one venue during one day and they need to know everyone will be out when they need to be.

Don't get me wrong, a DIY wedding can be a great idea to save money  but you will most likely have to find a different venue.  Some churches will allow you to do this, parks, museums, VFW or Eagles Halls, etc.

  

Answer 5

This is how my DH family do there wedding, were doing a vow renewal the same way ( will be just like a wedding and reception).

We also had a hard time finding places that would let us do everything ourselves. I'm in KY, but can give you an ideal of the types of places to check out.

The one thing I learned not to look into the "wedding venues" that websites name. Those places usually require a caterer and the one that will let you us your own are for small weddings.

Look ito more usual places

American Legion Hall

VFW

Nights of Columbus

Boys and Girls Club (I know that some here will have a room or will rent out the gym)

Schools

Community Centers

Dance Studios

Elks Lounges

YMCA ( we have one here that has a ballroom, it can hurt to check with the ones in your area)

Parks Department (you might be able to have it for free or a small permit fee if you don't mind having it outside. They might have some places club houses or reception halls in the park)