We recently captured Andrea and Hunter’s wedding day at a private estate in Sea Island, Georgia.

This stunning property features a three-story Spanish-style home with sweeping views of Frederica Lake. The area also gives homeowners and guests access to five miles of a pristine private beach. No detail was overlooked, including the floors in the main house were repurposed 250-year-old wood salvaged from a historic building in Paris. While tying the knot at a private estate seems like a walk in the park, there are several factors that you should consider before selecting to host your wedding at someone’s home. We are breaking down a few private estate wedding tips to consider while you plan your wedding.

Hire an Experienced Planner in Hosting a Private Estate Wedding

Your first step in planning should always be finding an experienced wedding planner. When executing an event at home versus a wedding venue, it is essential to work with someone who has had experience with weddings at private estates and homes.

Having a wedding at home is ultimately like building a venue from scratch and takes a very experienced eye to know what could and can go wrong and plan contingencies for almost anything. Your planner will be able to walk you through the below as well as permits, notifying neighbors and dealing with any day of mishaps so that you can relax and focus on the true meaning of the day.

Parking and Transportation

While having a regular BBQ hosted at home can lead to your guests’ parking along your driveway and street with no issues inviting over 100 of your closest family and friends will lead to parking issues and potential traffic. One of the easiest ways to combat this problem is to provide transportation for your guests from the hotel or pick-up locations. This will keep your neighbors happy and lessen the stress of hiring a valet.

Power and Bathrooms

A home is built to power itself but is not equipped to run outdoor lighting, DJ or band, catering equipment, and much more. Generators and other power sources will need to be brought in so that power is not disturbed and you also have enough to run everything that the day entails.

Bathrooms are another point of an issue as well. You likely don’t want guests traipsing through the house when they need to use the restroom. While you can reserve them for members of your family and wedding party, you will need to provide restrooms for the rest of your guests. We aren’t talking about the porta potties you see at local festivals; we are talking about luxury trailers that are just as nice as any hotel or restaurant featuring stalls and sinks.

Weather and Keeping Your Guests Comfortable at a Private Estate

Planning for a wedding anywhere, it is always important to consider the weather and time of year of your event. Still, in this case, it is of utmost importance since being outdoors is probably the best way to accommodate all of your guests. While you might think, “Oh, we will just put up tents,” there are other factors to consider. Is it raining sideways, then you probably need sidewalls added to the tent to keep everything and everyone dry? Will it be too warm or too cold inside the tent? Then you might have to consider portable air conditioning units, fans, or heaters. Will the ground be saturated or muddy? Then you might want to consider laying down the flooring on top of the grass.

If you can keep these few things in mind and hire a team of professionals, your wedding day can come together beautifully at your home or the estate of your loved one just like Hunter and Andrea’s.