There are many benefits to having your wedding, renewal of vows, baby naming or other ceremony at home. The obvious ones are that there is no venue hire, you dont have to work around other bookings, you are not restricted as far as access for setting up, nor hurried to finish up and get out at a set time. In addition, you are on familiar territory, and all your normal domestic facilities are conveniently to hand.

But a ceremony at home can also turn into a chaotic mess, and there can be health and safety issues if you dont follow a few simple guidelines which will ensure you avoid the pitfalls:

Right Sizing

Before you make a single other decision, you need to work out what the maximum number of people (not just guests) your home can accommodate. And this all comes down to one simple thing people divided by toilets. The average person goes to the toilet once every three hours. The average toilet to guests ratio that venues work on is that you need one toilet for every 70 people. But that is presuming that toilets visits are spread evenly, which is never the case. Particularly if people have traveled some distance, you could get a queue before the ceremony starts, and then another peak some 2-3 hours later. If there will be children, senior citizens, or pregnant women on your guest list you can expect more frequent comfort stops will be required. In my experience, for a home ceremony, no more than 35 people per toilet is workable.

Regardless of the number of toilets available, however, the maximum number of guests that can be accommodated to ensure a successful ceremony is dictated by the maximum number of people that can be accommodated by the inside room or covered space that you would use in case of bad weather.

Arrival and introduction of guests

If you are planning on making an entrance, delegate someone to meet and greet guests as they arrive. If there are to be a large number of guests, it may be appropriate to delegate this task to several people.

Ensure that someone is delegated to meet and greet your celebrant and that there is a quiet space available so the celebrant can brief participants if there hasnt been a rehearsal or participants havent been able to make the rehearsal.

The Ceremony Space

There are three things to consider when deciding where in your home or garden to hold the ceremony

• The Space

  Layout is important - your guests should be close enough to where you and the celebrant will be standing to form an intimate grouping and ensure that everyone hears and sees the ceremony. There needs to be an attractive backdrop, and guests should not be squinting into the sun. Backlit photographs will mean that most of them will show the ceremony participants in silhouette, and the full detail of the ceremony wont be captured. The layout needs to be in place before the guests arrive.

• Noise

  Houses and gardens can be quite noisy places. Outside ceremonies are subject to all manner of external noise disturbances such as aircraft, animals, lawnmowers etc. If holding your ceremony during the day time, you might consider asking your neighbors to not use their lawnmowers or power tools for the period of the ceremony (allow a little leeway either side). If noise is likely to disturb the ceremony, it may be more appropriate to hold the ceremony indoors, but noise can also be a problem indoors. While you might have become so accustomed to your noisy air conditioner or fridge the video camera is going to pick it all up if the ceremony space is too close to the noise source.

• Weather

  Consider both hot and inclement weather. There should be a suitable space either inside or under cover in case bad weather prevents holding the ceremony outside. Severe sunburn can occur in a very short time, and heat and sun can cause dehydration in children and older guests, particularly at the hottest time of the day so it is best to position everyone in the shade for a daytime ceremony. To guard against dehydration think about making sure everyone has water or other non-alcoholic liquid as they arrive.

Animals and Children

Any domestic animals that could interfere with the ceremony, or become unsettled by the guests, should be shut away or put in the kennels for the day.

Small children can find it difficult to be quiet and listen to the ceremony. If there are to be large numbers of small children attending you may find it useful to delegate someone to take care of them away from the ceremony space. Provision of play leaders or even a jumping castle has been very successful in my experience, but something as simple as a child-friendly video and a sitter works well too.

Health and Safety

There are some basic safety rules that should be followed:

• Entrances and exits to the property and to the ceremony space should be clear and safe to use.

• Garden ponds and pools are a potential hazard for young children and thus access to them should be made safe.

• Any sort of construction in your garden, whether temporary, such as a hired marquee, or permanent, such as a deck or gazebo, should be well erected, properly secured and safe.

• Outside electrical equipment, for example sound equipment, must be safe. There should be no trailing leads, wires or cables. Leads and cables should be kept well away from walkway areas, and firmly taped down.

Insurance

For your own piece of mind make sure that your domestic insurance policy covers third party liability for visitors.