Wedding update: Measuring a yard can be tricky!

On Friday, I shared that we were having a company come out to measure Brian’s parent’s yard for our potential back yard wedding. David, our rep from Blue Peak Tents, was right on time and got right to measuring the space. We quickly realized a few things.

For one, our 40 x 80 high peak tension tent, a bit like the one below, was in no way going to fit:

While that was a bit disappointing, we did realize that we could fit a slightly smaller, 30 x 75 Navi-Trac Frame tent. While the size is smaller, we wouldn’t have to worry about exterior tie-downs and we wouldn’t have to deal with interior poles. Who knew renting a tent could be so complicated? The new potential style would look a bit more like this:

We like the style quite a bit, and especially like that we can add clear roof panels if we want. On the downside we’d have to reduce our guest count a bit (we’re hoping for about 150, and the size tent we can fit could comfortably handle about 136). We aren’t too worried about it though, since we’d like to have a smaller more intimate event anyway.

I didn’t get as many pictures as I would have liked (measuring a yard is a bit boring) but I did manage to snap this one of Brian and our tent rep measured the snow dusted space…

David was also great enough to re do our estimates, along with a floor plan of the space we had discussed on Saturday. And it was already in my inbox Monday morning! In addition to the 30 x 75 foot tent, we added a 20 x 20 foot addition to use as a bar and food space. Here’s what our floor plan could look like, although we’ll probably nix the official head table:

Over all, the appointment was a success. While we can’t fit the tent we originally wanted, this seems like a very suitable second option. Plus, it will force us to cut our guest list even further, bringing us closer to the intimate gathering we have envisioned. Now we just need to go over the estimates again and make sure this is what we really want to do. After that, David wants to come back out and measure the yard again, this time officially blocking off the space. He’ll also let us know at that point how many branches need to be trimmed, since some of the trees in the yard will interfere with the tent walls and roof. Don’t worry, we’re not killing any trees for the wedding, just trimming some unruly branches.

Once we have finalized the contract, we get to pick our date, finalize our guest list, and work on getting save-the-dates out. Then it’s on to finding a rental company for plates, cups, silverware, etc. and finalizing our catering menu. Something tells me the planning is about to kick into high gear…

Just a quick note: All photos, except for the backyard shot taken by me, are from Blue Peak Tents, or the Blue Peak Tents Blog. The floor plan was created for us with our exact specifications and cannot be found online.