Tent Weddings vs. Catering Halls??

I just recently got engaged and I have a question about finding the place to have our wedding. Has anyone else looked into tent weddings?My fi parents really want us to have a tent wedding at a winery, but we were leaning towards a catering hall. My parents are very happy with the catering hall we decided on and already put money down on a date. His parents told me they are not happy with our decision. I really don't want to disappoint my fi parents and would change the place. I have never been to a tent wedding and would love to know if anyone has had good or bad experiences with tent weddings? His parents are also unsure of the date we chose, which is Memorial weekend 2004? They question the traffic and being able to find inexpensive places to stay. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks.

First, Congrats & Welcome!

My brother had a tent wedding at the yacht club that my mom belongs to and it was very nice. It was right on Port Jeff Harbor. BUT, you have to do what is right for you & not what is right for anyone else! Remember this is YOUR wedding!

Congrats and welcome

I would say do what the 2 of you want to do, you will run into the same exact problems with a tent wedding also(assuming you would have the wedding the same time of year )

We looked into it. It's not cheap and can take a lot more coordinating on your part if it's not done by the location. Things to take into consideration: porta-potties (if there are no toilets at your location), valet parking, weather, electric (you may need an engineer to do all the wiring for the lights & DJ...depending on your location). Hmm what else am I missing?

We decided against it b/c of weather fears. We're having a September wedding and were afraid of tropical storms & hurricanes.

Keep in mind: You guys need to do what YOU GUYS WANT, not what his or your parents want.

Congrats!
Good luck with planning!

I agree with Jenny- there are a lot of expenses that go into tent weddings. My parent's wanted me to have my eng party in a catering hall but since the party was so close to the wedding, I wanted to do something different. So we had a tent party in a house my dad's business owns- on the water. I thought it would be cheaper also since we didn't have to rent a hall but the tent is expensive. And it called for rain that whole week so that made me really nervous too (it actually turned out beautiful that day). And like Jenny said, you have to get additional lighting and wiring done around the tent. An electrician put up some white lights around the tent and a line for the DJ to hook up his equipment. We had 250 people so we hired a village cop to assist in parking. They parked on the property's long driveway that the electrician had to put lights up in the trees so guests could see where they were going. I loved the party, esp since the weather worked out perfectly, but it was a lot of work that got me thinking that maybe I should have done it in a hall. I wouldn't have changed it though in hindsight.

But you really have to do what you want- not either of your parents.

You are never going to make everyone happy, but remember, this is yours and your fi's wedding...not HIS parents, not YOUR parents. They already had their weddings.
Eastwind is a beautiful choice, I think you will be very happy there. You must have picked and put a deposit there becuase that is what both of you wanted, therefore, I would stick with it.
Everyone else will just have to understand.
I think you should be firm and tell whoever that this is the date, this is the place, and move onto the rest of the planning.
ou will have a beautiful day