Weddings held at home do begin with such tactical issues, but they’re also among the most memorable, most sentimental, and most unique. If you’re thinking about holding your wedding—or a bridal shower or any wedding-weekend event such as the rehearsal dinner—at your house, you enter a world of extra steps to be taken, but perhaps the most delightful payoff at the end of the process. The wedding experience, and the photos from the day, will be glorious.

Here’s a guide to hosting an at-home wedding event. And if you’re planning on making a call to an event planner to handle all of the details for you (this may be the most cost-effective and hassle-free way of handling an at-home party), you still need to be aware of all the variables.

YOUR HOME:

First, take a realistic look at your home and decide if it’s viable for a big party. Are there spacious rooms like a living room and den where people can gather? Will there be enough room for tables and chairs? Will you have to remove furniture to fit the rentals, and if so, do you have a storage space available? Where would a buffet table go? A bar? Map out your home to see where everything would fit, allowing for plenty of walking space for guests. Or if you’re envisioning an outdoor tented wedding, be sure your backyard is spacious enough for the tent with its tables and dance floor. Then there’s the question of restrooms. The two or three in your house would not be able to handle 150 guests, so renting porta-johns is inevitable.

And what about room privacy? Are there some rooms, such as a home office, that you wouldn’t want guests to enter? You can lock doors and put “No Entry” signs on private rooms, but aside from these spaces, you have to be ready for guests to be everywhere in your home and on your property. That includes finished basements, backyard patios, and all bedrooms.

And finally, the kitchen. Would your caterer be able to work in there? Caterers’ trays are often oversized, so they need to have access to ovens and refrigerators that will accommodate them. A hired caterer will want to tour your kitchen ahead of time to be sure he can work well there and that there’s plenty of counter space for staging and plating, or he may require you to rent a separate tent in the yard where they will work their magic.