The True Cost of a Woodland Wedding

Beautifully simple… or more complicated than it looks?

There’s something wonderful about the idea of creating your own woodland wedding. A stretch of canvas beneath the trees, candlelit tables, festoon lights and your favourite people gathered together. But creating an outdoor wedding venue from scratch involves much more than finding a beautiful piece of land and hiring a tent.

We’ve priced up a typical DIY setup for around 120 guests, looking at real supplier costs for the things you need to make an outdoor wedding work, from the main structure and toilets to the bar, electricity, glassware and even the candle holders.

What does it really cost to create your own woodland wedding?

Our current supplier-cost comparison comes to approximately £11,073 for the listed items alone. Compare thsi to our set cost of £9,850!

And there are still important costs to consider!

An illustrative supplier-cost breakdown for an outdoor wedding for approximately 120 guests.

What you'll need Example cost
Sailcloth tent, including quoted flooring, lighting, tables and chairs £4,800.00
Dance floor £216.00
Circular and rustic bars £816.00
External festoon lighting and stands £504.00
Generator hire £1,080.00
Heating and additional diesel allowance £216.00+
Chiller trailer £360.00
Catering tent, without cooking facilities £480.00
Luxury toilet hire, including delivery and collection £1,344.00
PA system £180.00
Fire bowl and estimated firewood £353.00
Candles, holders, easel and small vases £325.15
Glassware, crockery, cutlery and other tableware £399.20

Total of listed items

Before additional and unpriced costs

£11,073.35

These figures are illustrative supplier costs, not a fixed quotation. Specifications, delivery, installation, VAT and other charges should be confirmed with suppliers. Some tent inclusions may overlap with separately listed items. The total excludes additional costs such as staffing, catering equipment, consumables, waste management and other wedding suppliers.

And what hasn't been included?

This is where the true cost of creating your own venue can grow.

  • Catering facilities: suitable cooking equipment, preparation space, sinks, running water and washing-up arrangements.

  • Staffing: bar staff, kitchen staff, site managers, cleaning and someone to coordinate deliveries and suppliers.

  • Electrical requirements: distribution, cabling, installation and any additional power requirements.

  • The practical essentials: toilet consumables, handwashing supplies, bins, recycling, cleaning materials and waste collection.

  • Guest comfort: umbrellas, blankets, outdoor seating, accessible facilities and weather protection.

  • The finishing touches: extra glassware, replacement or additional tableware, linens, table decorations, signage and lighting.

  • The logistics and time: delivery charges, installation, dismantling, fuel, storage and the time needed to organise everything.

You may also need to arrange parking, access routes, fire safety measures and permission to use the land for a wedding. What is required will depend on the site and the facilities already available.

And, of course, you still need to budget for the food, drinks, flowers, photography, entertainment and all the other things that make your wedding yours.

At The Oak Grove, you aren't starting with an empty field.

You're hiring an established, secluded woodland wedding venue, with the essential infrastructure already in place.

Your hire includes our stretch tents and wooden flooring, tables and chairs, crockery, cutlery, glassware, lighting, candles, mains electricity, dedicated catering facilities, luxury horsebox toilets, bar facilities, outdoor seating, fire pit, children's area and much more.

You also have the benefit of our experienced team, who help keep the day running smoothly, alongside dedicated time to decorate and set up before your wedding and clear away afterwards.

Rather than sourcing and coordinating every individual supplier, you can concentrate on the parts that matter most to you.

The freedom to create your own wedding, without creating your own venue

One of the best things about The Oak Grove is that we don't dictate what your wedding should look like.

Choose your own caterer. Bring your own flowers. Book the band you've always wanted. Create a relaxed festival-style celebration, an elegant woodland gathering, a handfasting or something wonderfully alternative.

You have the freedom to make the space your own, without having to organise every piece of infrastructure needed to make it work.

You're not just hiring a stretch tent or a patch of woodland. You're hiring the setting, facilities, equipment and support that bring an outdoor wedding together.

Compare what you get for your money

Before choosing a DIY wedding, compare the complete cost of creating a venue with the cost of hiring one that's already established.

At The Oak Grove, much of the expensive, complicated and easily forgotten groundwork has already been taken care of.

That means fewer separate suppliers to book, fewer deliveries to coordinate and fewer practical details competing for your attention.

More time to plan your celebration. More freedom to personalise it. And more time to enjoy being engaged, and then married!

Here is a realistic DIY infrastructure checklist

Here's the bit that often gets missed:

THE BIG STUFF

  • Land or venue hire

  • Marquee, tipi or stretch tent

  • Flooring

  • Ceremony structure

  • Tables

  • Chairs

  • Dance floor

  • Bar

  • Toilets

  • Accessible toilet facilities

  • Catering tent or kitchen

  • Generator or power supply

  • Lighting

  • Heating or cooling

  • Parking

  • Waste facilities

THE MIDDLE-SIZED STUFF

  • Catering tables

  • Buffet tables

  • Cake table

  • Bar furniture

  • Lounge furniture

  • Outdoor seating

  • Signage

  • Coat storage

  • Refrigeration

  • Freezer space

  • Ice

  • Sinks

  • Handwashing facilities

  • Water supply

  • Extension leads

  • Cable covers

  • Fire extinguishers

  • First-aid equipment

  • Weather protection

  • Umbrellas

  • Blankets

AND THEN THERE ARE THE THINGS YOU DON'T THINK ABOUT UNTIL YOU NEED THEM

  • Toilet paper

  • Hand soap

  • Hand towels

  • Sanitary products

  • Baby changing

  • Accessible access

  • Bins

  • Bin bags

  • Recycling

  • Cleaning products

  • Kitchen cleaning

  • Washing-up facilities

  • Glasses

  • Plates

  • Cutlery

  • Serving equipment

  • Ice buckets

  • Bottle openers

  • Bottle bins

  • Candles

  • Candle holders

  • Lighters

  • Extension cables

  • Spare bulbs

  • Outdoor lighting

  • Wet-weather mats

  • Somewhere for suppliers to unload

  • Somewhere for caterers to prep food

  • Somewhere to store drinks

  • Somewhere to store the cake

  • Somewhere for suppliers to park

  • Somewhere for guests to park

  • Somewhere for guests to wait

  • Somewhere for children to play

  • Someone to deal with problems when something goes wrong