What a Garden Venue Actually Includes

Ruth Abernathy · 1 August 2026

The price is for the ground. Almost everything that makes it a wedding is extra.

Read the Inventory, Not the Photographs

The photographs on a venue's website show the space fully dressed, and much of what you are looking at came in on a truck. Chairs, tables, linen, lighting, a dance floor and a generator are frequently all hire items.

Ask for a written inventory of what is included at the quoted price, itemised. A venue that will not produce one is telling you something.

Power and Water

Outdoor sites run out of both. How many circuits are there, where are they, and will the band, the caterer and the lighting all be drawing from the same one?

Caterers need water and somewhere to wash. A garden with no service building means a marquee kitchen, and that is a cost that appears late if nobody asked early.

The Hours

Setup, ceremony, reception and breakdown all have to fit inside the booked window, and breakdown is the one people forget. A band that finishes at eleven is not out at eleven.

Many outdoor venues also operate under a noise curfew set by the local authority rather than by themselves, which means it is not negotiable however much you offer.