6K?! Scratch that!

Having confirmed with the FIL's that they would be fine with us being married on their property, I began contacting rental companies about tables, chairs, linens, and most importantly, a tent.

When I first started researching tents, I remembered seeing a post by a Bee on Weddingbee who used the frame of a tent with sheers.  And it was stunning!

Image via Mrs. Turtle / Mike Larson Inc.

While I would have loved to not worry about a tent and having something simple and gorgeous like this, there is no way to guarantee good weather on our wedding day, so we figured we should embrace the tent instead of just using it in case of a weather emergency (weathergency??).  My one requirement, was that it be a century style tent, and have no sides.

Image via Google / Stamford Tent & Event Services / Beautiful!

However, FMIL reminded me that the tent was there for weather protection, and being on the river, there is likely to be a breeze, which could bring any rain into the tent.  Sad face! This means it needs sides. But not the silly ones that look like windows. If the tent had to have sides, they were going to be clear.

Image via Google / Anchor Industries Inc

Absolutely beautiful, especially at night, when you can see all the lights from the inside (Paper lanterns! More on that later!).  So, with that, I began contacting vendors.

It took a few days for the rental places to get back to me, and I have to tell you. I was absolutely shocked at the prices.  And shocked in a not-so-good way.  All of the tent companies around here were estimating at more than 6K for everything! And I thought that we were going to be able to save some $$ by having a backyard wedding.

So, wish me luck. I'm going to break this to FI.  He will likely not be happy about this.