The Elegant At Home Wedding Second Edition Cover

April 18, 2025

The Elegant At Home Wedding book: Second Edition

If you’ve been around here for a minute, you know I’m releasing a second edition of my book, The Elegant At Home Wedding. This book is a step-by-step guide to planning an elevated home wedding. I recently revealed the new cover. Today, I’m taking some time to explain how we got here.

Photo by Kate Melconian

History of this home wedding book

Back in 2012, I had been in business for about 5 years, and I had the privilege of working on a number of great home weddings. They ranged wildly in budget, guest size, and the challenges we faced due to inclement weather. The rollercoaster of these weddings led to me writing some blog posts about what I had been learning from them, which caught the eye of a wise friend of mine. She encouraged me to put all the knowledge and experience I had accumulated into a book. I did just that. It was eight pages long. I showed it to my friend. She sent back to me a suggested outline for a home wedding book that was four pages long! I knew she was steering me correctly. It took a while, but in March 2013, the first edition of The Elegant At Home Wedding book was released. It was 94 pages and included bonus materials like a planning schedule, timeline, sample seating chart format, and gratuity guidelines.

At the time, the wedding industry was a bit different, and I could not afford to license all the photos that I had wanted to use. So, as a compromise with the photographers, I gave this home wedding book away for free, filled with their photos and credit. Times have changed, the market has changed, and industry standards have changed. I actually took most of the images out of the second edition (you can find countless home wedding pictures on the blog!) while adding almost 4000 words, and now I’m able to sell this book. You can find it on my shop, with other helpful downloads packed with wedding advice!

Photo by Tim Riddick

Bringing the second edition of the book to life

I’ve been talking about reissuing this book for years. In November of 2022, I was sitting in a Dallas hotel room, monitoring my status in the Eras Tour Ticketmaster queue while reading and editing the first edition as the first step on this journey to the second edition. Home weddings are more popular than ever. Americans are thriving off of nostalgia, and what is more nostalgic than getting married at home? Additionally, Americans want to have things that no one else can have. A wedding venue that one or maybe two couples in the whole world have access to fits the bill. Plus, I just had more to say now! In 2013 I was a baby wedding planner. As of 2025, Bellwether Events is approaching 19 years old.

Photo by Bokeh Lane

Who this home wedding book is for

The second edition of The Elegant At Home Wedding is for anyone who is planning a home wedding and wants to offer their guests an elevated experience. This is for folks who wish to educate themselves about tents and lighting, plumbing and power. I know from experience that couples want to stay on top of the many logistical details required for an elegant home wedding.

Revisiting and updating this book was so fun. I had so many more home wedding experiences to draw on, hence the addition of about 4000 words of advice. Check out this amazing 2021 family farm wedding video. Every wedding has its little mishaps, and I don’t mind sharing that with others. I want everyone to have the best wedding day possible.

Radical transparency is a core value of Bellwether Events. We don’t believe that our trusted, experienced wedding industry partners are intentionally opaque. We endeavor to draw back the curtains as much as we possibly can for couples. Which is why I wrote the book and GAVE IT AWAY FOR FREE for over a decade. But alas, I’ve slightly outgrown my former imposter syndrome and decided to attach value to my hard-earned experience and know how.