“Are you sure you want all these people in your house?” I asked the groom’s mom when she offered to host the wedding at her Jackson Hole, Wyoming, home. My daughter and her son were engaged. Every wedding venue we looked at was booked.

“Oh, they won’t be in the house,” she said. “We’ll keep the wedding outside.”

I’d only just met this woman over Zoom, but already I liked her practical common sense and  boundaries. I need more of both.

“What about bathrooms?” I asked the obvious. I did not want to visit an outhouse or the Wyoming woods wearing a gown and high heels.

“Oh, we’ll rent one of those posh, pull-up trailers with flush toilets and sinks,” she said. Phew! Did I mention practical?

This conversation happened six months ago. Since then and until last weekend, life has been a blender-blur of florists and photographers; dresses and dinnerware; bakers and bands; tents and tuxedos; lists and linens; and lots of check writing to pay for it all.

Apparently, according to event planners (God bless every one), we were not alone.

“I’ve noticed a big uptick in home weddings since COVID because wedding venues are so hard to find,” said Kimball Stroud, an A-list event planner in Washington, D.C., whose clients have included Elon Musk and Hillary Clinton. “And that’s a good thing.”

A big benefit of having a home wedding is that you can pick your date, she said. “You’re not at the mercy of a venue’s calendar, which often fills up a year ahead.” Plus, sharing your home with others makes any occasion more poignant.

“A home is the first choice by far,” Stroud said. “I tell any couple getting married to ask around to find a family member or friend who has a nice home. If you have the space and grounds, why not?”

Here’s why not: Though more personal, home weddings are not necessarily easier nor less expensive. Traditional venues like hotels, churches or banquet halls are turnkey. They have the tables, chairs, linens, tableware, parking, bathroom facilities and staff.

When you host a home-based wedding, that’s all on you. If the home wedding is also out of state and outdoors, you have even more to keep you awake at night. Let me tell you.

Although rain in Jackson Hole in August is rare, the weekend of the wedding, all the town’s annual rainfall conspired to fall at once. (Insert heavy sobs.) We let go of our dreams for an outdoor wedding under a blue summer sky and a bower of flowers, and resigned ourselves to lined up chairs in the dance tent. Thirty minutes before the ceremony, however, the skies cleared, and the sun smiled down on the slushy grass, the processional, the vows and the cocktail hour on the front lawn.

At dinner time, the guests migrated to the tent around back. Just when all were undercover, the skies dumped down all the rain it had been storing up. Bathtubs of it. And there we were, old friends and new acquaintances, all dressed up, magically surrounded by candles, flowers, great food and grand feelings. Yes, shoes were ruined. Long dresses were muddied. But I wouldn’t have changed one detail.

While hosting a wedding or other special event at a home can be worth the trouble, here’s what to consider:

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Marni Jameson is the author of six home and lifestyle books. You may reach her at www.marnijameson.com.