Outdoor Wedding? How to Determine the Dumpster Size You Need

If you are planning to hold an outdoor wedding in the near future, one thing that you may not have on your planning to-do list is trash removal. You may be able to find an outdoor wedding venue that includes trash removal with the wedding package; however, if you are unable to do this, then you will need to consider renting a dumpster to make certain that the cleanup of the ceremony and reception goes as smoothly as possible. Prior to contacting a company, though, you should familiarize yourself with the various sizes of dumpsters available and what size you may need. Dumpster sizes range between 10 and 40 yards, as a general rule, and the size of dumpster you need will depend on a number of factors.

Number of Wedding Guests

The first thing you should do is look at your guest list. If you are holding an intimate wedding with 150 guests or fewer, then you can likely get by with renting a 10-yard dumpster, which is roughly three truckloads of trash. If you are holding a larger wedding, though, you may want to opt for a 20-yard dumpster or larger.

Decorations

Prior to moving forward with the rental of a dumpster for your wedding, consider how decorations from the ceremony will be disposed of afterward. If you intend to toss balloons, centerpieces, floral arrangements, and other wedding decorations away at the end of your big day, you may want to consider upgrading the size of your dumpster rental to accommodate such. So, based on your guest list, if you are renting a 10-yard dumpster and plan on throwing away the decorations, you should upgrade to at least a 20-yard dumpster.

Meals, Cutlery, and Linen

Finally, you will also want to take into consideration the meal that is being offered during the reception. Is the meal being catered by a local restaurant on-site? Will the restaurant or catering service bring their own chafing dishes? Does your wedding package include silverware, flatware, and tablecloths? If you answered yes to all of these questions, then you can expect to need to get rid of less waste at the end of the day. However, if you are doing a lot of this on your own and will be using disposable plates, silverware, and linens, then you can expect the amount of waste that will need to be disposed of to be substantially higher, requiring a larger dumpster by 10 to 20 yards, depending on the size of the wedding party.

With this information in mind, you can work with a dumpster rental company to rent the dumpster that is properly sized for your outdoor wedding.