Vowing To Keep It Clean: Proactive Tips For Handling Sanitation At Your Outdoor Wedding Celebration

Falling in love with someone special and becoming engaged is a high point in the life of most Americans. Sometimes, however, the ensuing dreams for a wonderful future together are pushed aside by the stark realities involved in planning the perfect, but affordable, wedding celebration. As the guest list grows, so do concerns about finding an appropriate venue and controlling the costs for all the festivities. Opting for an outdoor wedding can be a good way to stretch the wedding budget, especially if you need enough space for a large group of celebrants. Since restrooms and trash pickup may not be available, however, you will need to make special arrangements to handle sanitation needs for your event. These tips are designed to help you keep your outdoor wedding guests comfortable and the venue looking neat, while making site cleanup easier once the festivities are over. 

Gauge the size of your sanitation needs

In order to keep your outdoor wedding celebration pleasant, comfortable and clean, you will need to develop a sanitation plan. To do this you will need to determine important factors that will affect it, such as:

• the number of guests you expect to attend, the expected weather for the event and how long the event is likely to last (industry statistics show that warmer weather creates additional pressure on portable toilet usage because guests will likely drink more liquids to remain comfortable)
• whether or not you will be serving alcoholic beverages (this can result in increased demand for portable toilets and an increase in dumpster space to handle disposable cups, bottles and cans)
• the menu for the reception and how it will be served (BBQ and other potentially messy foods can result in both an increased usage of disposable paper products and the need for setting up some type of portable hand washing station for guests)

Supplying this information to your portable toilet and dumpster rental company will make it possible for them to assist you by accurately calculating how many of each you will likely need for your event. If you have special concerns, such as how to accommodate children or disabled guests, or you want to provide a portable hand washing station or other facilities, their customer service specialist will help you determine the most comfortable and cost effective way to handle each concern.

Have a trash patrol team of volunteers during the event

Keeping disposable paper goods, bottles and other trash collected during the event will help to make cleanup easier afterward as well as helping to keep the celebration area looking good throughout the event. To do this, place receptacles in several areas for guests to use. In addition, appoint a few family members or friends to act as a trash patrol team during the event. Ask them to walk through the area on an hourly basis, collecting any trash they find as well as emptying filled receptacles, adding new trash bags to them and placing the filled bags into the rented dumpster. 

Make dedicated restroom and dumpster areas

While portable toilets and dumpsters are necessary for comfort and cleanliness in an outdoor area with no plumbing and regular trash pickup services, you will want to camouflage these sanitation products for aesthetic appeal and the privacy of your guests.

To do this in an outdoor area that does not offer a suitably located place to conceal them, consider making a temporary shield for them using plain white tarps, nylon rope and steel t-posts. First choose an area easily accessible to guests, but a little away from the main celebration area. Make sure that the area is mowed, with a good pathway and that rocks and sticks are removed so that guests will not trip. 

Drive the t-posts into the ground in a line approximately 10-15 feet in front of where the portable toilets and rented dumpster will be placed, spacing the posts equal to the length of the tarps you will be using. Tie the tarps to each t-post to form a temporary privacy screen in front of your designated sanitation area and add a discreet sign to notify guests that restrooms are available behind the privacy fence. At the end of the event, the tarps, rope and t-posts can be easily removed. 

For more information on dumpster and portable toilet rental, contact a company like Road Runner Waste Service Inc.