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Michelle
Just Said Yes October 2021

Backyard wedding vs venue wedding

Michelle, on September 13, 2020 at 3:25 PM Posted in Planning 0 7
Here’s a little back story
My fiancé and found a venue and put 1500 down in January 2020 to be married by December 12,2020
Covid hit and we postponed the date to March 6,2021
It is now September and money has been a bit tighter. We’re torn between paying all our remaining balance this October 2020 Or letting go of the 1500 down payment and having a backyard reception in November 2020.My concern is that the cost really won’t be that much less plus.Any advice on backyard weddings?

Total cost of venue is around 7500 with food and the 1500 would be applied towards it

7 Comments

  • J
    Master October 2022
    Jana ·
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    Do a ton of research into pricing everything you need to rent and list the pros and cons of each
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  • Cyndy
    Master May 2019
    Cyndy ·
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    It depends on the number of people you have. Backyard weddings are not cheaper in many cases. Renting everything really adds up. Tents, linens, decor, bathrooms, etc.
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  • Jai
    VIP May 2020
    Jai ·
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    Depends on the number of people. We had the same issue. Due to covid and choice of cancelling we lost our 1000 deposit and the venue will be giving us back our 6800 that we already gave them. So we decided on a 7 person elopement in an outdoor garden ceremony for $250, beer and wine from liquor store $100, Cake from shoprite $30, and nice plastic utensil n plate set from Amazon for $30. It saved us money. If you have a small backyard wedding it'll be worth it.
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  • VIP August 2020
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    How many people are you inviting? I probably have some tips. We had a backyard miniwedding and we tried harder to make it feel special than we tried to stick to a strict budget, but we still spent less than your venue balance. I would say that if you're having 50 or fewer people and you're okay with having a fairly casual wedding, you should be able to have a backyard wedding in a way that makes sense financially.
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  • Michelle
    Just Said Yes October 2021
    Michelle ·
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    Thankyou for sharing.
    We probably have around 90 people.
    My backyard is a good size that could accommodate that much. I am hesitant with all the side expenses. How did you do alcohol and food ?
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  • J
    Master October 2022
    Jana ·
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    Have your favorite restaurant cater. You can buy alcohol in bulk at Costco, Bevmo, Total Wine
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  • VIP August 2020
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    Honestly, I would probably stick with the venue. Ours was less than 6k, but it wasn't WAY less than that and like I said we weren't trying that hard to stick to a budget, but we only had 15 people. We had food catered (heavy appetizers in attractive individual containers followed by an ice cream truck for dessert) and my mother-in-law works for an alcohol distribution company, so she bought it for us, but we didn't need a bartender and you probably would. You would also have to think of things like parking and bathrooms. I can't imagine you'd save all that much money and it would be a ton of work. I'm sorry I don't have a happier answer for you. Although our (non-miniwedding... covid) venue deposit was almost as much as your venue total, so it's entirely possible that you live in a much less expensive area than I do. It may not be impossible to do save money doing this.

    If you really think you can't afford the venue and your only option is to have it at home, first, look into tent and table/chair/linens rentals and find out how much that costs. Then look into the rules in your town/city to see if you need to get any kind of permit from them to have 90 people with alcohol. (I live in a city, so no one would notice here, but in the town where my parents live, there's a 100% chance the police would've stopped by to ask questions if there were 40ish cars parked on their street for our wedding.)
    If you can find affordable rentals, think about how much food you can afford and go from there you can call around to caterers and tell them what you're looking for and what your budget is and ask if they'd be willing to work with you (ex. Hi, I'm Michelle, I'm getting married in November and I'm looking to provide food for 90 guests and for no more than $2500. Are you available on that date and are you able to work with that budget?) Tell the caterer that you would need them to provide a bartender. If you're okay with having a fairly casual wedding, you should be able to find a caterer who will work with you and you can probably get away with not having elaborate centerpieces.
    Also, you didn't mention anything about music. We just used a laptop and Bluetooth speakers at our miniwedding, but you may want to at least ask someone to act as your DJ/emcee since you'll have a lot more people. I would highly recommend hiring a photographer, at least for a couple of hours. The wedding will end, but you'll have the photos forever, so you want them to be good.
    This isn't specific to a backyard wedding, but since you asked for tips: tell everyone they're not allowed to use their phones. It keeps everyone really present and allows them to appreciate everything more. My family/groom's mother kind of rolled their eyes about this when I announced it, but at least my mother acknowledged after the fact that it made the day better.
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