Backyard Weddings

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I'm only doing my ceremony in my moms backyard so I just have to worry about that. I think if there is enough space and you have a back up plan for weather issues it should be a good time. I went to a backyard wedding and they did have a professional DJ and had put some type of flooring on the ground to make a dancing surface and it was quite the party.

I wouldn't care where the reception was taking place, as long as it featured everything I'd expect at a wedding (and that includes a tented reception area if it's raining, and heaters during the evening hours of October). I'm probably traveling (often do, even for family weddings), paying about $200 for a hotel room, and am giving the couple a very generous cash gift. If I walked into a well hosted, beautiful back yard wedding with tables, chairs, linens, an open bar, a dance floor, a DJ, servers, and a meal, then I'd be happy

By the house

The grass will hopefully be greener by then!

I'm doing a backyard wedding in April of next year, we are renting a tent and having a dj and buffet style food, we are opening the pool up for the kids so there not bored foing to have a dance floor. I think people will stay it's a laid back atmosphere in my opinion we have 100 guest

I'm also doing a backyard party in october. I'm having the ceremony in the front of my parents house and reception in back. If its a properly hosted party then you'll always have a good time.

Of course they are fun! As long as you host the guests properly and maybe provide a dance floor. Backyard or a ballroom it's still a wedding. People are there to celebrate you guys I would expect food, dancing, alcohol and good music. Eta: words

I am doing a backyard wedding. My sister has tons of land. Its going to be a ton of work but I am excited. I like the less formal weddings myself. Good luck to you. The property looks gorgeous.

I looked into doing a backyard reception, and after costing it out, said nope. It's not cheap. We were keeping the guest list under 30 people so the 2 1/2 bathrooms that we have would be enough, but anymore than that and I would have to rent porta-potties. TBH, the rental of everything is not worth it if you can find a decent outdoor/indoor venue.

My husband and I had our wedding at home in our backyard and we love that we were able to do that in our new home, which we plan to be our forever home, and to this day, our friends still talk about how it was one of the best and most fun weddings they've been to (free flowing alcohol probably contributed to that) :-) BUT... It is a lot of work and there is a LOT to consider and make sure of. Here is what I've previously posted on WW about backyard weddings...

- It probably won't end up being much less expensive than a venue.

- You are responsible for EVERYTHING.... Tent, tables, chairs, linens, dinnerware, lighting, generators, bathrooms/restroom trailers, heat (very important!!!), fans/air conditioning (also very important! Heat/AC depends on time of year), etc.

- Make sure to determine good placement of everything... You don't want the guests to have to trek really far through the field/yard to get to the restroom... Also take into account the terrain and bumps (our yard looks flat, but it really had lots of bumps to it!).

- Catering/bartending is on you (rather than the venue), so find reputable vendors.

- Make sure you have adequate and relatively close parking.

- People will want to go in your house (if the ceremony/reception is close by)! Make sure you are prepared to deal with that beforehand (do you care? If you want them to stay out, make sure to put a sign or other means up to let guests know).

- Hire a day of coordinator! Ours was definitely one of the best expenses we had Because it's on your property, you just don't want to have to deal with guest questions the day of - and there will be plenty of little things that you know, because it's your place, but guests will ask/have to figure out.

- Have chairs. Don't do hay bales. I admit I wanted hay bales at first, but we did not get them, and it was a good decision not to. In addition to the general need for chairs, you probably should get two sets of chairs... Ceremony location chairs and reception chairs (unless people are sitting at tables to watch the ceremony). We considered having one set of chairs and us/family/friends/guests moving the chairs to the reception location after the ceremony. Ultimately, I decided to just get two sets (a "cheaper" set for the ceremony, and nicer, sturdier, white ones for the reception). I'm glad we did that so we didn't have to bother guests with that, plus now that I'm on Wedding Wire (surprisingly I wasn't before my wedding!), I realize that would have been poor etiquette.

- The catering company may have to use your kitchen in your home. Ours did. All companies may not, but some might, so this is something to consider.

- We considered renting a sound system and just using an iPod, but we didn't want the hassle or to worry about it malfunctioning, so we found a DJ who gave us an excellent deal for JUST playing music (he did end up emceeing a little, but we hired him solely to play music and make sure it flowed/didn't mess up).

A backyard wedding is definitely possible, and I don't know how much more stressful a backyard wedding is compared to a venue wedding, because my husband and I started planning backyard from the beginning. Just remember there are a lot of details you have to cover since you're building it from the ground up.

Is this *your* backyard you're thinking of hosting in? I'm not a huge proponent of using anyone else's property besides your own for a backyard wedding... It puts a lot of pressure on stress on that person, and it's not even his/her event.

Here are some specific expenses for our backyard wedding:

Tent, Tent Sides, Heat, Lights, Extension Cords = $1973.08 [In hindsight, we should have rented another heater, so this cost would have been more if we did]

White Chairs, Tan Chairs, Tables, Generators, Grill, Coffee Urn (60-cup) = $768.90

Restroom Trailer (nice restrooms, not port-a-potties) = $1121

Day-of Coordinator (and she gave me a steal of a deal!) = $360

That right there is over $4200. That doesn't include ANY decor or any other vendors (photographer, DJ, caterer, etc.). Catering was $4685. Alcohol is not included in that catering cost.

Backyard weddings are completely doable, but they are by no means less expensive. Our wedding all said and done including every last detail came to $21,161.77. We had 90 guests (11 of which were kids).

Photo credit Julie Napear Photography.

We are having a back yard wedding as well. Its not our backyard or family. We found it on AIRBnb. However we love it. If you love the space thats a key factor.

As long as you host your guest properly, even with a back yard wedding they will want to stay. I would say a DJ is a good idea.

Me FH and I thought we would do our own music. I reached out to here and even spoke to my mom and my mom was like thats not gonna happen. She ended up doing research and offered to pay for the DJ and she is paying for him all at her own request. We are only having at most 31 individuals at our wedding. So at 120 Id say it would be a good idea.

Another thing Id say is make sure its set up nicely, from the pictures I think its a good foundation I like it. But add pops of color with flowers if you can. Also make sure the space is big enough for 120, the worst thing is is having a outdoor back yard wedding and it be too crowded to eat or dance and mingle. Its horrible.

But Ive been to one and it was lovely too, the guest had a DJ, beverages for adults (I was yet 21 so I couldn't drink yet), amazing food, and favors. It was big enough to host the amount they had.

I will tell you because Im having one too, it takes a lot more work than having a wedding at just a normal venue regardless of its in door or outdoor location.

Because unless you have a wedding planner everything falls on you to find.

I have been lucky enough to find a florist who used to have a full wedding business and has chairs and can get tables and dinnerware all at a fraction of what I would have spent for a full on rental location.

My hardest thing has been set up and decor. Ex. 'oh I need a table for guest table, I need table for cake, oh I want bulb lights, how are we going to set those up, how many do I need, oh I need drinking glasses, oh how will I write names on them, favors I want to to jam, how am I going to do that, oh how am I going to fill the table'

We are doing a "backyard wedding" somewhat haha. One of my personal friends has a beautiful farm that she is letting us use for our ceremony and reception. She has had one other wedding done there in the past 2-3 years. We will be having around 90 guests.

Our rental costs for things such as tent, dance floor, tables, chairs, dinnerware, glasses, etc totaled $3,821. The company we used ran a promotion in December so our $3,321 bill is only costing us about $3,100 out of pocket.

There are restrooms on the property that we will be using. Our caterer has a catering truck which was great as we will not have access to a kitchen. When booking our vendors I let them know it is a tented event - making sure they had no issues with equipment. We do have access to power from the main barn where the cocktail hour will be. (Pic included below) Then our reception tent will be off the side or back of barn to create a nice space/flow.

I think your venue looks gorgeous, plenty of space. Just make sure to have back up plans for everything.

I think Rachel and Ashley explain things well.

We looked into having a wedding in the backyard (very father if the bride). Turns out if we skimped on things we were still at 40k. Now we have a very nice venue and we have gotten almost everything we want (no skimping) for 29k.

I would love a backyard wedding but you do have to bring a lot in to make it nice. Maybe consider having the rehearsal dinner here and/or wedding afterparty....

We are doing a massive backyard wedding. You have to think of, provide or purchase, and set up EV.ERY.THING. If you have time and resources to do that, go for it!! It will be unique and beautiful! But if you don't have that time and those resources (sometimes backyard is MORE expensive!), realize that's what you're committing to in choosing a backyard wedding.

We obviously catered a lot of these when I had that business, and I second everything that Rachel wrote. In other words, it will be far more expensive than you think, and getting rental costs BEFORE you make a decision is crucial. And factor in all the landscaping that will be done, lol....

You HAVE to have a DOC and a great caterer who is used to working off site. There are a lot of moving parts to a backyard wedding, and even a great caterer can't (or shouldn't) be in charge of them. Every wedding I've been to since without a DOC has been late, chaotic and stressful for everyone.

Check parking and noise regulations.

@Ashley; not to make you paranoid, but if you haven't gotten wedding insurance, do it now. Several months ago a couple had their Air B&B site pulled out from under them and had to find a new venue in two weeks. Thankfully, one of my colleagues had a venue space available for them, but it was hair raising for everyone.

Please make sure you have enough bathrooms and hopefully they won't be septic tanks. There is nothing worse than overflowing toilets and an open bar.

To echo others, you'd be surprised how expensive backyard weddings can end up, if you're properly hosting your guests (which you should be, duh). You need a tent. You can't risk it raining and not having a backup plan. You need to rent a dance floor, tables and chairs, linens, plates, utensils, etc. (Unless your caterer supplies them). Not sure where you're located, October can get really chilly or still be really warm. So unless you get sidewalls on the tent and have heaters/ac, it could end up being uncomfortable. You need to rent restrooms, and no one likes nasty porta potties so you need the trailer restrooms which aren't cheap. And now you're adding on probably 2-3 vendors that you have to coordinate. Also, parking?

We thought about having a backyard wedding and then when I listed out everything above I was basically like, fuck that. Just do your research.