Backyard weddings

Before you make a decision about anything, look into tents, portosans, tables, chairs and have your rental estimate based on 2017.

My experience has proved that going this route is almost never cheaper, if that's your main focus.

That's what we are thinking of doing. We have about 100 guest. Wanting to keep it all under $5000

One of my best friends had a wedding in her cousin's backyard. They rented a porto-john, rented tables and chairs, actually bought a cheap tent from big lots or walmart, had a local caterer (casual bbq), her MOH's mom did the cake for free (she's a pro), they had hay bails for seating, they had a DJ that was a friend of a friend. It really all came together well. Was intimate. They enjoyed themselves. It is totally do-able.

Oh also, they had parking nearby and actually had the groomsmen shuttle people over. It was a nice thought.

ETA: with all of that being said, totally DIY, it still ended up costing them $3,000.

We had a backyard wedding. Do not think of it as being cheap - it's not. When you have your wedding at a private residence that are so many things that you'll need to provide that most venues include.

just off the top of my head:

Tents - rain? back up plan - will it be cold or hot (heating/cooling) rentals?

Tables, chairs, linens, restrooms, where is everyone going to park? who is going to set up and clean? What type of dinner are you going to serve? Who is going to serve it? Bartenders? Who is going to announce at the event and how are you going to do that? How are you going to play your music? Rent speakers and PA? Can you find an officiant that will perform your ceremony at a private residence? Is your ceremony going to be at the same place as your reception? If so, do you have enough space to have two locations for that or will you need to have setup/tear down for each part of your wedding? Does the residence have an HOA? Is there an noise ordinance?

The main reason is obviously to save money. We would not be doing tents, partially for the money but also because I don't see the need for it. If it were to rain, I'd be feeling like an idiot, but I think we might take that chance. Theres plenty of space for the caterer as well. Tables are actually a lot cheaper than I had anticipated, based off of the rates I'm finding online from local rental companies- Average about 9 dollars for 10 person table. Chairs are super cheap as well, around 3 to 4 dollars each. We are thinking it will be in between 40-50 guests, so pretty small. And porta-johns are not super expensive either- around 200 dollars. I would look into the trailer style ones as there more "pretty" looking, those from what Ive found are about 1000. Based off of those prices, we could do this for super cheap. I know theres more that goes into it obviously- linens and what not, but I've already started my collection of mismatched china so that takes care of plate settings. I'm just worried at the amount of work that could be required from us to pull it off. I was thinking of getting chairs for the tables for dinner, and then benches for by the river for the actual ceremony. Benches seem to run around 20 and fit 5. So that would be pricey for that, but I think space wise that would be better for the location and we can just leave them there or have someone move them off to the side. I think running 50 chairs back to where the tables are would cause a bit of a commotion.. although it could be done.

I'm not really sure what route to take here. I guess first things first is having the property looked at by someone other than me so they can see what can realistically be done. I'm making it work in my head when in reality it might not really be feasible.

I'm thinking with food and alcohol and the rentals it would be around $4000. I've never been to a backyard wedding so I'm not sure how the flow of things work, it would be very DIYish for sure.

You just need lots of help. My friend's family and friends put in tons of work to pull it off.

Most rentals, will include a delivery & p/u fee as well. So I would budget for that as well. It's a lot of work. I would HIGHLY recommend a DOC as well.

I think you have to have tents unless the reception could be re-routed indoors at your aunt's home if it rains.

Double post

If my back yard was big enough I'd totally do this.

I've been to 2 and they were both very nice. I'm not sure the right questions to ask but make sure you have enough power. My cousin had hers in her backyard and they had tons of lights everywhere. With the DJ, speakers, lights, and whatever power was needed for other things, the breaker got blown a couple times and the lights went out. Regular backyards are not specially equipped for large events like weddings.

I'm not sure if its legal yet, but our close friend became ordained so he could marry us. And from the prices I'm seeing this is extremely budget friendly. Some venues I was looking at our at the low end- $10,000. So a few thousand for this seems pretty cheap in my eyes. With the amount of people we'd be inviting I think the area could work also- only 45, tops 50 people. I should probably look into a tent, in case of rain.. But she lives in the woods, has no neighbors, has the perfect area for the ceremony and reception, although it is on a slope which I need to really look into before anything.. We wouldn't do a dj, nor would we have the typical mother/son dance and all that, but for music we'd go the playlist route and rent speakers.. I'm thinking September or early October, which could be a little chilly into the evening but theres a bonfire area, and I was thinking of doing a smores bar and having blankets for people. No bartender, were going to bring in our own beer and make premade drinks for people in dispensers.

Maybe I'm not thinking clearly about it but to me this seems like it can be done cheap...with enough work and digging around to find the best deals and spending a lot of time on DIY projects..

Someone probably needs to give me a reality check though. This is the first I've thought of a backyard wedding so I'm probably not seeing the little details.

I think it can be done (and has been done beautifully by some of the women on this site) but you have to consider how much work you are personally putting into the event and if you are willing to do that to potentially save the money. I understand the budget concerns, but if you pay $10,000.00 at a venue, you're more than likely not going to have to worry about a power outage, mud, flooded conditions, etc. I don't know where you're from, but October could mean hurricanes on the East Coast, and I'd be a nervous wreck. Even though a hurricane would still affect my wedding if it were in a venue, I wouldn't personally have to worry about maybe having to cancel if the conditions are too bad.

That aside, if you're having 40-50 people and aren't concerned about the DJ/dances, etc. you could probably look into hosting at a restaurant for a low cost and not have to worry about rentals.

You do need tents. I can't imagine being at a wedding with no tents and it starts raining.

You cannot take a chance with rain if you don't have a backup plan. The officiant is the least of your issues; most officiants do this; I've done it dozens of times.

The bigger issue is the coordination; someone needs to move the day along, it doesn't just fall together. If you go this route, you totally need a DOC; your friends will not be able to do this, nor will they want to on the day. You're talking DIY liquor, a playlist with a friend punching the buttons on the ipod, bonfires and no tent.

It's a lot of work; it will be more money than you think, and if you get a bad day? You have to have a plan. A heavy rainstorm on a sloped piece of property? No. You do not want to imagine that....

I'm not trying to talk you out of it, but I think, as you said, you need a reality dose.

If you're only considering a backyard wedding to save money, I'd reconsider. I priced out rentals for a wedding at my FIL's farm. We didn't need a tent because there was a building we could use. We would have needed to rent a dance floor, tables, chairs, linens, silverware, plates, drinkware, a bar, and a bathroom. Plus catering, service, alcohol, bartender, DOC. All of this was more expensive than all all-inclusive venues nearby. I was basing my pricing off of the absolute cheapest rentals and BBQ catering.

ELK, I know I shouldnt base anything off of pinterest and what others were able to pull off since each space is its own, but I can't help seeing the ways some women have pulled it off and thinking I can recreate something similar. I also didn't even think into power and blowing breakers and what, since part of what I would want to do is going to be a lot of lights in the trees and hanging around the yard. I'm in NY, hudson valley area. We found a gorgeous venue but its about 2 hours away. It was priced right and offers everything we want but once my Aunt offered us to use her space I immediately thought that would be the perfect solution. Once everything is taken into consideration though it could be a lot of work, more than I originally planned on. I already was going to be bringing my own china and such in, as well as making the centerpieces and ideally the flower arrangements and little things here and there.. I think with a backyard setting it would be up to me to make sure everything flows the way I wanted and I was hoping to not have to do that. I mean, who would cut the cake if we werent going to being hiring any waitstaff? Alcohol I had under control but I would also need someone to man the Ipod.. No dance floor though in a backyard setting.. I guess its more than I thought, but if i didnt care too much about those types of things it could work.

I'm going to post pictures of the outside of her house.. Im having a hard time deciding if its really even enough space now. She does have a long driveway and some space for cars, so long as people car-pool, and I was thinking that the porta-johns could go in that direction so theyre away from the actual party.

Double posted

And this is the spot where we can have the ceremony.

That is a beautiful home, but also another thing you have to think of - parking. I cringe when we have 20 people over for the holidays because I don't know where they will park. Does she have a driveway long enough to accommodate 20 cars? I feel like that's the minimum when you're inviting 40-50 people.