Brides on a budget

No real tips for planning on a budget BUT be aware that a backyard wedding lends itself to more rentals (chairs, tables, linens, etc.) which adds up to higher costs - plus, you may have to rent extra potties. Remember that the more people you invite, the higher your costs overall.

View Quoted Comment Thank you Becky

I'm doing a brunch wedding, so my food costs are lower, and we don't need as many options for a bar, as we're looking at doing a mimosa bar.

View Quoted Comment A brunch reception is a great idea!

I had a backyard wedding of 50 people in total. My husband and I spent around 8k (a little above that I think). People were still able to mingle inside and use the bathrooms in there.
The things we rented were: chairs, tables, linens for the tables, wedding arch, dance floor, speakers, and bar. I think my husband spent around $1500 or $2000 for all of that.

We did a taco truck so that was about $500.

A lot of the flowers I bought from Ling's Moments on Amazon. I think I spent around $300 for bridesmaids bouquets, flower for arch, corsages, and boutonnieres.

I did my own centerpieces (mostly got them from hobby lobby and dollar tree).

We limited our wedding to 50 people. We also are doing diy centerpieces for cocktail hour and the ceremony.

Backyard weddings can be really affordable depending on your guest list/ vision. Renting of chairs/ tables/ catering, bathroom solutions, tent, etc can all really add up. But if you keep your guest list small enough, and have an indoor area in case of weather, and can find tables and chairs from family or a church, and choose food from maybe a restaurant or DIY, totally doable. Our backyard wedding for 20 people will have cost us $1500 total, and most of that was for the photographer and officiant.

View Quoted Comment I love that idea. Thanks for sharing 💕

View Quoted Comment Thank you ☺️

View Quoted Comment Thanks for sharing 😊

I am renting a park pavilion that over looks the river. It is $550 and has seating for 130 indoors. There is a side yard we will use for the ceremony. I am usimg a stand alone catering company and he quoted me $33 per person including tax and gratuity. We are planning for about 100 people. We bought all of the centerpiece materials from Dollar Tree. I am ordering flowers from Amazon to make bouqets and only doing 1 flower in a bud vase on each table. We will be buying liquor every week or so. I got my dress online for $379 total. we are hoping to spend between $5 and $7K.

Enlisting family and friends for services: wedding dress, ceremony music, officiant, hair, helping me make flower arrangements (buying bulk flowers from Costco).


Spotify playlist instead of dj. Drop-off catering family style. Compostables instead of renting dinnerware. No booze. Keeping guest list small.
No pre-wedding events. No wedding bridesmaids. No favors.
Where we aren't saving money on venue and photography. That's what we decided were the most important to us.

View Quoted Comment That was really helpful, thank you for sharing 💕

View Quoted Comment Thank you for sharing 😊💕

Ours wasn't a backyard wedding, but our budget was $7k, which isn't very much. I compared prices on EVERYTHING before comitting to anything. I had an entire binder that was just dedicated to comparing prices.

View Quoted Comment Thank you ☺️ 💕💕