What No One Will Tell You About Backyard Weddings
Planning a backyard wedding might seem like the easiest option for a laid-back celebration, but you should be prepared for some hidden costs and unexpected factors. Of course, you’ll definitely save on venue rental fees and you’re not tied to a venue’s timelines. The intimacy and flexibility of choosing to have a backyard wedding makes it a great choice for couples who are natural planners. As a professional wedding planner, I don’t want you to be blindsided by some of the more unexpected elements that come into play when planning a backyard wedding. I’ll walk you through what to expect and how to prepare for the unique obstacles you might encounter when putting together a home wedding celebration. Preparation, budgeting, and delegation are key when you choose the DIY wedding route!
Lawn Realities of a Backyard Wedding
Before you decide to plan a backyard wedding, confront the reality that it will probably destroy your lawn. There’s not really a nice way to put it. Vendor traffic and furniture will leave you with quite a bit of repair work after the party. A rented dance floor will also flatten the grass and leave bare muddy patches around the edges. Talk with your partner or whoever is offering to host the celebration and make sure they’re okay with the potential yard damage.
Traffic Flow
It’s easy to imagine a beautiful backyard wedding and start planning the decor right away. But I think it’s really important to examine the yard layout early on to determine optimal traffic flow. You’ve probably never entertained quite so many people in the space! Will guests be entering through the house or through a side gate? How can you make their entrance more streamlined? Do you have room for a dance floor or will some areas have to transition after dinner? Measure out the dimensions of the usable area and start making potential floor plans.
Backyard Wedding Furniture Rentals
Most people don’t have dozens of folding chairs lying around their house (unless you’re my parents, who bought a church’s entire inventory of folding chairs). If you want your backyard wedding to still have an elevated look with aesthetic consistency, the furniture should probably all match. A major part of planning your backyard wedding will be creating a realistic rental budget. That includes chairs, tables, decorative structures, and perhaps a dance floor if you don’t have an outdoor floor space suitable for getting your groove on. Research the rates in your area and make sure they have enough inventory to accommodate your guest list.
Catering Requirements
A backyard wedding can still serve high-quality food, it just takes a bit more planning. If you would like to use a wedding catering service, ask them if they will need a kitchen for preparing the dishes. Can your kitchen realistically accommodate them? If the answer is no, perhaps choose a catering menu that only requires a chafing dish setup. That way you won’t have to worry about finding more electrical outlets. An experienced caterer will ensure that the food remains fresh and hot for your wedding guests.
Planning a Backyard Wedding: Electricity Setup
This seems like an obvious aspect of planning a backyard wedding, but many people forget about the electricity setup until the day-of. Don’t put yourself in this stressful situation, scrambling around for extension cords. You will need quality speakers for the ceremony (your guests want to actually hear your vows!) and for dancing. Most backyards don’t have an abundance of outlets, so map out the cord paths and determine what lengths of cords you need. I’d also recommend using cable protectors to prevent any accidents. Test the equipment ahead of time and check the breaker’s capacity so you don’t encounter an outage from overloading the circuits.
Backyard Wedding Bathroom Situation
Some backyard weddings have a pretty small guest list, but if you’re inviting more than 25 people you’ll need to think about renting portable bathrooms. The one bathroom on the main floor of your house might not cut it, especially once the drinks get flowing. You don’t want to have long lines at the bathroom when they could be enjoying the party. For parties of around 100 people, you will need at least four restrooms, two for women and two for men. Make sure you have a space to place them that’s far away from the food and festivities. And don’t forget to have someone regularly check on the toilet paper and hand sanitizer levels.
Parking
You may want to warn your neighbors on Nextdoor ahead of time that a large amount of cars will be parked on the street, taking up their usual spots. Or if it’s a permit only parking situation, look into if any of the local businesses in your neighborhood would be willing rent out their lot to you. Additionally, ensure that you make the backyard handicap accessible so that everyone can safely attend the wedding.
Whatever the Weather: Tents, Heating, Cooling
When planning a backyard wedding, tents are a great plan in every season. Whether there’s rain or shine, you want to have a plan to protect the wedding from the elements. Knowing that you’re prepared for the weather is one less thing to stress about. The tents should be very securely weighted and tied down since wind can easily jostle them around. For a wedding in a cooler transitional month, you may want to consider a few heater lamps or a fire pit for people to gather around. A fresh supply of blankets also helps! If the wedding is during the hot months, look into renting large fans and misters to keep everyone comfortable.
Planning a Backyard Wedding
Overall, planning a backyard wedding is a major endeavor. Don’t go into it thinking you’ve got the express lane to partying! You’ll still need properly budget and manage people. There’s a bit more margin for error when you haven’t got a venue staff to support you. But once you cover all your bases, you’ll feel properly prepared for the big day. If you found this article helpful as you begin your wedding planning journey, then subscribe to my mailing list for more helpful resources!
