Our DIY Backyard Wedding

February 10, 2018

Our DIY Backyard Wedding

Goodmorning Y'all,

My husband and I recently got married in October of 2017. We had this unique idea to have our wedding in our backyard. Many people did not believe we could pull it off, but I believe it was truly a great wedding though the odds were against us! We truly could not have made it work without all of our wonderful friends and family.

How to use your Backyard for a Wedding:

1. Make sure you have enough space for the number of people you want to attend. We only had about 60 people at our wedding. We knew that we wouldn't be able to fit much more than that due to the size of our backyard. We were able to have the ceremony on the left side and reception on the right side. This allowed plenty of room for the guests to mingle.

2. Make sure to have a backup plan for weather. Our wedding was in the midst of hurricane season, so we had to plan ahead. Thankfully, we missed the incoming hurricane by two days, but it was 100 degree and 100% humidity that day! So I would recommend planning ahead for any sort of weather.

3. Make sure to plan for parking. We were able to park on our street, but I informed our neighbors a few weeks ahead. We didn't have any issues, but I would check beforehand if you live in an HOA neighborhood.

4. Make sure to have fun with it! Often, we forget that our wedding should be a fun day as we get to marry our best friend. We loved having all of our friends and family over to our house for our wedding. Since we don't live near our family, we got to show them where we live by doing our wedding at home.

5. Make sure to plan ahead where guests will use the bathroom. Some sites suggest getting porta potty if you are going to have a large number of guests. We decided to just use the inside bathrooms since we didn't have a large number of guests. We would just suggest having rugs down, so it's not a big deal if they wear their shoes inside.

Budget:

We decided to keep to a very strict budget. I would recommend setting a budget that is comfortable for your income. It has become the social norm to put the expense of the wedding on credit card. I wouldn't recommend that. You want to start your marriage off on the right path. You can have the wedding of your DREAMS on a budge too! I would highly recommend buying your decorations and tablecloths versus renting. We were able to sell many of our decorations and tablecloths after the wedding. This helped to pay off any extra debt that we had accumulated with the wedding. You can also get creative with your wedding. We used Jesse's grandparent's rings. Not only was it economical but it was sentimental as well. I also bought my dress online and had it altered to my size. We used a combination of real planted flowers and fake flowers. We also had our small cake and cupcakes made at our local grocery store. The funny part is that no one knew the difference. Not only was the cake delicious, but it was beautiful as well. I would recommend using Pinterest as there are a ton of ideas on there.

Our Budget:

Catering: $1800

Photography: $1250

Cake: $80

Decorations: $500

Chair/Tent Rental: $550

Tablecloths: $200

Wedding Dress (Alterations included): $500

Groom's Attire: $100

Rings: $0 (We used Jesse's Grandparents rings)

Flowers: $100

Flowergirl/Ring Bearer: $80

Alcohol: $500

Officiant: $100

Misc: $500

Marriage License: $18

Total: $6278*

*There are several things we didn't add to the budget like sod, house maintenance and etc. We didn't include these things in the budget because it will help increase the resale value of our house.

Timeline for the Wedding Weekend:

We created a timeline for the entire weekend to help keep everyone on schedule. We were able to pass out the schedule to all of our vendors as well as family and friends. We did have to make some last minute changes to due to weather so I would recommend being flexible.