backyard wedding and broke a$$ brides...

Just because you aren't rolling in cash doesn't mean you cant have a beautiful wedding. i suggest not over doing it and letting your backyard almost be your overall theme. it will be cute. get good food, good photographer, and have fun with DIY decor. pinterest is a great thing

A big budget doesn't guarantee a great wedding, but a backyard wedding isn't always the cheapest way to go either. Check your pricing on tents, etc; you may be better off with a pretty restaurant and a small group.

I am having a backyard wedding and the first thing we plan top do is rent a tent because you never know what the weather will be like. Plus, e are getting married in the summer so the tent will also provide shade for everyone. We are hanging lights and keeping decor minimal because the outdoors is a beautiful setting to begin with. Definitely check out Pinterest, that site is awesome and gives really great ideas for backyard weddings.

Check out my BAM:

https://www.weddingwire.com/wedding-forums/officially-bam-with-non-pro-pictures-more-pictures-on-page/2e7e5ee0fe849ff3.html

I will definitely backup what the other girls said; it's more expensive than some think it will be. For 130 chairs, about 19 tables, a generator that was too loud to use (and you'll need one for DJ/music and lights for nighttime) and a tent to fit it all under, we paid about $2,000. We were gifted a lot of services so you need to know people if you're going to save money (but never just straight up ask for it as a gift. People will surprise you and you need to show your graciousness to the top of the moon.) We self catered and a lot of our families helped with cooking and paying for things as gifts to us.

Also, it took us a few weeks to get my sister's backyard looking good (and it didn't help that she is super OCD.) We dug up a ton of things, filled up two dumpsters and her truck (a few times), and a huge burn pile that we just kept adding stuff to. For the days leading up to our wedding it poured, a lot. Our day was the only one in almost two weeks it didn't rain or at least drizzle. So even with a tent, the ground was soaked. My sister had to have her lawn guy bring some pine straw last minute because there was one section that was super muddy.

I'm not trying to sway you from doing a backyard wedding, there was just a lot that I didn't know was going to be necessary and we're blessed that we have surrounded ourselves with such great people. But it is definitely possible, especially if you have fewer guests that we did.

120 guests = <$4000 (not including the tent in that)

Not married yet but I am completely doing a backyard wedding with all DIY decor. I have found ways to be cheap with just about everything. I only forked out extra for the things I really wanted to spend extra on (I wanted a specific photographer since I'm keeping minimal souvenirs and the picture will be all that i have). I'm planting some big plants into pots now so I can double use them as wedding/backyard decor. The tent rental company is amazing. They have everything i need. I am also having everyone sit at their tables for the ceremony because I don't want to rearrange chairs. Cocktail hours cost too much so I'm doing the picture before the wedding then the reception will start right after the ceremony.

Backyard is nice....but LOTS of sweat equity with decoration not to mention cleanup, tent, table and chair rental, parking for guests, outdoor lighting if after dark, flat area for people to walk and dance, etc. It all adds up and isn't always cheaper and always is more work. Definitely do the math as opposed to renting a park area or other historic venue set up for that.

Just want to make sure you are for real over here...... Seems very aggressive.

also you may get more responses if you change your picture

Jay mentioned something important, the parking.

We had a huge empty grass lot next to my sister's home that some people parked in. A lot of people got stuck. My cousin almost flipped his truck. We didn't put as much thought in to parking other than "hey! there's space there... Let's just mow it."

I think you can still have a beautiful wedding, just focus your budget on what makes a good party/guest experience/memories: food/drink and music! Also, don't cheap out on your pictures or the way you look (you only get this day once!) Go simple and DIY the decor. So many of the little extras are just not necessary!

Oh yeah, Parking! We have to hire a shuttle so definitely keep that in mind. (by shuttle i mean yellow school bus lol)

Keep in mind that you will also need to rent a bathroom or two unless you are having fewer than 50 guests. Most household toilets are only designed to accomodate a certain number of flushes per day.

I agree ^^^

My sister's home has two bathrooms but because it's older, the septic system could only handle so much. We rented a porta-potty to offset the toilets being overused and it worked out well for 120 guests. Plus, it wasn't too expensive to ensure that people weren't walking through poo after the wedding.

I started to plan a backyard wedding but it was too much work for me and was not cheaper than having it at a wedding venue. We weren't considering self catering and would have had to rent a floor, tables, a bar, chairs, tent, possibly fans, bathrooms, do a ton of landscaping, we already have a generator so we didn't need to buy or rent that, lighting, linens, serveware, plates, flatware, drinkware, and hire waitstaff, a bartender, and a DOC because I didn't want to be the point person on the day of my wedding or make a family member work on that day. Research whether it is cheaper to buy or rent linens plates etc. That was just too overwhelming for me. I don't doubt that it could be beautiful, but in my case it was also expensive and stressful.

This is the only way we can afford our wedding it is much cheaper for us, were only having 35 guests, with self catering and a dry wedding. the cheapest venue near me was 1200 which is insane to me, and the venue alone exceeded our budget. i actually found an awsome deal where all my chairs and tables would be 50$ we have been pretty fortunate, we have a freind who is a pro photographer, and she is taking our engagement and wedding photos free of charge.

@monica your wedding looked beautiful i really like how you had live music you dont seem to see that much anymore, a very unique touch

Ok 35 guest might be doable in a backyard. With a guest list that low you should check into restaurants as well.