I have been married for over a week now and thought I would share my thoughts on planning a backyard wedding! So when my husband (Fiance at the time) and I found this gorgeous house with the huge backyard, I had my heart set on having our wedding there. Because I am sentimental like that, and because I thought it would save us money. WRONG. I don't think it saved us as much as I thought it would and I worried a lot more than if we would have just gotten married in a venue. Overall, our wedding was BEAUTIFUL and our guest was amazed that we were able to pull it off without a wedding coordinator (although I highly recommend one if it is in your budget. I was going for a romantic, rustic theme with burgundy, blush colors.
Budget Breakdown for 120 persons wedding
Tent and bathroom rental (tables, ceremony chairs, reception chairs, cafe lighting, linens,); We went back and forth on the bathroom trailer and letting people use our bathrooms. I am SO glad we put out the extra money for the bathroom. It had AC, music, soap, etc. - $ 6500
Catering (local Italian restaurant and Asian food); we ordered WAYYYY to much food but better safe than sorry. Our guests had lunch/dinner the day after the wedding too - $3300
Alcohol (bought recommended alcohol quantities for $1200, returned unused alcohol to Total Wine and More and got $700 back!) - $500
Shuttle Van (about 70% of guests used my front lawn as a parking lot since it was not raining, 30% used the shuttle, still needed the van in case it rained, people would have gotten stuck if they parked on the lawn) - $500
Bartender (2), shuttle driver, and catering help - $620
Cake and assorted desserts - $550
Dress (David's bridal) - $600, Alterations/Bustle/De-wrinkling $100, Veil on Amazon - $20
Hair and Makeup: $1000
Photographer - $1600
Videographer (last minute add but SO worth it!) - $1800
DJ/MC and Magic Mirror Photo booth - $1800
Wedding Decor (wreathes, vases, candles, salt&pepper shakers, wedding signs etc.) - $500 (probably more)
Artificial Flowers for hexagon arch and bouquets - $450
Costco Rose petals - $140
Dream budget: $10,000
Realistic budget after dream budget went down the drain: $15,000
Total - around $19,000
Recommendations if you are having a backyard wedding:
Pick a theme/colors early on so that you can start buying decor with coupons (JoAnn's and Michael's were a Godsend). Check out the DollarTree for Vases, chargers, and floating candles!
Be as thorough with your itinerary/time line/to do list as you can, print it out, and hand it to everyone that is helping you. Every one should have a task to do.
Don't be afraid to DIY instead of buying - its not as hard as it looks sometimes!
Have a backup plan in case it rains! We would have had our ceremony on the dance floor in the tent if it was raining. Also, we rented a black roll-out carpet for people to walk on in case it was muddy outside of the tent.
Hire a day-of coordinator, at the very least.
