Tips and ideas for your backyard wedding
Fire pit with smores
Yay! Who doesn’t love a fire pit with s’mores? And even better, this s’mores bar which was so much fun.
Games!
One of the favorites of backyard weddings! I love that you can spread out and have all your favorite yard games at your wedding. Not all guests love to dance, so this is an awesome option throughout the night.
Consider what is best lighting for your ceremony
When you’re planning the layout of where you want everything to be for your wedding, consult with your vendors to see what works best for them as well. While I, as the photographer, have a certain idea of what works best for the light and the background, your DJ needs to be near an outlet, and your planner will have suggestions as well to make the ceremony accessible to all guests.
Side space for photos
If you have the space, I highly recommend having a space that is a little bit separated from the guests to do the formal photos. This way you’ll have a bit of privacy and we can get through the photos quicker without everyone running up to you for hugs!
Enjoy the view
When your back yard looks like this, who wouldn’t want a back yard wedding?
Separate tents for separate spaces
I love how this wedding made separate rooms with these tents, to divide the spaces.
Involve your animals
Of course you want your dog to be part of your wedding ceremony! It’s so much easier when you’re having a back yard wedding to involve your pets in your wedding. That way, they can be there for a little while and then go chill in their own space that they’re used to afterwards. Or, in some cases, you might want your pony and goat to be a part of your wedding as well!
Wildflowers from your backyard
If you have the green thumb, you can start a garden for beautiful photo backdrops, or to use for your wedding flowers!
Bring a food truck or other fun foods
Who doesn’t love a food truck? Lots of venues allow food trucks, but many don’t (or they only allow certain caterers in general). Go crazy and have the taco truck of your dreams!
Use signs for your guests
Signs are a fun way to decorate at your wedding, but it also helps your guests figure out where to go and what to do when it might not be so certain.
Decorate how you want
With enough design-savvy, time and willpower, you can transform almost any space! I love how these backyard spaces turned out.
Fireworks
If your state allows it (hello, New Hampshire!), you can do fireworks at your wedding.
Involve your guests
With a more laid-back wedding, it’s fun to involve the guests as well in some of the planning (and believe me, they love to be involved!). Kate and Geoff invited their family members to make their signature cookie to put in this absolutely adorable cookie bar which was set up at the end of the night.
There are a lot of pros and cons to consider when deciding on a backyard wedding. Yes, it will be a lot of work. But it will also be so personal and you can - in most cases (pending any town laws or ordinances) - have a lot of freedom in deciding what you want to do.
Things you will have to think about for a backyard wedding:
Parking - if you have enough room for a backyard wedding, hopefully you also have the space for parking all those vehicles. Of course, you can encourage your guests to carpool. If that doesn’t cut it, I’ve seen weddings where the couple had generous and kind neighbors who allowed guests to park on their lawns on long driveways (keep in mind your own driveway will be taken up - most likely - with a catering truck). Don’t forget that all your vendors will need to park so keep those numbers in mind. I also photographed a wedding where there was no nearby parking and they lived on a busy street, so no parking there either. There was a close by public parking area where the guests parked and then the couple hired a bus company to shuttle the guests at specified times to and from the parking area.
Bathrooms - unless you’re having a small guest count, or you have a large amount of bathrooms in your house, you’ll need to get an extra bathroom. And no, we’re not talking your typical port a potties! I’ve been to weddings where the portable bathrooms that were brought in were nicer than my own!
Bugs - here in New England, wherever you go for an outside wedding there are going to be bugs from spring through fall. Just make sure to have lots of bug spray on hand for the guests that would prefer not to be eaten alive.
Tents - unless you want to tempt fate, you’re going to need a tent. Also, probably linens, chairs and everything else that goes with a typical wedding reception. Don’t forget about extra tables for your cake/desserts, sign-in table, gifts and other things like that!
Generator - I photographed a back yard wedding years ago that was absolutely gorgeous - a sunny day, and everything was perfect through most of the reception. Then a strong rain storm came through and knocked the power out to the town. Thankfully everyone went with the flow and enjoyed the candlelight, and a few guests even danced in the rain! It was fun, but the bride’s dad was also busy in the background getting the generator set up so that the lights (and music) could be turned back on. (This has happened at a couple of venues as well, so even if you choose to go that route, make sure to ask about back-up power!)
Planner - I highly recommend hiring at least a day-of wedding planner/coordinator for the day of your wedding. They will make sure everything runs smoothly so you won’t need to be bothered. Just because it’s your backyard doesn’t mean you need to be in charge of telling where the DJ to set up or making sure the timeline is running on time.
I hope these tips for a backyard wedding were helpful!
While you’re here, check out some other wedding planning posts: