BACKYARDIGAN

What better way to save money on your wedding than to have it in your own backyard, either with home-cooked meals by your loving family, or catered by a restaurant. I thought it was an absolutely great way to save us some money. 

Problem: We didn’t have a backyard at that time. We lived in a condo. 

Solution: Ask your family or friends if you can use their backyard. Chances are, they will be willing to lend it for your special day.

For us, we didn’t have any friends who had big yards, so I googled “backyards for rent near me”. There weren’t many. But it didn’t stop me from looking. I also searched for short term acreages for rent because, why not? Haha. 

Backyard - people nowadays are lucky because when pandemic hit, I’ve seen growth on people listing their backyards for rent on Facebook marketplace. I think it’s one way of earning extra? The good thing about a backyard wedding is that you have all the time in the world to make it pretty and to your liking. Unlike if you rent a venue, they’ll just give you a certain hour to decorate and then an extra hour to take down everything after your event. Since you control the time, you don’t have to rush with your choices, you can experiment with table set up and décor. You also save a whole bunch of money with the food, because like I said earlier, your family can cook for you or you can choose a wedding caterer that is cheap but good.

If you have a backyard to use, now is a perfect time for a backyard wedding because there are so things you can do to make it beautiful, unlike 10 yrs ago. Bohemian, or Boho style parties, are so in at the moment, you can pop in low tables around the yard, seat on pillows, do a relaxed style reception. BUT please don’t do a Coachella themed wedding. I repeat, DON’T.

You can also rent some tables,  rent a big party tent, and have a romantic seat-down dinner. You can hang fairy lights, lanterns, mood lighting, candles,  add some flowers, small table lamps and come night time, it will turn into a magical reception venue.

The possibilities are endless with a backyard wedding. You can definitely make it your own secret oasis for your wedding venue, with the right set up, and décor. For the music, you can hire a small band, if you have enough space, or a few musicians, even an acoustic guitar or Ukulele player to brighten the mood. If not, you can also use your Bluetooth speaker for whatever kind of music you choose. For different backyars seating set ups, pls check out my other blog here.