To tell you the truth though… I really REALLY love small, backyard weddings! If you don’t have a nice backyard (I’m right there with you) have it on your parent’s property where you grew up or ask a family member with a nice, big backyard. It might be more affordable and special to you than booking a venue, but I can see where you might hesitate. “How in the world do I create an inviting, comfortable, beautiful space in my backyard?!” And to that I say…

Hire a Wedding Planner!

Yep, hire someone else to take care of everything so you have as little to worry about as possible and you can enjoy your day. On a budget and want to do it on your own? No worries! I asked Lauren, owner of To Gather In Grace and amazing wedding planner/stylist, if she had any tips for couples wanting a backyard wedding. She went above and beyond what I expected! After recently having a backyard wedding herself in California, she was able to give a lot of professional advice based on personal experience. So have no fear! If you’re looking to transform your backyard into a wedding venue, take notes and pin this for later!

1. Backyard vs Venue?

Lauren: The biggest plus to having your wedding/event in a backyard is convenience. I planned my intimate wedding in my brother's backyard back home in San Diego and we were able to spend months prepping the design, layout, and slowly moving things where they needed to be before the actual day of the wedding. It made the day of so much more organized knowing exactly how it would look and where everything would go because I had the accessibility to see the space whenever. It was also really nice not having the same restrictions that other venues had like not allowing certain decor items, vendors, bringing in our alcohol, etc. it was truly everything we wanted that went and that was nice to not have to compromise. Cost-wise, most wedding venues in California started at around $5000 for basic packages and some of them required that cost for just renting out the space! I was determined to make our smaller budget work without compromising style, design, and high-quality vendors for my day, and having it in my brother's free backyard was the only way I was able to do this! Because I saved money on one of the biggest costs for a wedding, the venue, I was able to hire my dream photographer, florist, and rental company and serve up some really good food too! Those details meant more to me and I was happy to put my money towards capturing the day and the details to make it dreamy. 

2. What amenities do I need?

Lauren: We had our ceremony about a mile away at a small park/cliff overlooking the ocean. My guests did have to find two locations, but it was a pretty easy trip to the reception after and we made sure to give clear directions and even noted where to park on our invitations so parking wasn't too bad. Luckily there was an elementary school parking lot down the same street as the reception location so most of our guests knew to park there to be respectful of the neighbors and allow room for easy access in and out of the house. If the house you're wanting to have your backyard soiree at doesn't have a lot of parking, my recommendation is to find the closest free parking lot and have a shuttle pick up guests or maybe, if it's close enough, ask them to walk? The only issue that made things challenging about having out reception at my brother's house was that it was only a single bathroom home some guests did have to wait in a line so I would recommend finding a house with multiple restrooms or renting a nice portable restroom. There are companies that specialize in this!

3. How big should the space be?

Lauren: You want to take into consideration that it is a backyard and realistically how many people will fit COMFORTABLY back there with room for chairs, tables, a lounge space, dance floor, the DJ, the bar and a safe amount of room for people to get in and out to leave or go inside the home easily. As long as you nail the guest count and then create a solid flow for your layout then it'll make it completely doable. Just imagine where you are going to put everything and then think about the pathways that guests will take and that will give you a good idea of how much space you have if guests will be comfortable or crammed. Also, make sure the house inside whether you're using it or not is organized for extra traffic, and the bathrooms are stocked up and ready for plenty of guests to use!

4. How should I prepare the yard and home?

Lauren: Kind of like what I mentioned above, just taking advantage of the fact that you can go as often as you want to the backyard that you're using and figuring out where you'll put everything and everyone will allow the day of set up to go off without a hitch. Getting things set up the week of the wedding will take tons of stress off you and or your day-of coordinator because it's just one less thing to get done before the big day. I was very, very, blessed that my brother and sister in law had made it a point to finish their backyard designs before my wedding day so that everything would look complete and guests would have more spaces to sit, the landscaping was done and it was ready for a party. Depending on what all needs to be done to have the yard looking its best I would suggest at least 2-3 months out begin doing the landscaping, moving the patio furniture or helping the owners of the home pick up the little things that need to be moved just so you're not rushing to do it the week of when you have a million other things to do.

5. How to cultivate the guest experience?

Lauren: From what my friends and family told me, they thought it was beautiful and intimate. We didn't expect it to be a rager. We wanted a pretty, candlelit dinner party with our friends and family. We wanted good music playing and guests to enjoy good food and just to have a romantic and laid back atmosphere and that's exactly what we created. We kept it simple with food and had an artisanal pizza food truck with multiple options and a fruit and cheese spread and salad which everyone LOVED and had a very boho set up with a few dining tables and then low table seating with pillows for guests to lounge on as well and I think people loved being casual instead of having to be super proper at a wedding. Everyone was still dressed up, so it didn't feel too casual. It was just easy.

6. Do I still need a day of coordinator?

Lauren: I mean, I may be biased but having a day of coordinator is CRUCIAL and I wish everyone realized this! It doesn't matter if you're eloping and it's just the two of you or if it's a huge wedding with 300 plus people or an intimate backyard gathering. The vendor communication and the overall flow of the day are so so important. All your family members and friends will want to help, and they can, but if they're in the wedding you're going to want them to relax before everything starts, drink champagne with you, and not be sweating and setting up chairs before their hair and makeup gets done. Once the party starts you don't want your aunt or your mom to have to worry about restocking the donuts and coordinating with the caterer or picking up the trash. You want them there in the moment with you enjoying it! I promise you (future brides), if you do not hire a good coordinator for your wedding day you will regret it. That's what we're there for! For you and your guests to enjoy this special day with you! They will do so much behind the scenes that you won't even realize it until it's already taken care of and it'll just take so much stress off of you.

7. Should I rent anything? 

Lauren: Again, depending on the size of the event, you will need to rent tables and chairs and fortunately there are a lot of great vendors out there with plenty of options to either stay cheap or create a super fancy look for your backyard bash. You can get creative with this, which I really enjoyed and did a mixture of wooden dining tables and low floor seating tables to give a very boho feel to my day and then had two separate lounge areas for guests to relax in or take cute pictures around. There were also built-in benches in my brother's yard so that was nice to have for casual seating. It's important to make your guests comfortable but also to make sure all your rentals match the overall look you're trying to achieve so my advice is to use one vendor to do this so it's all consistent and payments/budgeting is a little easier. 

8. Do I need a backup plan?

Lauren: We didn't have a backup plan cause it never rains in San Diego, but if anything hadn't worked out earlier in the planning I definitely would have just eloped! Which sometimes I wish I would have anyways, but overall, I loved my day and I thought it was so special having it at my brother's home.