If you’re planning a wedding for summer 2024, consider having a backyard wedding. Holding a wedding outdoors is often chosen because of its convenience, and it can also save you money. When a wedding is held in the backyard, there are many opportunities to use the creative talents of everyone in the family. Most of all, a backyard wedding is eco-friendly.
Plan the Party
At the wedding ceremony’s end, your guests won’t have to get in their cars and drive to another location. That’s because the wedding reception is in the same place as the ceremony: your yard. Since the setting is outdoors, the wedding reception can be casual, with a picnic and a boom box. You might also rent a party tent and have a formal dinner with a band.
Ask the couple for their preferred theme to begin planning your outdoor reception. Do they want something folksy, or do they want an elegant theme? Find out if there are colors that they want to include. It’s also time to think about what type of music they’ll want because wedding bands and entertainers are often booked far in advance.
You can find many easy backyard wedding ideas online, but your creativity may be the best inspiration. If your reception will occur in the evening, find appropriate lighting for the theme. For example, you could hang white Christmas lights from an overhang or around a trellis. You can also find lights that match the color theme of the wedding.
Select the Setting
During your wedding reception, the guests will need tables and chairs, and you’ll also need tables to display the food and the cake. Only a few people will have enough long tables and chairs to adequately handle a wedding reception. Many people planning backyard weddings will find it easiest to contact a company that rents wedding furniture. Most furniture rental companies will deliver the furniture on the wedding day and then pick it up after the celebration.
When you rent the furniture, you can use the guest list as a guide for how many tables and chairs you’ll need. The guests can pull up a chair and socialize by including a few extra chairs in the reception area. Some wedding furniture rental services may have several different types of furniture available to rent. Remember to rent a table for guests to stack wedding gifts and chairs for the entertainer.
Some furniture rental companies may be able to provide other items, like microphones or rolling carts, to assist your servers. Be sure to reserve enough decorating materials to adorn the chairs and place tablecloths on the tables. The rental company may have party items like paper bells or hearts to use as part of the decorations. On the wedding day, you’ll be glad you used easy backyard wedding ideas like furniture rental.
Repel the Rodents
No matter how many guests the bridal couple invites to your wedding, it’s doubtful they’ll want rodents that may have invaded the backyard. It’s a good idea to look at the wedding site now for signs of rats. You may see rat droppings or smell the distinctive odor of rat urine. You might also spot burrows in the garden indicating rats have stolen some growing plants.
Rats and other rodents are unsightly, and their droppings can cause infections. It’s essential to know rodent control solutions that are also humane. Rats dislike the scent of peppermint and eucalyptus, so spraying that scent in the yard will keep them away. Another natural rat repellent is cayenne pepper, which is easily shaken into the yard.
To keep rats away, the owner of the yard should practice good lawn maintenance. If there are no sources of rat food and the lawn is trimmed, the rodents won’t be attracted. But if you see rats, you don’t have to exterminate them. You can use humane rat traps to catch and release them instead.
Take Care of the Trees
Having the wedding outdoors will allow the bridal couple and their guests a beautiful view as a backdrop for the event. Part of that backdrop will include the trees of the yard. Therefore, you’ll want the trees in the yard to be healthy and well-maintained. If the yard being used isn’t yours, talk to the bridal couple about establishing a contract with an arborist.
You may wonder about the difference between an arborist and a tree service. While a tree service does routine tree trimming and cuts down dead trees, an arborist has a different perspective. An arborist has the knowledge and experience to evaluate the trees’ health and decide which trees need to be trimmed. When arborists cut down a tree, they will dispose of it in an eco-friendly way.
The arborist can trim and maintain the trees in the yard used for the wedding. Using healthy trees as part of the wedding pictures may inspire several easy backyard wedding ideas. For example, you could hang a swing in the tree to take photos of the bridal couple and the guests. You can also use the trees to hang lights, banners, or Chinese lanterns.
Build a Barn
Your bridal couple may want to take the opportunity of the wedding to erect a new building for the backyard. Not only can the new structure be an excellent venue for the backyard wedding, but it can also be turned into a conventional barn or shed after the wedding. Building a barn may seem formidable. You might consider a pole barn if you want a sturdy building that takes less time to build.
Pole barns get their name because they’re built by placing wooden poles directly in the ground. Pole barns don’t have a foundation, but they’re safe and strong. The wood used in pole barns is laminated to weatherproof them and provide a polished appearance. The lack of foundation and interior load-bearing walls means more space for dancing or gathering at the reception.
After constructing the pole barn, it can be used for several easy backyard wedding ideas. If you search online for ‘pole barns for sale,’ you will likely find DIY sets ready to purchase. The kits will include the wood, the hardware, and instructions for building the barn. You can paint them or apply wood stain for an attractive finish.
Gather Some Greens
Holding the wedding in an outdoor setting can be enhanced by adding some plants to the yard. Check the yard for any plants already present to see if they’ll fit into the wedding theme. For example, one of the most iconic wedding décor ideas is to line both sides of the aisle with potted plants. If there are enough plants in your yard, you can place them in matching pots for the wedding day.
Plants are also suitable for use as centerpieces at the wedding reception. Many easy backyard wedding ideas will feature plants. You can make a ‘sweetheart table’ to hold the guest book by covering the table with moss and leaves. Flank the table with two tall ferns. Place a placard with the couple’s names and the guest book on the table.
Plants traditionally used at backyard weddings include ferns, eucalyptus leaf runners, olive leaves, and potted succulents. Some couples use potted plants as escort cards to direct guests to their seats. Another idea is to make leaf chains to provide tablecloth runners for each table. If your yard doesn’t have enough plants, consider a visit to a local plant nursery to buy plants to be used for the wedding.
Showing Off a New Surface
When a wedding is held in the backyard, the lawn can be considered the ‘carpet’ of the outdoor wedding chapel. Although there are many months until the wedding, there are things you can do now so your lawn will look great during the summer. You can apply fertilizer to the lawn even when it’s not growing. Be careful not to use more than the directed amount, since too much fertilizer can burn your plants.
If your lawn is large, now is the time to use an aerator on the lawn. This process will create space for the lawn seeds that you’ll plant. You can fertilize the lawn now if you use ‘cold water seeds,’ such as fescue. Rake the space where the lawn will be to break up the ground. Water the area where the lawn will grow and keep the soil moist.
Preparing for a lawn that will be a lush green carpet is a good investment for your time. A beautiful lawn could be the background for many easy backyard wedding ideas that will make this wedding unique. The lawn will be the first step in the backyard’s landscaping plan.
Find the Right Flowers
An outdoor wedding is ideal for showing off any flowers in your garden. Many of the easy backyard wedding ideas use flowers as part of the decorations. Most flowers that will bloom in the summer need to be planted during the spring. The most common summer wedding flowers are roses, peonies, lavender, and orchids.
Some of these flowers have meanings, and couples may want to know what those are. Roses are one of the most common wedding flowers because they symbolize romance. You’ll wish the couple happiness and good fortune by including peonies. While lavender evokes a wish for good luck, orchids typically stand for fertility.
Fresh flowers will make memorable wedding bouquets and boutonnieres for the wedding party. Flowers can also be placed on the tables to be used as centerpieces. Including flowers in your backyard wedding will provide a colorful touch to the festivities. If you’re working with a landscaping company for the overall backyard design, let them know about your plans for the flowers.
Paint a Natural Picture
The extent of landscaping that will need to be done for your backyard wedding depends on the size of your yard. It also depends on whether you are using a structure (such as a tent or a pole barn) as part of the reception. If you have been maintaining your lawn and garden, there may be little that local landscape designers need to do. However, there are still ways an experienced landscaper can help you make the outdoor wedding venue memorable.
The day before the wedding, the lawn should be raked and mowed, and the garden should be tended. This will ensure the scene is as orderly as possible for the ceremony and reception. Experts recommend you set up rented chairs and tables; it’s a good idea to set those up on the day before the wedding. Garden flowers can be plucked on the wedding day to remain fresh.
There are still plenty of easy backyard wedding ideas that can be accomplished. For example, a landscaper could use leaves and branches to wrap around the trellis or pagoda you may be using for the ceremony. If you’re not using a tent or structure for the reception, you’ll want a landscape company to clear a space to use as an outdoor dance floor. All the ideas you’ve been thinking of during the last few months can be coordinated by an experienced landscape designer.
Decorate the Driveway
A backyard wedding needs an aisle for the wedding party to walk on. You should also add some paths to the reception area for a large yard. Be sure you have restroom facilities and paths available at the event. For these paths, you can choose asphalt, concrete, or stones to decorate the way around the yard. The person who owns the yard should have a choice as to which materials are used.
Backyard hardscaping refers to non-living components of the backyard. It might refer to a deck, a pagoda, a path, a patio, a pool, a stone fence, or a rock wall. If you already have any of these in your yard, you can incorporate them into your easy backyard wedding ideas. If not, and you believe they’re needed, contact the appropriate contractor to place them in your yard.
An outdoor wedding allows many creative projects like the ones named above to blend into one seamless romantic setting. Planning a backyard wedding is a lot of work, but it will be worth it. Have someone take plenty of pictures because you’ll want to remember this one-of-a-kind experience.
