Planning a Backyard Wedding – Part 2
The head table can include some flowers and candles and simple Mr & Mrs wooden signs
When you think about planning a backyard wedding, what first comes to mind? Hopefully you will think about all of the potential decorations you can use and how beautiful it will all look.
In my last post, I talked a lot about making the decision about whether a backyard wedding is feasible for you and the information you need to gather when making the decision.
In this post, I want to give you some options and ideas for some of the decorations you can use and the areas you can create.
As I mentioned in Part 1 of Planning a Backyard Wedding, we hosted my son’s wedding on our property, and we were all so happy with how beautifully it all turned out and how personal it was because we had it at home.
AREAS/STATIONS AROUND RECEPTION
When you plan your wedding, it may be helpful to plan out little areas or “stations” that your guests can enjoy. This day is for you and your soon-to-be spouse, but remember that some of your guests have traveled to come to your wedding, most of the guests have probably spent money on a wedding gift for you, they have all given up a day to spend celebrating this wonderful occasion. Because of all of these things, try to be thoughtful of your guests when planning things out.
KIDS’ CORNER
One area that you can create is the “Kid’s Corner”. This was a huge hit at the wedding we had, because it gave the children a place to hang out and the parents knew their kids were just safely playing together with some fun activities. We had a bunch of little packs of crayons, several coloring books that were for different age groups, and books that had things like word searches and stickers. We also had a few simple, inexpensive toys to play with. You can pick up many of these things at Dollar Tree.
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MEMORIAL TABLE
Another area you might consider is a memorial table. Sometimes you have a close friend or grandparent who passed away, and you might choose to have a table where you have a picture of them, some flowers and maybe a LED candle. There are also some pretty signs you can include to say something about the table.
LAWN GAMES
If you have room, it’s fun to put out some lawn games. That’s always a great way to get your guests to mingle, and it’s a fun thing to have available if guests are waiting for you to finish having your pictures done. I will link some lawn game examples below.
PHOTO BOOTH
One of my favorite things to have at a big event or party is a photo booth. It’s a great way to make sure you get some pictures taken with people you don’t get to see often or even with people you do! I surprised my son and daughter-in-law with a fun photo booth at their wedding. Unfortunately, I got so busy trying to get to all of our guests to say hello and thank them for coming, that I completely forgot to get to the photo booth. They were getting ready to pack it up when the owner came to find me so that I’d at least get a picture in before they left. The important thing was that the bride and groom got an album full of fun photo strips of their friends and family.
Photo booths can help create amazing souvenirs for the guests and the bride and groom
As an alternative to a photo booth, you can create your own photo backdrop. They have some that are premade, or you can choose to create your own. At my son’s engagement party, the bride’s dad, stepmom, and sisters made a beautiful arbor with flowy fabric, twinkle lights and paper flowers, and they even provided some props for the guests to use in the photos. You can check out Pinterest and look up “photo backdrop DIY” for lots of really cute ideas.
HOT WEATHER – WATER/COLD WEATHER – BLANKETS
The wedding at our house was in June, and the weather was quite warm. We had small bottles of cold water for each guest as they arrived. It’s a nice thing to do for your guests so they aren’t uncomfortable during the ceremony. And on the flip side of that, we had a stack of inexpensive blankets available for guests to grab during the reception as the evening went on and the air cooled off.
24 Polar Fleece Throw Blankets
GUEST BOOK OPTIONS
Some weddings have a guest book for people to sign as they arrive at a wedding. There are lots of alternatives to books if you’d like something that you can use as a decoration in your home after the wedding. My son and daughter-in-law had a beautiful barrel lid that a friend had made for them with their last name on it. When guests arrived, they could take an available Sharpie or paint pen to sign their names and write a small message, if they chose to. Another idea is to have a picture frame with a wide mat board around the edges for guests to sign.
Whiskey Barrel Lid Personalized Wedding Guest Book
TISSUES FOR TEARS
We had a cute basket with small packs of tissues that were labeled “Dry Your Happy Tears”. I’ll admit that this one was my idea because I’ve been known to shed a tear or two at a wedding, and since this was my first child getting married, I figured there would be waterworks. Something surprising to me was that I didn’t shed a tear during the wedding ceremony. I don’t think that I got emotional until the mother-son dance. I knew that was gonna get me!
“Dry Your Happy Tears”
“Dry Those Happy Tears” Tissue Packs
FAVORS
It’s customary for the bride and groom to provide “favors” for their guests as a souvenir and also to thank them for coming to the wedding. There are, literally, hundreds of different options for favors. Some you can make and some you can buy from the internet with your names and wedding date printed on them. My daughter-in-law chose some really cute wildflower seed cards that had their names and date on them. We had an old wheelbarrow filled with potting soil and the seed cards were poking up out of the dirt, and it looked so cute.
little hearts containing wildflower seeds were given as favors
Seed Packets (the ones above are no longer available, however I have linked similar seeds)
SIGNS
It’s fun to have signs around to label the different tables and areas around the ceremony and reception. These can be made with chalk boards and chalk or chalk pens, framed mirrors with chalk pens, wood with vinyl words made with a Cricut machine and so many other options. You can find very cute, inexpensive signs premade for you or even custom-made for you on Etsy.
I hope some of the photos and/or ideas that I’ve included in this post will help get you inspired to make a beautiful backyard wedding of your own. These ideas can also be used at many outdoor venues, as well.
You can use something as simple as a watering can and some flowers to decorate around tables
Thank you so much for stopping by my website and reading my words. I hope you are motivated to celebrate something in your own life this week!
Xoxo Teresa
