When my husband and I got engaged, one of the first things we discussed was how we didn’t want a big wedding. Thankfully we agreed on that right away! We tossed around some ideas; destination wedding, intimate venue, or our backyard.

In the end our backyard won out. It was absolutely perfect and a great decision for us, but there are a lot of things to consider when planning a wedding like this. You really do have to plan everything, all the vendors you want; you are responsible for finding and hiring. I’ve collected a lot of information over my planning process and want to share my findings so that you can plan your own special celebration! Whether it be in your own backyard, a park, or an intimate venue.

 

 

 

The number 1 thing to consider: Shelter.  

 

Does your location have access to shelter? If you are getting married at a park, typically there are pavilions that you can rent for next to nothing and some venues offer an inside space for you to use in poor weather. If you don’t have access to shelter, you absolutely need to rent a tent.

This takes a big cut out of the budget because these things are far from cheap, but if you are having a “typical” wedding… one where you are hiring at least a photographer and caterer (Oh my! I did it again…. Forgot about the officiant!) you unfortunately can’t postpone the day due to weather. As much as you’d like to call it, this is NOT a family bbq. I would think the only way you could postpone due to weather is if the officiant was really flexible and you didn’t hire anyone else. Anyway, this post isn’t about THAT quaint of a wedding.

A tent provides shelter from both the rain and sun and because you have to make it work on that day, it unfortunately is something that you can’t go without.

When figuring out what tent size you need to rent, I found the rental websites to be quite accurate. Each tent description lists the number of people that can be seated under the tent. If you would like a way to calculate this, I confirmed my tent size with this website: http://americanpartyrentals.com/resources/tent-size-calculator/

Now, where the rental websites go wrong is with the table sizes to guests. See, the thing with these tables is; they have 4 legs and bars. People usually enjoy having a little space, so they can move and breath, and these legs and bars obstruct certain positions around the table.

We rented a combination of 6ft and 5ft round tables. Apparently a 6ft table should seat 10-12 people and the 5ft one is closer to 8-10. I planned the seating chart around 10 to a 6ft table and 8 to a 5ft. Thankfully we set up early and had time to rent additional tables because shockingly enough….. a 6ft table could only fit 8 people! That’s 4 less than the max stated amount. The 5ft table fit 6 comfortably. This really threw a wrench in the plans, and I had to do some quick damage control. Throwing in 2 additional tables last minute doesn’t just mean a re working of the seating chart, but also additional table numbers and flower arrangements. Don’t let this happen to you.

We just rented normal sized chairs, the “bistro” chair to be exact, so I can’t blame the discrepancy in numbers on my poor choice of chairs. Ultimately, I suppose if you don’t feel bad making family and friends uncomfortable in straddling the legs and bars of the table, you probably could fit 9 adults + 1 kid. But they may resent you a little.

 

ALSO one thing that I was not made aware of until it came time for booking is that the rental companies charge you a fee for a city building inspector. This only is required on tents 30’x30′ and larger and the cost of this fee varies depending on the exact city you live in. This poses a problem for a number of reasons. The first being an additional cost that you didn’t expect. But also if you have been given “permission” to use additional property, but not officially through approved paperwork.

**When deciding the location for your tent, keep in mind, it needs to be about 10′ from any building. 

We rented 2 tents. 1 was a frame tent and the second was a canopy. As far as costs go; the canopy is cheaper. Quite a bit cheaper actually, but you are responsible for picking it up, the set up and take down. When you rent a frame tent, it includes everything. That is really the only reason why we rented the frame tent; because we were also renting chairs, tables, and glasses, and this would have been very difficult to pick up ourselves. Sometimes you have to pay a little more to avoid annoyance, a lot of excess work and stress. I’d say it was well worth it.

 

 

 

 

The second most important thing: Washrooms

 

This will largely depend on your location and the number of guests you have on your list. If you have chosen a park, there should be a washroom facility nearby, and especially if you rented a pavilion. They tend to go hand in hand. It’s a non issue if you have booked at an actual venue. If you plan on a backyard shindig or something similar, you will probably need to think a little more about what to do for washrooms.

At first, I was completely for using our real bathroom in our house, but I changed my mind after I was told of a story where my friend’s aunt had a small backyard wedding too and her laminate floors were just shy of destroyed.

The problem is, even 70 people is a lot. 70 x 2 = about 140 washroom breaks throughout your wedding day. People may have good intentions of taking their shoes off, but it won’t always happen, and some people may never even bother. That’s a lot of traffic in a short period of time. You can try renting a carpet runner, or, you can rent bathrooms for outdoors. My husband advocated for the outdoor washrooms.

As with everything, there are quite a few options to confuse anyone. We were not counting on or expecting any help financially for our wedding, so we went with the best, cheapest option: Fresh flush wedding edition. These are completely white units (except for interiors which are either all grey or blue), that have a water tank and foot pump to flush the toilet and to use the sink.

These washrooms came with a mirror and light. We purchased some scented things to go inside, and we didn’t seem to have any complaints.

Some things to consider when planning the location for your washrooms;

• the ground needs to be reasonably level
• they need to be able to wheel the washroom over to the spot from their truck and it can’t be crazy far away. I think I was quoted about a 30′ max hike. But you should probably confirm this with the rental company.

 

 

 

Nighttime visibility: Lighting

 

If your celebration is going to go into the night you will want to consider ways to illuminate the area. If you are renting a tent it is super easy to “feed” string lights through the straps. You don’t even need to use zip ties! If you are renting a canopy, zip ties will make it much easier because its basically just rope and tension. Have someone hold up the string lights and someone else will zip tie them to the rope every couple feet. If your planning process coincides during christmas time, keep a look out for white string lights! I love this look, so I went with a lot of lights. You can do it how ever much you want. They do surprisingly give off a lot of light to see well. If you don’t want a lot of string lights you’ll probably need to have other forms of light to help pick up the slack.

The pathway out of our backyard was a little dark and there was nothing really close by to attach string lights too (plus I’m certain we maxed out all of our outlets) So I collected a handful of mason jars and placed a few artificial candles inside them to light the way. It didn’t produce the same amount of light but it was plenty to be able to see where to walk.

 

 

photos by Hennygraphy

 

 

All that “other” stuff: Tables, linens, chairs, glasses, cutlery etc. 

 

If you are getting married at some sort of a venue you likely won’t have to worry about most, if not all, of this. If you are getting married at a park, chances are there will be at least picnic tables available, and check with your caterer because many provide the necessary items to eat with. If you will be using your backyard, you need to consider most of the necessities.

Gauge what you need accordingly based on your location and ask what is included when you are hiring other vendors for their services. You may not need to rent your own glasses if they are being brought by someone else. Whatever you are renting though, it’s always a good idea to have a little extra than what is needed.

**I forgot about even the simple things like a signing table! If you want to make your own, I have a fun tutorial on working with chalk paint.

 

 

Without this person, it would basically be just a big, expensive party!: The officiant

 

I believe even if you get married at a “typical” venue, (The kind that takes care of basically everything) you still have to hire this vendor yourself, but it’s an important one so I felt it was still useful to include it in the list. Don’t forget to book an officiant!

 

 

What to eat?: The caterer

 

It’s pretty awesome when you get the opportunity to book your own caterer. This allows you to find food you like and not be forced to pay $50+ a plate! Win win. The issue is; most venues have a caterer they make you use. It does make life easier but this is how people can easily spend $20k on their wedding. If you want to keep the budget down, try locating venues that allow outside caterers. They tend to be the more rustic ones, but it doesn’t hurt to ask anyone that you are interested in.

We went with an amazing caterer, and the price per plate was about $25 give or take.

Check with them if they also provide drinks.

 

 

And to drink?: The drinks

 

If you are getting married in a park you can’t have any alcohol, but if you’re at a venue that allows an outside caterer, chances are, they will also let you provide your own alcohol. If you’re having your wedding in your own backyard you just can’t sell alcohol without a permit.

For the alcohol; check with the venue if they have servers or if you need to hire them. Some venues charge a fee to serve someone else’s alcohol, but this will probably still be cheaper. You may also want to do this for your wedding even if you are getting married at your own house especially if you want it to feel a little more fancier.

For the non-alcoholic; check with the venue or the caterer if they have water, pop and coffee either included with their prices or ask if you can add them in. If not, you can easily supply your own!

Being indoors makes it very easy to keep these drinks cold, if you are celebrating outdoors unfortunately there’s no easy way. We had about 4 coolers packed with beers, pop and loads of ice. We also picked up a water dispenser off of kijiji to hook up outside. I think depending on the time of year this would work out beautifully. The day we got married was SO HOT. The water never really got cold enough because people were filling their glasses constantly, but it did work. We also had a beer fridge hooked up outside that had our rose wine in it. If you can get a hold of one of those I highly recommend that, along with a collection of coolers. Also keep in mind that replenishing the ice will need to be taken care of, add this job to your list of tasks to be delegated.

 

 

Let them eat cake!: The desserts and wedding cake

 

There’s a good chance your caterer will be able to provide at least the regular desserts but you may need to find another company to make the wedding cake if that’s the direction you choose.

Depending on the number of guests and how much you like to bake you can always do this part yourself as well. Many desserts freeze remarkably well. Trust me, I did it! My husband and I opted for no wedding cake and just a ton of other desserts.

**Because we made our own desserts the caterer didn’t provide coffee, coffee cups, plates and cutlery (for the desserts). This alone could turn you off, but I’m crazy. If you are crazy like me, just rent a coffee urn from the same company you’re renting your other stuff from, and use paper plates and plastic cutlery. For the coffee cups; I have a friend who owns a dessert coffee shop and she has a membership at a store that sells packaging. I was able to get completely white cups, with white lids there, but I’ve seen patterned ones at your normal grocery store and dollarstore. If you want completely white ones, try reaching out to small local businesses who use all white, paper coffee cups and see if they would sell some to you.

 

 

Photos by Hennygraphy

 

 

But where will everyone park?!: The parking issue

 

If you will be getting married in your backyard this really could be annoying to work around. Hopefully you are located somewhere that allows street parking, but don’t be THAT person. You know, the person that takes over both sides of the street parking. Just stick to one side. It’ll make things easier if you have indicators for your guests so they know where they should park. And it would be the proper thing to do to give your neighbours a heads up. For your immediate neighbours you should let them know your plans basically right when you decide to have a backyard wedding. They may decide to plan a weekend away or at the very least they’ll have lots of time to be prepared for all the things that come with being next to a big party. Although if you and your neighbours get a long they may be right there partying with you anyway so it may not matter to them!

 

 

And of course, we have: Insurance & licenses 

 

This will probably be something you are either 100% for or you think is completely unnecessary. But either way; it’s definitely something that needs to be mentioned. You are the host and are responsible for your guests. Chances are, if you are having a smaller wedding with just close family and friends, you should be fine. But if anyone of your family or friends are particularly rowdy when drinking too much, it would probably be a good idea to cover yourselves. It may not be that your guest sues you, but that someone else goes after your guest. And because you are responsible for them, it’s on you. Check your home insurance policy and see if it will already cover the needs of your wedding day. But you may want to increase it, or add special event liability for additional coverage.

I believe venue’s include insurance in their rental price, but you’ll want to confirm that with your place of interest.

Other than that silly “building permit” licence the only other one you need to worry about is if you are selling alcohol. You’ll need a license for that.

 

 

There you have it! This covers all the important things you need to book separately and consider when planning a wedding somewhere where the venue doesn’t deal with it all for you! It’s not an easy task. But it is well worth it if you want to save some money and enjoy a little “DIY”.