As this guest post explains, if you and your partner love to be outdoors and want to retain a sense of sentimentality on your big day, then you should consider hosting your wedding in your own backyard.
Be warned, planning such an event isn’t going to be easy. There are a variety of important factors that you must consider if you’re to host a wedding that is fun, memorable and, above all else, safe and legal.
To find out more about hosting your wedding in your own backyard, be sure to read on.
Designate your areas carefully
Regardless of whether your garden is sprawling and spacious or not, you need to plan and designate your areas carefully. Doing so will ensure that your guests remain comfortable while they watch you get married, and it will give you greater control over the areas of your backyard that you make accessible to your guests.
A good piece of advice is to keep your ceremony area separate from your reception area. Designating two different spaces in this instance will help everybody to differentiate between the two parts of your big day.
Make sure your lawn looks fresh
You’re going to struggle to host an elegant event in your backyard if your grass looks like it has seen better days. It is vital, then, that you tend to your grass months in advance of your planned wedding date to ensure that it looks fresh when the big day finally rolls around. You should first choose grass seed that is suited to your region but then to improve your lawn, you should:
- Aerate the grass by punching 3-inch holes in it
- Water deeply and less often
- Use natural fertilizers
- Cut it to the recommended cutting height
- Compost your garden waste
Tend to the logistics of the event
The logistics of a backyard wedding aren’t going to organize themselves. They may be tedious and boring, but you have to tend to them if you’re to host an event that people enjoy.
Here are just some of the essential logistics that you must tend to right away:
Power
If you want to make extra lighting available, provide a sound system, and set up equipment that helps you to prep and store food outdoors, you’re going to need to work out where all of this additional is going to be sourced from.
Restrooms
Unless you want hordes of people queuing up outside your solitary restroom, you must consider investing in additional toilet facilities.
Insurance
You are inviting people onto your property, which means that you are going to be held liable should an accident take place and an injury occur. If you don’t want your big day to be ruined by the prospect of having guest negligence charges pressed against you, you should take out supplemental homeowner insurance.
Legal requirements
Before you go ahead and book your food and entertainment vendors, you should actually check to see if you are legally allowed to host a commercial event at your residential address.
Regardless of your motivation for hosting your wedding in your own backyard, when you decide to organize such an event, be sure to remember all of the advice and information laid out above.