Small Backyard Wedding Ideas on a Budget

Shannon Quinn - January 30, 2021
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Small Backyard Wedding Ideas on a Budget
Photo: Credit: Shutterstock
The “Mr. and Mrs.” corn hole is a great way to bring a classic game to a backyard wedding. Credit: Shutterstock

3. Lawn Games

Backyard weddings are a great opportunity to have some fun lawn games to keep your guests entertained. If you are holding the wedding at your childhood home, this will likely have plenty of happy memories of playing in the backyard. This is especially important to have games if there are kids at your wedding. It’s important to keep them occupied, since kids usually get bored at weddings if they aren’t given enough to do.

These kids are playing with a giant Jenga game at this backyard wedding. Credit: Shutterstock

Some of the most popular outdoor yard games are corn hole, croquet, badminton, and horseshoes. These are all great options, and it’s easy to purchase any of these kits for around $50. Some of you might already have these games in your garage. Since we are worried about social distancing, it’s best to skip games like Twister, or anything else that would require people to be in close proximity. Try to stick to carnival style games where guests can throw from a distance, or approach the game one at a time.

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This wedding had a full-on pig roast in their backyard. Credit: Brackish Photography

2. Have a Backyard Barbecue 

If you’re going for a very casual backyard wedding, you might want to consider having a barbecue. This is a very fun and easy way to cook food for a lot of people at once. You can even turn this into a potluck style dinner where multiple members of the family bring dishes for everyone to share. This can eliminate the need for you to hire a caterer. If fact, there’s probably a father or uncle in the family who would gladly take charge of arranging to cook the meat.

The backyard barbecue menu. Credit: Normandy Catering

Another great thing about a backyard barbecue style wedding is that you can get away with using disposable plates and cutlery. No one will think twice if you do this over a traditional table setting. This might not be the most elegant wedding in the world, but it is fun, memorable, and easy to keep on a small budget. Remember to rent a tent to help keep your guests shaded in the spring and summer, and to protect anyone in case it rains. Check out the Dollar Tree website for their barbecue products, and you can really stick to a small budget.

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These spinning sparklers are a magical way to bring joy to your backyard wedding. Credit: Shutterstock

1. Fireworks

Being in love is often described as “sparks flying” or “seeing fireworks”. So it only makes sense to bring that sparkle to your special night. Having fireworks at your wedding can be a really beautiful way to wrap up the end of the ceremony. In most places, you can really only get away with using something small, like sparklers.  Fireworks typically need to be done on a very large property like a farm. These need to be set off at a safe distance away from houses and trees. You might also need permits in your local area to do this, and notify neighbors and law enforcement.

If you have a large property, you could set off fireworks. Credit: Shutterstock

Always make sure to follow local regulations. The last thing you want is for the police to show up to your wedding. Even if you spent a lot of money buying fireworks, skip them all together If the weather has been hot and dry leading up to the ceremony. The last thing you would ever want is to accidentally start a fire. In fact, one of the California wild fires was started because of a gender reveal party. Please don’t put your idea of a “perfect wedding” above the safety of others. Be safe, and have fun! 

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