A Beach Wedding in Your Backyard

With summer and summer weddings in full swing, I’ve been trying to plan my life more around ‘save the dates’ then around my everyday work. I’ve been to some really great and some really weird summer weddings but there’s one that really stands out and I’m sharing the idea here for anyone crazy about the beach.

My friend (who got married last year) had always dreamed of a beach wedding and had everything set for a Florida beach ceremony when her flight was cancelled because there was a hurricane warning. Needless to say it was extremely last minute and she couldn’t so much as find a caterer in the time she had left. Her family really pulled through to give her, her dream wedding… in the backyard!

They pulled about a million strings (with time being so short) and managed to find construction sand, lots of it and had the entire backyard covered in it (after placing a tarpaulin under it). It was pretty convincing. What they needed next was the sea and that actually proved more difficult than the sand. They fiddled with using a large kids pool but it wasn’t convincing and the sand kept spilling into it. Instead they got some old foam (one with lots of holes and stuff) and painted a nice sea rock color and set up a waterfall with the help of an extremely handy local plumber, they added the painted foam rocks for effect. The aisles were outlined with wine bottles and instead of chairs; they used huge cushions, picnic umbrellas and beach towels to seat the guests.

The whole thing was encircled with candles that were sunk in the sand and the archway where the couple was to marry was made out of more foamy props to look like moss covered stone. It was then covered with different shape and sized shells and pieces of glass that had been rounded off.

The end result was a very happy bride and a beautiful wedding! They managed to find a caterer after all but had to bake the cake themselves.

Taking Your Paint Palette Outside - How To Decorate The Backyard

Decorating inside may seem easy if you consider the daunting task of decorating an outdoor area. Inside, where you have a four or three walled room, you hang pictures and decorative lights and you don’t have to worry about the rain or snow ruining the shine on your new table top or the color running in your new cushions.

Whenever you plan a party you know where you’re going to hang the streamers and where the guests can set their drinks down (you’ve placed coasters accordingly) and when it’s time to eat everyone can sit where they see their place card on the table. All of this goes out the door once its summer and most if not all parties are likely to be held outdoor where decorating ideas on a budget run somewhat thin.

Here are a few things just to help you start out slow and steady so that by the time summer is full on and school is out, you can start the partying.

Lawn chairs
You may already have a lawn chair, you may have two of them but it would be nice if you had an entire outdoor sitting arrangement much like your living room in your backyard and lawn chairs are best for it. Here’s something that might surprise you; buy/ make cushions to match your lawn chairs. You can put cushions outside as easily as you can put them in. Make/ buy an outdoor storage baskets or cabinet to put them in when the weather is likely to get rough. If you have some old wicker baskets lying around, bring them outside and use them for storing the cushions.




Lighting
People have had the sense to create lighting for every room in your house and they’ve also had the sense to create outdoor lighting. If you try shopping online, you’ll find that there are all kinds of unique lightings available, ones that are decorative and that can stand any kind of weather. You’ve probably heard of tiki torches, well there just in a huge variety of outdoor lighting options available like Chinese lanterns. If you plan on having a party, it may be a good time to bring out all those scented candles (don’t forget to place them safely) to create a nice ambiance.

Outdoor accessories
Give your back yard a cozy look by adding ‘backyard accessories’ like a hammock, a nice table; one that can stand rain and excessive exposure to the sun and is preferably a darker color and don’t forget to mow the lawn! You can use place mats made of bamboo (instead of the regular doilies you use inside) and give you flower beds a unique look by planting different flowers in uniquely shaped bottles.