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.

Outdoor Wedding Decoration Ideas

In the moths of June and July, summer isn’t the only season in the air; there are also weddings and you may as well call it the wedding season. The next best thing to getting married in a church is getting married outdoors and while most people dream of somewhere next to a stream or in an apple orchard, they’ll have to settle for places like open fields or sometimes even their grandparents’ backyard.



Here are a few ideas for a nice outdoor summer wedding. They might not be a complete wedding plan but they’re bound to help you sort a few things out.

Wedding aisle
You can try renting trees to mark the start and end of the aisle and to frame an archway where the couple will get married. Use lights to mark the aisle (much like the landing strip for airplanes) using fun lighting options. It’ll work best for the weddings that are held after noon. Make sure you add a runner, don’t leave the aisle bare. If you’re really in the mood for colors, you can scatter flower petals down the aisle. The only problem with the idea is that it doesn’t leave much to do for the flower girls. Balloons are never really a good idea because they can pop or even charge someone’s hair. You can mark the end of each row by using either low flower stands or making small bouquets that can be pinned to the chairs and wrapping some string lights around them.

Center stage
The place where the couple exchange vows is center stage and it needs special attention. One of the best ways to combine color and elegance is to use drapes over the area either with or without arches. If the wedding is in an open field where there are few trees, you should rent some trees to mark the area. It’s best if you can get an arch though, ordinary and possibly ugly arches can be covered in fabric and flowers to look spectacular. A fun thing to do with the arch is to put lights on the inside and then cover it with fabric to give it a glowing look.

The center pieces
Center pieces may be a small part of the wedding in retrospect but a lot of thought goes into making them. One of the best things to include with the center piece is a personalized message from the bride and groom. After that you can use anything from seashells and marbles to flowers and floating candles. A fun idea would be to make edible center pieces from either fruit or chocolate.