My 2024 DIY Backyard Wedding Inspired a Backyard Refresh

Next summer, our yard will be ready for its next big event: a first birthday party with family and friends.

When my future husband and I bought our house together in August 2020, I wore a white eyelet lace sundress that cost me $15 at Old Navy until closing, so I could tell Larry , after crossing our new shopping threshold together: “I won’t wear this dress again until we get married in our backyard.”

In June 2024, after the pandemic subsided and Larry transformed our garden into a vegetable and flower garden, we celebrated our wedding.

All it took was to transform our garden into a space suitable for a ceremony. Our friends brought their outdoor tables and chairs; we filled vases with flowers purchased at Target. I purchased a few more folding chairs, which have since been used at other parties, as well as a set of linen tablecloths and pastel floral table runners that can be reused for next year’s neighborhood festivities .

Larry and I exchanged vows in front of an arbor he had built to keep our tomatoes off the ground. Then we had a potluck dinner and a short surprise performance from our local chamber choir. In total, throwing a backyard wedding for 60 people cost us about $1,500, and half of that went to hiring the photographer, who took so many great photos of our friends and family. family that we can give each of them a portrait of themselves worthy of being framed. for Christmas.

Once the wedding was over, Larry turned his attention to the next phase of his garden project. He’s been planning to build a custom deck in the south corner of our yard for at least two years, starting with a series of concrete molds and ending with 3D printed veneer. He built his first mold in September; the first series of concrete was poured at the end of November.

Our goal is to create a space that alludes to the lake where Larry and I spend many of our summer weekends. The layout of the patio, for example, is curved and wavy (instead of the typical rectangle or trapezoid which might have been easier to design and flow). The retaining wall is also curved and will likely be covered in a veneer that resembles the geological striations that line the lake. We hope to be able to incorporate a water and fish mosaic into our patio pavers, although we will have to learn how to make it ourselves.

Fortunately, this is all a learning process, including aspects we expected, such as the iteration involved in designing functional molds, as well as aspects we didn’t expect. We learned, for example, that people who pour concrete are extremely busy during the last quarter of the year, as everyone rushes to finish their driveways and outdoor projects before the frost sets in. . It took almost four weeks, from the date we requested the concrete to the date we got it – and Larry kept an eye on the weather the whole time.

However, the project is still on track. Over the past year, Larry has worked with friends and contractors to dig the ground where the patio will stand, to build and level the molds for a retaining wall, and to pour the wall before winter. Next year, he will build and pour the patio, print and install the veneers, and plant the flowers and ground cover plants. My role in all of this is extremely simple; I provide moral support, ask intelligent questions, and keep the rest of the house running while he does the outside work.

We hope to have everything finished by our first anniversary, so we can have another gathering and another chance to share something we love with our family and friends.

Top photo by Lisa Wigoda

Related reading:

How I had a farm wedding at home

I used AI to reimagine my front yard