The BACKYARD Weddings

A guide to space-savvy and pocket friendly weddings.

- Prerna Gulrajani

Arranged or love marriage, Indian weddings are never small affairs. You are expected to invite all the distant cousins, their families, in-laws, anyone you know remotely, and many you don't. That makes your guest list serpentine. If all of these people attend every function - and they will if they get an invite - your budget won't just go for a toss, it will explode! That's one reason why destination weddings are so popular. You get some control. But wait! What if I told you that you can host all of these functions and even have your Bidai (farewell) in your backyard? Well, you can with a few tweaks.

Planning Your Backyard Wedding

Yes, to a backyard wedding that is, let's survey your yard for feasibility. The first thing that I'd think of is space. You'll measure the space, of course, but you should also consider the surrounding area. A good way to think about it is the main area for the guests and the periphery for the props. You might want to rope in an adjoining garden or joggers' park for some extra space.

Grab a list of events and jot down everything you'll need, such as the mandap, tables, and the dance floor. Then earmark the space to put these props and furniture. Think of how you can strategically use every tree and bush to hang lights, speakers, swings, and more.

Remember to note down the area of each space. A 70x70 sqft space can safely accommodate about 250-300 guests. It's unlikely you'll have that many for every function, but if you do, you'll need to tweak that list. So, let's see what we can do about that.

The Guests