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St. Augustine Backyard Reception?

cherylmunozcherylmunoz member
First Comment
in Florida-North Florida
My fi and I are planning on having our wedding ceremony at Washington Oaks State Park in Palm Coast and our reception at my parents house in St. Augustine on April 7, 2012. According to my calculations we could save quite a bit by having a backyard reception. We would rather use the money towards a new house and my PhD that I'm working on. My parents have a beautiful house with a huge side and front yard as well as a huge patio/screen room with enough room for a large tent to sit at least 70 people. The neighborhood is very friendly and small and don't have a problem with noise and such so that won't be a problem. Our theme is the ocean (Navy Blue and Silver). Lots of starfish and shells with sand and rafia.

Has anyone ever been to or hosted their own wedding in a backyard in Jacks/St.Augie or elsewhere?

Would like to know how yours went and maybe get some advice or tips.

Does anyone recommmend any affordable caterers (spanish and/or BBQ food is a plus) either as sit/down or buffett?

Thanks in advance :)
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Re: St. Augustine Backyard Reception?

  • KnittibellKnittibell
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    I've helped organize several back yard weddings. They often seem a lot cheaper, but are sometimes NOT. My advice to you is talk to a caterer/rental place, and get out a spreadsheet budget. You'll need to rent everything from the tent, tables, chairs, tableclothes/napkins, stemware, barware, cutlery...

    Then you need to look into the DJ/Band, and do they have sound equipment, or do you need to rent that, as well?


    Then you need to look into insurance for your parent's place- does their homeowners cover it if someone gets hurt, etc. Also you'll want to look into a seperate policy if you're serving alcohol. (MA is a state where, if you serve someone, they leave and get into an accident, YOU are responsible for it, for having served them- for my friends wedding we took out an extra million dollar policy for the night- it's not as expensive as it sounds, but definitely don't forget to look into it)

    Sometimes a backyard wedding CAN save a lot- but sometimes (more often than not, I've found) that all the rentals add up to costing about the same, or more, as a venue that has most of what you already need and lets you use outside catering (the Gov't House, for example).

    Good luck! :)

    For caterers I'd look at  A1A Aleworks, & The Columbia Restaurant!
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  • amandalt823amandalt823 member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    I was looking into a backbyard wedding and it was a lot more expensive and time consuming that I thought. Tents are expensive!! If you are looking to save money, I would definitely look at some venues also and do some price comparisons.

    I'm not sure how big of a wedding you're having but the Tasting Room in historic St. Aug is an amazing spanish tapas restuarant that does weddings.

    Good luck!
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