I renovated my backyard for my son's wedding. The $40,000 investment paid off when we sold the house years later.

I renovated my backyard for my son's wedding. The $40,000 investment paid off when we sold the house years later.
  • I spent 11 months fixing up our house so my son could get married in our backyard.

  • We ended up spending about $40,000 to renovate the kitchen and backyard.

  • We decided to sell the house a couple years later and had an offer within a week.

When I walked in the door after work one day, I got a Facebook notification on my personal phone. My son's girlfriend just updated her relationship status to "engaged." It took a moment to sink in.

That's when the wedding planning began. Venues were too expensive for my son and his fiancé, and because I owned a large home, it became their venue.

Planning a wedding can be expensive

My wife and I met Mikayla just a few months before the engagement when she came over for dinner. I learned on their wedding day that she and my son had actually been dating on and off since high school. We liked her from the beginning and grew to love her as though she was our own daughter.

Following the announcement, she and my son began planning their wedding and searching for a venue. But after a few weeks, reality and despair set in. A venue in Southern California would cost between $30,000 and $50,000, money that a young couple in college didn't have.

At the time, I owned a large home on three-quarters of an acre of land in Yorba Linda. I don't remember if I volunteered or was "voluntold," but my backyard became their wedding venue.

Backyard being remodelded.
The author decided to host his son's wedding in his backyard to save money.Courtesy of the author

Though I'd maintained the property over 20 years of living there, the kids had ideas for improvements to the yard for their wedding.

We redid our backyard

As I pulled up in front of my house one day after work, I couldn't park in my driveway because my camping trailer and a roll-off dumpster were now in my parking spot. As I walked up to the house, a Bobcat tractor emerged from my backyard, my son at the controls, the bucket filled with brush from my back hill.

The overgrown sagebrush was replaced with drought-tolerant plants, including cactus, lavender, salvia, agave, and Italian cypress trees. The playground was transformed into a butterfly garden, and the basketball court was now a dance floor. An arch formed from sage branches served as the focal point.

To save money, we got truckloads of plants for free from Craigslist. We had to dig them out ourselves, but it was worth the tens of thousands of dollars we saved just on landscaping.

Over the next 11 months, the four of us worked tirelessly to create the perfect wedding venue. Whenever I wasn't at work or the kids weren't in class, we were working on the yard and the house. It was exhausting, but it was a labor of love. We got to know our future daughter-in-law and bonded as a family. And the venue was beautiful.

Backyard under construction.
The author redid his whole backyard for his son's wedding.Courtesy of the author

We saved money on catering because my daughter-in-law's uncle ran a catering company and provided all the food. The only downside was having a trailer-mounted smoking oven in my yard and having to smell the meat cooking for three days.

The rehearsal dinner was on the dance floor the night before the wedding. The next day, we were ready for 150 friends and family. It was everything that the kids wanted. Everyone had a great time, and we got nothing but compliments on how great the house and yard looked. All the months of hard work paid off.

Composite of the grassy backyard next to the couple getting married in the backyard under the arch.
The author's backyard before and during his son's wedding.Courtesy of the author

A few months later, my son was commissioned as an Army officer, and the kids were off to Georgia.

The house sold immediately because of the improvements we made

Within a few years, my son came off active duty and settled in Washington state. Our granddaughter was born shortly after, so my wife and I decided to move closer to him and his wife.

The listing agent said everyone who came to see the house walked straight to the backyard and stared in wonder. The house was beautiful, but the backyard is what sold it. We had an offer within a week of the listing and were under contract a few days later.

Backyard.
The finished backyard after the wedding.Courtesy of the author

Since I was in construction at the time, I know this job would've cost over $200,000 for labor alone had I hired professionals for all of it. I spent $9,000 on painting inside and outside and another $17,000 on a long-overdue upgrade to the kitchen and downstairs bath. I also paid for pallets of retaining wall stones, new grass, and outdoor lighting, among other things.

I spent about $40,000 in total. But instead of paying for a one-time event, I invested in my home, which paid off when I sold it.

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