Insanely Cool, Laid-Back Wedding Ideas You Should Steal for Your Next Party

When some bride out there in the wedding world puts together a small army of crazy talented vendors to create a picnic wedding or a BBQ wedding, there are bound to be some stellar ideas that come out of it. And you can absolutely steal–er, borrow–some of those ideas to really impress at your next get-together.

Above from photographer Michaela Rae: What’s cooler than a cooler for serving drinks? A DIY beer bar made from wood and painted cinderblocks.

Home bartending made easy from a bash on Rock My Wedding: Make one or two big batches of cocktails and serve them in a drink dispenser.

An idea from the Crate & Barrel blog: Use big lidded jars to serve salads and sides. It looks great and keeps the bugs out.

The most elegant cocktail hour snack ever from a Style Me Pretty wedding: Set out big batches of flavored popcorn during an afternoon event or to tide guests over ’til dinner.

A compact saucing station from a wedding on The Knot: Hanging planters fastened to a big piece of plywood makes for a tidy and tiny spot to let guests dress their dinners.

Grab-and-go utensils from Think Garnish: Wrap up everything guests might need in a neat little kraft paper bag pocket, including salt and pepper packets stapled to the side.

Instant picnic tables from an event on Mod Wedding: Use wood pallets as makeshift tables for any backyard event. Just provide plenty of rugs, throws and pillows.

Oversized party games from a wedding shot by Pinkerton Photo: Yard games at a backyard party? Not exactly revolutionary. But we did learn one tip from this wedding… The bigger the game, the bigger the fun.

Re-edited from a post originally published 3.13.16-NT