What to Remember When Planning an Outdoor Wedding

If you’ve thought about all of the pros and cons of hosting an outdoor wedding and still want to move ahead with the planning – good for you! You’ll be glad that you made the decision to have the wedding you’ve always wanted in the fresh, open air. 

As you probably know, getting married outdoors requires special considerations and more attention to certain details. For instance, you’ll have to let your guests know that the entire wedding will take place over grass (or sand), so they can dress accordingly, shoe-wise.

The wedding cake, which is typically displayed throughout the wedding reception, might be best decorated with fondant, rather than icing, which can melt or run in severe heat.

Here are other practical tips to keep in mind as you progress with the wedding plans:

• Do retain a photographer and videographer with plenty of experience shooting outdoors. 

• Keep your wedding day hair simple. A complicated hairstyle can be wrecked in seconds by a gust of wind. Also, weather-proof your makeup by hiring an experienced professional. An outdoor wedding requires a natural color palette.

• Make the natural surroundings your color scheme and wedding theme. Use lots of seashells as decorative accessories for a beach wedding, for instance, or sunflowers at a springtime garden wedding.  

• The outdoors goes hand-in-hand with informality, so your attire, and that of the bridal party, should be light and breezy. If the day will entail walking on grass or sand, wear flats (or go barefoot!). 

• Make a list of every essential rental you will need: a tent, fans (or heaters), lighting, chairs, tables, linen, china, stemware, perhaps Porta-Potties.

• If the temperature is unusually warm on your wedding day, keep the ceremony brief. Have plenty of cold water or lemonade on hand for guests and offer them paper fans or parasols for oppressively hot summer ceremonies.

• Take seasonal bugs into account – place plenty of citronella candles throughout the ceremony and reception sites. 

• Decorate with festive flowers that won’t wilt under the hot sun. Roses, orchids and tiger lilies are good choices, but an experienced florist will be able to make recommendations on which varieties will last the longest under extreme conditions.