After spending the most of the afternoon weeding in my gardens, I could not help but think about outdoor weddings and my love for them. As some may know when I married my husband we had an outdoor ceremony and cocktail hour. We decided to forgo the traditional church wedding because we wanted to get married where we loved, which was our home and the lake we live on. But when you decide to have your wedding and/or ceremony at outdoor, there are lots of things you need to consider that you normally would not have to. Below are some items to consider when making those decisions.
When picking your wedding date you must consider what the weather might be during that season and have a backup plan in place. If you are planning on a ceremony outside, then consider having a tent on reserve in case of rain or severe heat. Also just in case there is a major rainstorm that comes through, have even a third back up plan such as a local church. There is nothing worse than having you and your guest walking through puddles and mud.
Also think about your guests comfort during the ceremony. I always suggest that if you are having an outdoor wedding during the warmer months to have bottled water available for your guest. Also think about having parasols available to shield them from the sun. And finally think about those pesky little flying bugs. I suggest having a bug service come out and spray a few days before the ceremony. This will not eliminate the bugs completely, but will help with the problem.
If you are considering having your reception also outdoors there are many things to think about. The main one is being rental items. At a traditional reception venue, they provide you with tables, chairs, and usually basic linens. In having a reception outdoors you will need to bring in all these items along with a tent and dance floor unless you have a structure you are able to use. In addition you will need to consider weather again and decide if you need to have sides for the tent on reserve along with heaters or air condition system to help with the climate control.
And finally think about transportation and parking for your wedding. Do you have an area large enough close to both the ceremony and reception that your guest can easily walk to? What I suggest that if you have to have your guest park away from the ceremony and reception is to provide them transportation. It can be by travel bus, a trolley, or as we did, rented 12 passenger golf carts. Make sure you communicate this to your guest prior to the wedding and you have responsible drivers set up prior to the wedding.
Now there is so much more to think about if you are having your wedding at home such as we did. In the coming weeks I will blog the “to do” list I made up for this and things to consider when deciding to have it at home. Happy Planning!
Photo courtesy Angela Brooks Photography
I so loved that ceremony site, so pretty!!