Wedding Vows & Ceremony Discussions

need some ideas for outdoor wedding

I've read some of the posts... so please don't give me that idea...lol Our wedding will be short and sweet, but it is out doors, and I am not sure if I should do something to create an aisle or not. I figure most people will be able to just stand... our ceremony is going to be about 15 minutes if that. For those who can't stand, we will have chairs available. But should I have some kind of aisle to keep people from standing where we would be walking? And I am looking for ideas to create that. Something simple, inexpensive and looks good during the day. My first idea was to have my FI make some wooden stakes at work, then paint them in the colors we have chosen, and then drape some tule or ribbon between them. But I kind of think that is going to look a tad tacky. Our reception is going to be our annual family picnic. Normally there is minimal decoration for that, but I think we should decorate some since it is afterall our day and we are kind of taking over the picnic. But centerpieces for a picnic? Favors? We are going to make fans for the ceremony, but what about small favors for those who didn't make the ceremony or for the kids? I have had ideas, but we are working on a really tight budget right now and I'm trying to create a wide option range.

Re: need some ideas for outdoor wedding

  • You need a seat for every person at the ceremoney. For an aisle a friend got plants(painsys) she put at the end of every row of benches and that created a pretty aisle Favors are always optional Centerpeices are optional but nice It is your annual picnic but not an annual event for his family so think about making it an event for the half of teh crowd that will feel like they are crashing someone elses party
  • Comfort and etiquette aside ... I just think it'd look nicer to have chairs for everyone. You'd have a well-defined aisle, and people won't look like they're waiting around for a bus when you get your photos back. (Plus short people who get stuck in the back won't be able to see your ceremony, keep in mind.) Maybe combine decor and favors ... use long, shallow tins of wheatgrass as centerpieces, and stick a few brightly colored pinwheels in the dirt as more decoration. It's fun and whimsical, and people can take them home at the end if they want. Or use potted plants from a grocery store and let people take them home who want them. Maybe a single gerbera daisy in a mason jar or a small bud vase at each place setting.
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  • You need seats for everyone. They don't necessarily need to be chairs, but at least something for guests to sit on. I've seen pictures of casual ceremonies with wooden benches, hay bales, and even picnic blankets to sit on. You don't need favours. They are not required, and if you are on a tight budget you should skip them and spend the money on something else (like seating).For decor, keep it simple and use galvanized tin buckets filled with wildflowers or sunflowers, or you could even fill them with water and float fruit (apples, oranges etc) in the buckets. Go to snippetandink or stylemepretty for decor ideas. There are lots of rustic/casual ideas on those sites that I used for inspiration.
  • There is going to be seating, maybe I should have explained that a little better, we reserve a picnic area, so my family will be more than likely hiding out under the picnic area. Most of my family shows up to weddings and the picnic for the food mainly. Sadly most of them are not going to care that I'm getting married. But the elders of the family and his family will want to be close and personal. We have an invite insert explaining to those who plan to show up for the ceremony that they may want to bring a folding chair, I like the blanket idea and that would probably be the easiest to do for the cousins who have 5-6 kids with them. Unfortunately we do not have a lot of money for this wedding and renting chairs is out of the budget unless I can find someone who has them for about $0.50 a chair.
  • I wish we had a lot of money to spend on things like chair rentals and things. But unfortunately we don't. I've been told many times I have a year to plan and get things done, but for me if I don't do things month by month, I'll never have money to get things done. I live about 3 hours away from where we will be getting married, so I considered asking if we could borrow some of the folding chairs from our church and just bring them back with us. There are going to be picnic tables and benches there. Which is why seating wasn't a big worry. But then I was thinking, if I don't have some kind of seating, then people are going to just be all over and that isn't going to look very good for pictures as someone stated. We luckily go to this park yearly and leave this friday so I will get to look at a little bit closer at what we need to do. Thanks for the ideas!
  • I'm not a fan of not having chairs and I think you should definitely provide them for elderly people or people with issues that won't let them stand for periods of time.  That being said I've seen a few photos where they have something like shepherds hooks lining the "aisle" and then ribbon/rope/chain linking the hooks so it creates an aisle. It's not much but it gives the guests some boundaries.  Or something like this:http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.bondvillebloomist.com/images/weddings/weddings04.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.bondvillebloomist.com/weddings04.htm&usg=__9U_hybzGalEq4xbUMdNN3NVa0Vo=&h=317&w=422&sz=24&hl=en&start=27&um=1&tbnid=vxH8OiO1QFIhzM:&tbnh=95&tbnw=126&prev=/images%3Fq%3Doutdoor%2Baisle%2Bwedding%26ndsp%3D18%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26start%3D18%26um%3D1
  • We are having an outdoor wedding with NO seating either.  No one seems to care.  Like you said, 15 minutes, tops.  There will be chairs at the reception, (nearby) and if people really want to sit, they can carry their own chair (or have someone carry it for them).  If you know of anyone who simply can not stand for 15 minutes, perhaps bring a chair for them and mark it as reserved.  Our theme is rustic, so we are simply creating an aisle with rope.  You could use raffia instead.  Tie it in a bow to the wooden stakes.  Maybe stick a flower or two in the bow?  I hope that this helps. 
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