Outdoor Weddings — The Knot Community

NICE port-a-potties?

alehayes — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 02:02:03 +0000

We're getting married at FI's brother's farm, and obviously we don't want 140 guests traipsing through their house and wreaking havoc on the plumbing, so I'm thinking we'll probably need to bring in port-a-potties. The problem is, all the ones I've ever seen have been GROSS, and I don't want to subject my guests to that. Do they make any nice port-a-potties (I know that probably seems ridiculous, but you can't blame a girl for trying!)

Also, if you know of any, do you know about how much they cost? We're on a (low) budget!

Tent Flooring

shea1988 — Sat, 12 Jun 2010 22:17:14 +0000

HELP!
I am having an outdoor wedding at my parent's house and there is currently no/little grass where the tent is being set up. My mother is insisting on having a floor in the tent but does not want to spend alot of $. Which I totally understand, but then again I was ok with just the natural ground.... The rental place is telling her to use astroturf. But I am DEAD SET AGAINST that! I absolutly despise the stuff and i think (no offense to anyone out there) it looks cheap.

Does anyone out there have any ideas about affordable flooring that is not astroturf. If it is a rental please keep in mind I am in the Houston area. I appreicate any and all ideas... HELP!!!

PIP: Some Pro Pics of an At Home Outdoor Wedding

bbyckes — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 13:28:21 +0000

My ceremony and reception took place at our home in our backyard. I think it turned out great and our photographer was great.

Surprisingly my dress stayed relatively clean. I was very surprised. The weather was PERFECT! Couldn't have asked for better.

Public Location/ Interruption Horror Stories?

canadianpeapod — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 14:19:33 +0000

Has anyone gotten married/ or considering getting married in a public park or other public location? I'm out of venue options! I don't have very much leeway in terms of changing my date and all the places I've contacted within my budget are already booked. I'm just wondering what people have experienced in terms of other people out enjoying the area, etc. Do you have any horror stories of people walking through your wedding?

grass stains

JoLynn222 — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 09:34:52 +0000

Hi, I am new to this board (just found it). I was wondering if the conversation has ever come up about grass stains on the bottom of the train. We are doing outside wedding inside reception. My train is a little longer than I had hoped for, but I fell in love with the dress. So what do we do to avoid grass/dirt stains on the dress? I can't really afford to spend a fortune on an aisle runner and we are moving around during the ceremony so i won't be on the aisle runner the entire time anyway. Any suggestions?

Lanterns

lizlep — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 14:27:01 +0000

Hi All,
We are doing an outside wedding, under a tent and wanted to hang white paper lanterns from the tent....about 30-40 of them. We were told it would cost us $41.00 per lantern to install and do this. Isn't that a lot of money? Does anyone have a better solution? Could you do it yourself? Are you? PLEASE HELP!

outdoor wedding in Toronto/Montreal or Ottawa

danniellabrazel — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 18:26:05 +0000

Hi all!

Im looking to celebrate my big day in a beautiful outdoor setting in the Toronto, Ottawa or Montreal region. I want to have a DIY wedding and need a venue that will allow outdoor caterers, staff and alcohol. I was orginally looking at cottages to host the event but think that thaat might get too expensive with having to rent everything from the tent, to cutlery!

We have a budget of 11,000...do you think my goal of having it outdoors is unattainable? keep in mind that I dont have to pay for a wedding dress ( wearing my mothers), a Dj ( uncle has that covered) or food (cake and meals are covered by various friends and family).

Also if anyone has any venue suggestions, that would be amazing!!

Danniella

Wedding decorator fell through five weeks before wedding, I need an idea!

Goff2010 — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 14:42:59 +0000

Long story made short, the lady who we hired to do our reception for us flaked out and we have five weeks to go. We are holding our reception in an outdoor bowery, and it has thick red brick columns. Our colors are red, black, and off-white, (overdone, yes, I know) and what we have decided to do for decorations so far are strings of lights and chinese lanterns across the ceiling, white table clothes with alternating red and black overlays, and flower arrangements for the table. If anyone has any ideas to share on other decorations, I would appreciate it!

Married!

nleley1505 — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 23:13:34 +0000

I know I haven't posted on this board alot, but I wanted to wish you all good luck with your weddings and thank you for the help you did give me the few times I posted on here!
This last Saturday was the big day! Setup the night before was delayed due to a bad storm (power out, trees down), so some things we just didn't have time to do unfortunately. The weather Saturday was supposed to be hot with isolated thunderstorms, but by some miracle, the entire day was beautiful!
I hope the weather is just as beautiful for all of your weddings! Good luck!

p.s.: pics in bio if anyone wants to see!

my bio

Bad weather backup for pictures

hallk33 — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 16:37:58 +0000

The ceremony is being held outdoors in a state park and I was really looking forward to having pictures outside there.

Our backup location is where the reception is being held and I would prefer not to have the couple pictures and what not there.

Any suggestions on a backup photography location?

Bug control?

mkobilinski — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 00:33:05 +0000

My wedding is going to be outdoors, next to a river, the ceremony starts at 3:30 and the reception immediately follows at the same site. As we'll be there through dusk, I'm expecting bugs! Any ideas for bug control? I will put bug spray/wipes in the bathroom baskets, but beyond that I'm just not sure. I feel like citronella candles just don't work that well. Any ideas?

Invitation Help

cmc1214 — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 21:47:45 +0000

My cousin is having a wedding in August...the ceremony will be in a church & the reception will be outside at a family friend's ranch. How should we convey on the invitation that they should dress church appropriate, but cool & comfortable?

beach wedding

LoveJones1 — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 04:35:06 +0000

We are having our wedding on the beach and it has been both blessing and curse! Blessing because the beach needs no decoration with the beautiful water as a backdop! BUT coming up with seating has been a beast!! We are still very excited and up for the challenge. Any ideas?

back and married, pics!

BrideofBigSur — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 15:07:17 +0000

Just posted this on the June board, but I was on this one a lot more than I was on the month board, so I thought i'd share with you too:

It has been a crazy two weeks, but I got married on the 12th at Glacier Point, Yosemite and went on my week long cruise to Mexico right afterwards. It all went amazingly well, except:
1. the caterer forgot to bring dishes. We had to take silverware & dishes out of the rental house. Luckily it was a huge house with lots of dishes.
2. There was a fatal car accident 30 minutes before my reception, in a 3 mile stretch in front of the reception house. It completely blocked off traffic. I was 15 minutes late to my own reception, and had no time to set anything up properly. Everything got started late and totally disorganized, but thank god nobody from my wedding was the victim of the car accident.
3. My ipod cable didn't connect properly to the PA system we rented. So it was essentially a really really expensive microphone, and couldn't play my music except on a little ipod dock. Nobody really danced, except for husband & myself for the first dance, and my father/daughter dance. Oh well. You win some, you lose some.

Ceremony was incredible and made up for everything. Husband's vows were beautiful.

Appropriate dress for outdoor wedding

Future MrsAcklin — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 19:59:58 +0000

I'm having a casual wedding in a vineyard outside the DFW area next September. I know its going to be hot and i'm at a total loss for what kind of dress to wear. I want to look like a bride and not overheat at the same time. Any Ideas.

to assign seating or not...

abbiewebster — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 20:40:34 +0000

Hi im just curious about this...my wedding is very laid back and i am having smaller tables which sit 4-5, andthey will be spread out, around the pool, on the porch etc.We are not having a proper sit down meal it will either be a buffet or heavy hor doeuvres and desserts. I just have quite a few guests about 6 (around 50 guests altogether) who dont know n e one else, and would probably feel awkward about sitting at someone elses table(without a prompt) and i feel that if i assign seating maybe that will help....ive just never seen assigned seating for a casual wedding before....opinions please :)

We've decided on a "Green" wedding!

McKinneybound — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 20:48:49 +0000

So...since I picked the colors: Green,Ivory, and Mocha...we've decided to have a "Green" wedding. I'm super stoked about it. We've never really been eco conscious, but I figured it would be the perfect time to make some changes in our lives. I found a website:www.green-wedding.net It's a whole webpage devoted to having an eco friendly wedding!!! They have the cutest favors that I know will be a hit! I'm just soooo excited about the wild flower place cards that guests can actually plant!!! Anyway, we're really excited about lifestyle changes in our future!!!

One of the eco friendly bamboo favors!!!

Heels on Grass

angiem33 — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 12:59:58 +0000

I know this has been posted before so sorry for asking...

Where can I get those little heel covers so I don't fall in the grass at the ceremony?

Thank you!

Looking For: Affordable Wedding Venue in Laguna Beach, CA

lyricaleight — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 02:44:17 +0000

This might be a near impossible find, but I'm looking for a decent ceremony and/or reception venue in Laguna Beach, CA. I have no idea where to start! :)

Looking for a venue: Outdoor Wedding in Santa Rosa, CA

nandrus — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 17:34:08 +0000

Does anyone have any suggestions for an outdoor venue for under $1000 in Santa Rosa? I'm looking at The Luther Burbank Gardens, but can't find anyone who's gotten married there. Any thoughts? Thanks!

Delaware Center for Horticulture

millercadmus — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 18:56:44 +0000

I'm considering holding my wedding at the Delaware Center for Horticulture and was hoping someone might have some pictures!!

Aisle Runner

fairy_diva — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 23:07:50 +0000

I know this one if beat to death on here, but has anyone used burlap as an aisle runner outside? I can place it ahead of time and use landscape fabric stakes to fix it in place. The fabric stakes are U shaped and push into the ground several inches. FI doesn't seem to think anyone's shoe heels would go through it. and it shouldn't bunch up if its fixed in place.

Yard Games

cootieface123 — Wed, 19 May 2010 12:42:29 +0000

Good morning!!! So my wedding is in september and will be at a friends house. He has a HUGE! yard with a barn (where dinner will be). I think I want to run with the barn theme and make it more laid back and picnic-y and having yard games. Did anyone do this? What games did you have. So far I have thought of magnetic lawn darts, washer toss, and ladder ball. Tell me your ideas. Thanks!

Shepherd's Hooks

kelly&wayne — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 15:36:34 +0000

Hi Ladies,

Has anyone used/seen shepherd's hooks as part of the decor at an outdoor wedding? I'm thinking of lining the aisle with 10 of them (5 going up each side). We will have 10 rows of seats and I figured one every 2 rows is fine. What do you think? Also, we're going to do very small flower arrangements in vases that will have ribbon around them to loop onto the hook....am I making sense? Preferably real flowers, but since the hooks only hold 3 lbs. each if I can find really nice fake ones I may do that. I really dislike the idea of fake flowers, but they would certainly be lighter, cheaper and easier to deal with.

How cold is too cold?

ehathewa — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 20:28:09 +0000

We are planning an October 16th wedding in Wisconsin. The ceremony is going to be outdoors and 20-30 minutes long. If the weather hits the average of 63 I think it will be perfect... we're just wondering where others would draw the line for too cold to be outside? Last year on the 16th it snowed, obviously that was a little too cold :)

We do have an indoor space and can make the judgement call up to 2 hours before the ceremony. Most of our guests are from MN, WI, MI, and MA... so they should be a little hearty!

Dried oranges and acorns?

kelly&wayne — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 19:07:18 +0000

I'm getting married in the fall outside. Our primary color is pink, however, I'm thinking of buying tall cylindrical vases filled with dried blood orange slices and acorns. I have only a picture in my mind of what it looks like unfortunately. But does anyone have any thoughts about what this might look like? Do people like the idea?

I bought my dress!!!!! PIP

Anna_Emig — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 00:15:55 +0000

Just had to share this ;)
I went to davids bridal on Saturday "just to look" and ended up buying my wedding dress. I just knew it was the one :P So cheese I know but I am so happy and still don't have any doubts about it. Here are two pics, sorry I don't know how I cant make them straight up.

Ceremony start time- what would you do?

Chris&Ang — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 17:37:35 +0000

I am getting married outside of my reception location. I was able to choose the start time- I originally planned the ceremony to start at 3 (the ceremony should only be10-15 minutes) so I figured the cocktail hour would start at 3:30... but now that it's getting closer, I think 4:00 may be better... (so the cocktail hour would start about 4:30/5)... I keep going back and forth about it- but I need to make up my mind because we are having the invitations done next week! What would you do?

Where to buy fabric panels for outdoor wedding

rnalicia81 — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 05:56:23 +0000

We are going to be using fabric like panels around the ceremony and reception site. Any ideas where I can buy fabric for a good price?

water bottles for the ceremony

benmel31 — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 17:57:17 +0000

So we are having an outdoor ceremony on July 31. Considering it could be REALLY hot, although I am hoping the heatwave ends soon here in PA, we decided to have water bottles in silver tubs near the programs and bubbles. They are just for the ceremony, right afterwards is the cocktail hour.

We are expecting 80-90 people. Do you think 106 water bottles is enough?