Ceremony in the park?

cmlisenk

The park my fiance propsed to me at has a bandshell that would be beautiful for a ceremony, it is also less than 10 minutes away from where we are thinking about having the reception.  However, we are planning on getting married around mid-October or even November in northern Indiana.  Sometimes this time of year is really warm but others it can be really chilly.  Would this be an okay option as long as we had some outdoor heaters in case it is as unpredictable as Indiana weather can be?

notyetavet

I think early October would be my cutoff for wanting to be at an outdoor wedding.  The heaters could help but I think it will depend on how many guests you plan to have.  I'm afraid that the number of heaters you could end up needing to keep a large group of guests comfortable would really take away from the venue.  

pgcp

Instead just plan on taking pictures there, maybe do a first look.

Avion22

I think it's okay to plan a wedding there, but would strongly recommend you have an indoor backup location in case of inclement weather.  I would recommend moving the ceremony inside if it's any less than 60 degrees (though if it's windy, even 60 can seem pretty chilly if you're dressed up in nice clothes).

Before you fall in love with it, make sure that you talk to the park and see if it's even possible to use as a ceremony location.  Many parks have restrictions on amplified sound during certain hours, don't let you "reserve" spots like that in advance, or won't let you put down seating for your guests.   These might be deal-breakers for you.

Mrs.B6302007

If you don't think the weather will be ideal, I like the idea of just doing some wedding pictures there.  Back-up plans work best when there is an indoor location at the same site.  It's not convenient for guests to have to drive to different locations based on the weather.  I know that one from experience.  I went to an outdoor wedding and the rain plan went into effect less than an hour before the ceremony.  Someone waited at the original ceremony site and sent everyone to the reception site for the ceremony.  We were going to the reception site anyway but for us, we had practically passed it on the way to the original location so we ended up backtracking.  Plus, it threw everything off and was just unecessary chaos.

violakat03

I'm having an outdoor park ceremony in early October in Indiana, though we're in east-central. I know we're chancing it with it possibly being chilly, but we're also going for late afternoon to increase our chances of nice weather. Last year it was downright hot on the first weekend in October. We don't have an indoor location as a backup, instead we're using the giant picnic pavilion across the street as our rain backup, so I've definitely got to hope for warm weather!

I'd definitely take into consideration the dramatic changes in temperature throughout the day and go for a later ceremony if possible (some faiths require morning ceremonies) and definitely have a nearby backup plan in case it's cold. Also, since you haven't set your date yet, I'd recommend going as early as possible. We wanted an October wedding for sure, so we picked the first weekend in the month.

TiffannieF

Personally I do not like outdoor weddings nor do I advise them.  Too much at risk.  IMHO

LuckyHeather

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_ceremony-ideas_ceremony-in-the-park?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:10Discussion:6e7fdc3e-4626-4e91-8441-fb6cf9285297Post:d7c1dedd-e6f8-4eaf-95f2-1bc10f63fa09">Re: Ceremony in the park?</a>:
[QUOTE]<strong>I think it's okay to plan a wedding there, but would strongly recommend you have an indoor backup location in case of inclement weather.</strong>  I would recommend moving the ceremony inside if it's any less than 60 degrees (though if it's windy, even 60 can seem pretty chilly if you're dressed up in nice clothes). Before you fall in love with it, make sure that you talk to the park and see if it's even possible to use as a ceremony location.  Many parks have restrictions on amplified sound during certain hours, don't let you "reserve" spots like that in advance, or won't let you put down seating for your guests.   These might be deal-breakers for you.
Posted by Avion22[/QUOTE]

<font color="#000000"><font face="Lucida Sans"><font size="3">This! 
</font></font></font>