Outside wedding?

misspyro13

My FI and I have been thinking about where to have our wedding. I would love an outside wedding! But what if it rains? Or is hot? Bugs?! How would I decorate for an outdoor wedding?
Any advice? Or ideas?

danieliza1127

You should check out the Outdoor Weddings board.

http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_outdoor-weddings

We had our ceremony outside and then moved inside for cocktail hour and reception.  If it rained, our back up plan would have been to have the ceremony inside instead.  Some people rent a tent in case of rain, and some people just don't even make a rain back-up plan, but that's risky.

We didn't worry about bugs.  It was hot so we had a pretty silver bucket filled with ice and water bottles for people to grab just before they went outside to their seats.  They were only outside about 30 minutes for the ceremony, so I don't think the heat was that bad.  Just be sure  your ceremony starts on time and isn't longer than 20-30 minutes.

trix1223

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_ceremony-ideas_outside-wedding?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:10Discussion:950ae35f-cb6b-4dac-8552-4d3b70437047Post:a93ddf1a-5745-4db0-a065-c79328baa83a">Outside wedding?</a>:
[QUOTE]My FI and I have been thinking about where to have our wedding. I would love an outside wedding! But what if it rains?  <strong>Obviously, you have to have a back-up plan ready if it rains.  My DD had an outdoor ceremony.  The venue had a plan to move it inside if it rained.  She didn't have to decide until 3:00 for her 4:30 wedding~which was good because it was threatening rain all morning.
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Or is hot? Bugs?!  <strong>You take your chances with the heat.  Again, DD had fans for all of her guests, and galvanized tubs with bottled water for them.  Bugs?  I didn't notice if there were any.

</strong>How would I decorate for an outdoor wedding?   <strong>You have the most beautiful decor for an outdoor wedding already:  nature.  My DD's venue had a white arch that they decorated in flowers in her colors.  Her venue was a country club golf course, and the trees and grass and mountains behind were beautiful.  To add anything else would have taken away from the stunning scenery provided by Mother Nature.  =)
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Any advice?   <strong>If you can stand not really knowing your ceremony setting until the day of, go for it.  My DD's wedding was gorgeous and I wouldn't have traded it for anything, even though we were all checking weather.com all morning.  There are other things you need to consider:  music for processional and recessional?  Because I was in the front row, I could hear everything.  I'm told people further back couldn't hear the ceremony because they didn't use microphones.
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Or ideas?
Posted by misspyro13[/QUOTE]

cschuma2

The only think that I would add to what the other ladies said is in regards to the temperature.  If you're worried about it being too hot, consider a spring or fall wedding.  My husband and I were married in an outdoor ceremony in October and the temperature was wonderful!  Nobody was even slightly sweaty, but nobody was cold either!

bellebride116

We had an outdoor ceremony. It ended up being a bit on the windy side, but other than that it was great. We had an alternate rain location which I wasn't a fan of but had to have. It ended up being hot and our venue had set up a table of water bottles for guests to take.

tenofcups4me

Like the others, I intentionally chose a venue where I could have an outdoor ceremony and indoor cocktail hour/reception. If the weather was bad, we could have the ceremony inside instead of out. We didn't need to let them know for sure till the day of the wedding. I spoke with some venues that wanted 3 days notice of whether it would be inside or out, which I thought was ridiculous.

My wedding was early evening in August so besides rain, we needed to factor in how hot it would be. The day was actually a nice one, but if it had been too hot, we would have moved inside.

For decor, we didn't do very much. We had a chuppah (Jewish wedding canopy) decorated with fresh flowers and flower petals on the aisle. The chairs were white and pretty enough that they didn't need anything. We had one small table at the front between us and the officiant to hold some things. No other decor.

JenO24

We're getting married on the beach w/ the cocktai hour at a gazebo outside and the reception inside.  Should it rain we'll get married in the reception ballroom.

If you're going to plan an outdoor wedding, you will not regret the beautiful scenery!  You need to 100% have a back up plan just in case if does rain though.  Better to be safe than sorry, I think.  If you're worried about heat, pick a wedding date to where you know heat won't be a factor that day.  Bugs, if it's mosquito season and you're worried about it theres plenty of places to get those tiki torch type things, or candles, or I even saw on a differnet post that their are companies that will come out and spray even.  So you have options.  I think decorations for an outdoor wedding should be simple, but thats my opinion.  You have the best free decorations there is...nature, as a PP said!  You should check out the wedding themed board for outdoor weddings for more advice and help.  Brides there have all been there and will be able to help guide you!

Good luck planning!

Ashes_3

We're having ours outside in May, so it won't be to hot. I actually looked up the previous years weather and seen how much of a chance there'd be of rain. We have very little chance of rain on our day and if it ends up raining, our reception is held at the same place which is located inside! Maybe you should have a tent or something on reserve!

Princesaambar7

Our venue is being great. They automatically set up the outdoor and indoor location the day before. This way both can be decorated if it looks lke rain. We can decide about an hour before to let the guests know where to go. You could look into something like this.

sweetpea6603

We are having an outdoor wedding with our reception inside at the same location. If it rains we will have the ceremony indoors on the dance floor and our guests will sit at their assigned tables. Our pastor also reserved our church for us as a back up at no extra cost since he will be marrying us.

BluValkyrie

the one thing I have heard about outdoor weddings is always plan for rain; even if it never rains, always plan for rain.

heyimbren

are you thinking of having just the ceremony outside, OR the ceremony and reception outdoors?

i only ask because i had a friend who wanted to have the entire wedding outdoors, including the meal and dancing.

if it's the former, just plan for rain and weather. don't make it too long if it's hot, have a tent or back up plan in case. have a "rain location" and NOT a "rain date" (i know people who have thought a rain date was a good idea-not really. unless its a tiny wedding and you can afford to plan for that).

if it's the latter, it becomes much more complicated. but i'm assuming you're talking about just an outdoor ceremony so listen to the PP advice. it's good.