Outdoor ceremony in July - too hot?

ladymd81

Hi ladies. I'm planning to have an outdoor ceremony in July 7, followed by an indoor reception. We're thinking of starting the ceremony around 5-5:30. Do you think it would still be too hot at that time? I've only lived in Ohio for 2 years so I wasn't too sure. Thanks!

July2012bride

We are date twins!  I'm also doing an outdoor wedding with indoor reception.  We are starting the ceremony at 5.

A lot of it depends on whether or not the ceremony space is shaded.  For us, it is almost entirely shaded, so I didn't really worry that 5pm would be too hot.  If guests are in direct sunlight, I might wait until 5:30 or 6.  

Part of it also depends on how long you anticipate the ceremony being.

To be completely honest though, it usually doesn't get to be scorching hot until the end of July and beginning of August.  Humidity is likely going to be the bigger killer than the actual heat.

I would suggest having a small bottle of water for each guest at their ceremony seat and maybe make your program into a fan so that guests have a way to cool themselves if necessary.

Hope that helps!  Where are you getting married?

tldh

I lived in Cleveland for 10 years.  The beginning of July is still pretty cool.  It usually isn't until August that you get the two weeks of scorching heat.

SarahP787

I'm having an outdoor ceremony on July 14th. I agree that your date is early enough that it's unlikely to be nastily hot, and by 5pm should be late enough to avoid the hottest part of the day. But I figure it's better to plan for the worst and hope for the best.
 
We'll have shady areas for people to hang out if they arrive early, and probably bottled water in buckets of ice nearby (we figured individual water bottles on the seats would just turn hot in the sun). The ceremony will only be about 15 minutes, and we're doing program fans. Of course we're also making sure everyone knows we'll be outside so they can prepare accordingly.

You could check out the Outdoor Weddings board for more ideas, but I think you'll be fine!

ladymd81

Thanks for the tip ladies, I feel much better. July2012bride, I'm getting married at the EOUV club in Novelty, OH. How about you? I will definitely do iced bottled water for the guests, I defintely don't want anybody passing out. Great idea

July2012bride

lady--
I had to look up the EOUV club, but the grounds look very pretty.

We are getting married at the club at hillbrook in chagrin falls, so pretty much right around the corner from you!

Ljacks87

I was married in Cleveland July 30, 2011 in an unairconditioned church. It was incredibly hot (about 90 degees) and humid. Based on my experience, here are my suggestions:

1) Make sure the bridal party is waiting in an air conditioned room pre-ceremony. Also make sure everyone has eaten something light (my girls and I had greek salad, hummus and tabbouli with pita) and had plenty of water.
2) Provide guests with shade, if possible, bottled water and fans
3)Make the ceremony short and sweet (no longer than 30 minutes start to finish)
4) Don't lock your knees during the ceremony and do not close your eyes during prayer (these are suggestions from my pastor). It's easy to pass out at the altar from the heat, nerves and excitement.
5) Take pictures somewhere air conditioned, if possible. Or have a small break between ceremony and taking pictures for the bridal party to cool off in the air conditioning and get some water.

My bridal party held up through the ceremony, but while we were taking pictures they were miserable and I didn't get all the pictures I wanted. One of my bridesmaids almost passed out from the heat. They all just wanted to hurry up and get into the air conditioned limo (and I kinda couldn't blame them, because I was sweating my butt off, too. Thank goodness for Photoshop so the pictures don't show it)

Ditto others that the end of July and August are the hottest and most humid months in the summer, but you want to be prepared for the worst! HTH and good luck!

ladymd81

July 2012, congratulations! Hillbrook is lovely. I've been there twice and it's a beautiful place. And it is down the street from EOUV. We'll be getting married less than a mile from each other

Ljacks thanks for the tips. I was concerned about the bridal party holding up during picture taking.

ellen73

We thought about having our reception at an outdoor location in July 2010, but our caterer talked us out of it. His daughter got married in either June or July in 2009 and it was so hot that barely anyone ate and most people left by 9. Having said that, our wedding day was absolutely gorgeous (Highs in upper 70s and no humidity; July 30, 2010). I am still glad we played it safe, though! It was one less thing to worry about.