Outdoor Weddings

It might be too cold for our wedding! What to do?!

So Im getting married in only 20 days!!! Whoot whoot! BUT living in northern Indiana the weather is well...not fun and unpredictable. Looked up the weather and on our wedding day its suppose to be 50. Now to us thats not freezing and the ceremony is in a small corn crib so it might be bearable, but the reception which the temp will drop to about 40 is in a barn with no heat! Yikes, not sure what we will do?! Im not sure if I want to or could afford to rent those exspensive heater lamps!
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Re: It might be too cold for our wedding! What to do?!

  • Well it would be dumb to find a new venue for a wedding in 20 days...
  • edited October 2015
    You really ought to have had a back-up plan in case of inclement weather in the first place. Fifty degrees is inclement weather and the entire wedding needs to be moved indoors with heat. There is no way around that fact. Anything below 65F is too cold for an outdoor wedding.

    ETA: SIL planned an outdoor wedding in March. The day before was beautiful, 70ish. The day of was cold (mid 50s, I think?) and overcast. We bridesmaids were in sundresses. We were freezing the entire time. Fifty degrees is. Too. Cold.

    Please find somewhere indoors to move your guests. Yes, it may be inconvenient, it may cost money, but you do not want your wedding to be the one that is remembered as 'that one we froze the whole time.'
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  • The ceremony I in the corn crib that we are figuring out lighting, but does have outlets. The reception will be in a totally different barn.
  • If you want everyone to leave really early don't rent the heaters.  If people get too cold they will leave right after dinner.  You did not plan this well at all.
  • Oh man, OP. Didn't you post about buying 2-3 different wedding dresses and matching silk robes for your bridesmaids to wear while getting ready? I think the comfort of your guests is a tiny bit more important and wish you would have posted your concerns about the logistics back then, so you had more time to plan alternatives.

    Not gonna lie, your wedding website was super easy to find because of your post about your invites. So from what I understand, your wedding is on your FH's grandparents' farm.  You or your FH need to be discussing this stuff with them ASAP. How to get power out to the places where you need it. How to heat and light the barn where the reception will be. I still can't tell if you are saying the reception barn does or doesn't have outlets. If not, what were you planning to do for music, lighting, etc.? How are you planning to keep food hot or cold? 

    If you go into beast mode, 3 weeks should be enough time to fix the things that need fixing. But you need to be on it immediately and need to talk to the owners of the farm so you can have them do what needs to be done between now and then.
    Daisypath Anniversary tickers
  • First off BOTH barns have electricity! Second, Indiana weather is never the same! Last week it was warm and 80 and last year on the same day as our wedding it was 75!
  • First off BOTH barns have electricity! Second, Indiana weather is never the same! Last week it was warm and 80 and last year on the same day as our wedding it was 75!
    The bolded is actually the perfect argument for NOT having an outdoor wedding. In 2013, the high in Indiana on October 24 was 41*F.


    Get heaters. Make sure you have enough for the entire reception and ceremony, so no one gets cold. 

    The last thing you want is for your wedding to be the reason your guests, particularly elderly relatives, catch pneumonia.
  • And to base a 4pm wedding on a high of 75 in the fall is crazy.  Today the high is 67, the low is 53.  On the 24th, the average high is 57 and the average low is 43.  That's only 10 degrees above freezing.

    Like PP's have said, rent the heaters, or expect a lot of guests to leave, or not show up at all since most aren't invited to the ceremony as it is.
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  • lyndausvilyndausvi mod
    First Anniversary First Answer 5 Love Its Name Dropper
    edited October 2015
    First off BOTH barns have electricity! Second, Indiana weather is never the same! Last week it was warm and 80 and last year on the same day as our wedding it was 75!
    You're talking about the END of October. It's never as warm as 75 at the end of October. You planned this very poorly. 
    I wouldn't say NEVER.   But, one should err on the side that 75 is the exception not the rule.

    Last year in January we hit almost 60 degrees in Aspen.   I didn't even wear a coat.  It was my first January here.  I certain am not going to plan that this January is going to be the same. 

     Can it be that warm?  Yes.  Should you make plans in the future it will be the same?  Hell NO!






    What differentiates an average host and a great host is anticipating unexpressed needs and wants of their guests.  Just because the want/need is not expressed, doesn't mean it wouldn't be appreciated. 
  • lyndausvi said:
    First off BOTH barns have electricity! Second, Indiana weather is never the same! Last week it was warm and 80 and last year on the same day as our wedding it was 75!
    You're talking about the END of October. It's never as warm as 75 at the end of October. You planned this very poorly. 
    I wouldn't say NEVER.   But, one should err on the side that 75 is the exception not the rule.

    Last year in January we hit almost 60 degrees in Aspen.   I didn't even wear a coat.  It was my first January here.  I certain am not going to plan that this January is going to be the same. 

     Can it be that warm?  Yes.  Should you make plans in the future it will be the same?  Hell NO!
    Yes, you're absolutely right. It CAN be that warm, but even if it was that warm last year, you can't expect it to be the same temp the next year. 
    I imagine Northern Indiana might be a tad colder than New York in October/November. And it NY, it's certainly way too cold to hold an event like this with no heat! 


    MobKaz said:
    You need heaters.  Period.  So you need to start looking into getting power to the areas where you need it (rent a generator) and how to appropriately and safely heat the barn so that your guests are freezing.

    I mean how this issue is now finally being discussed is mind boggling to me.  You planned an event that is being held outdoors/inside a barn that has no heat or AC and what, you were just hoping and praying the weather was going to be perfect?!  It will be the end of October, so unless Indiana has an average temp of 75 with a low of 68 at the end of October, this shit should have been thought about at the beginning of the planning process.
    Dare I even inquire about bathrooms?
    I'm sure the ladies can just lean up against a tree or find a bush. Hopefully she'll at least have some TP at each table. 
  • If you can't afford heaters or a different venue, cancel the wedding.
  • Wow
    What do you expect? That we'll tell you it's fine for your guests to be in a building with NO heat for hours when the temps are supposed to be in the 40s?? 
  • Wow
    Um, you were the one that came on here freaking out about the temperatures.  What exactly did you want us to tell you?  That it would all be cool (no pun intended) and that your guests will just deal?  No.  I mean what other solution besides heaters did you think would be the appropriate solution?

    If the barn has electricity then great, one problem out of the way.  But you still need heaters. Period.  And the fact that you said that you don't "want" to rent them speaks volumes about how you feel about your guests.  So you would rather them be cold all night then to spend the bucks to make sure that they are comfortable?  How sweet.

  • You know what? Just call all your guests and tell them you're planning something like an "eco-friendly" wedding and would they mind foregoing heat to save the planet? Make sure they all bring extra blankets.

    I'm sure you'll get 100% buy in and everyone will come. And people will DEFINITELY be talking about it for the next decade or more.
  • Wait, so you had NO back-up plan??? What if it rained or, god forbid, snowed? EVERYONE planning an outdoor wedding needs to have an INDOOR back-up plan. EVERY-freaking-ONE. I don't care if you're in Florida in January when you don't think there's the slightest chance of rain. How did you plan your entire wedding without ever considering that the weather may not be sunny and warm?
  • Wait, so you had NO back-up plan??? What if it rained or, god forbid, snowed? EVERYONE planning an outdoor wedding needs to have an INDOOR back-up plan. EVERY-freaking-ONE. I don't care if you're in Florida in January when you don't think there's the slightest chance of rain. How did you plan your entire wedding without ever considering that the weather may not be sunny and warm?
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