So you love the outdoors & you are getting married! Congratulations first of all, and second of all you are going to have so much fun getting
wedding decorating ideas. And for more ideas, just visit my
websiteToday I’m going to share some of my outdoor weddings ideas and hopefully inspire you to come up with some great locations and ideas for your ceremony and reception.
Outdoor Wedding Ideas for your Ceremony
A ceremony outdoors is a lovely idea and a very popular one nowadays. In fact i would say at least 50-60% of weddings I go to have a ceremony that is outdoors. It is a lovely, casual (but can still be formal as well) and romantic thing.
The first thing I will say is that you need a backup plan. You never ever know what the weather will bring, be it rain, strong winds, or even just a freezing cold day. It is important that you have some kind of backup plan. I will go into more detail on this soon.
Outdoor Wedding Location ideas
- The beach
- A public park or garden
- A private garden
- In your own or a friends garden or backyard
- A restaurant but outside on the deck with a view of the water
- In the forest or bush as we call it in Australia
- A beautiful old dock on a river or harbor
There are a few things you need to think about when having an outdoors wedding. One as i mentioned is having a backup plan. You need to comes to terms with the fact that it could rain on your wedding day (don’t worry some say its good luck! It rained at 11am and 11pm for my wedding day so that was ok because it gave us good luck – and a great moody sky for photographs but stopped when we needed to be outside. Perfect!)
If it does rain, you need to come to terms with the fact that you may have to have a less than perfect wedding day by moving to your plan b location. If you are just not comfortable with having to make last minute (as in on the day) changes or having your ceremony in a room that wasn’t really meant for weddings, then you better not decide on an outside ceremony.
If you are willing to take that risk, and don’t mind if you have to have the ceremony inside, then plan away!
Some back up outdoor wedding ideas are
- Rent a marquee or tent, it is a good idea to do this anyway a big nice white tent. With the ability to open and close the sides.
- A public hall nearby that you can rent for an hour or 2 – pre plan this as you would not want it to be unavailable so that is a cost you will have to pay and may not end up using
- A veranda or awning in a public park, make sure it is big enough to accommodate your guests
- Your own house or a friend’s house if you have the wedding in their backyard
- Inside a restaurant that you were going to use the deck of.
- If you were having your ceremony outside at the same location as your reception you may end up needing to have the ceremony and reception in the same room or the ceremony in the hallway.
Other things to consider
- Will it be very sunny & give people sunburn or heatstroke? Provide some pretty parasols for your guests and bridesmaids if so, also make sure your groom and groomsmen will not be in the sun as they will get very hot and sweaty in their suits (maybe let them wear sandals or funky flip flops)
- Will it be windy and your hair and veil get twisted and stuck to your lip gloss? If so, pin your hair and veil or stand in a wind shaded spot, near a tree or put up a temporary screen, you can get nice room dividers from home wares stores which might do.
- Will your dress & bridal parties attire suit an outdoors wedding? If you have a very big, full traditional gown it may look out of place in a garden? It is up to you on this one though.
- Can the guests see you approaching? Will this ruin the special “walk down the isle” moment if they have all already seen you including your groom? Again, maybe try either get your car to drop you very close or use some trees or screens as diversions.
- Is there privacy from members of the public?
- Can your guests hear? If it is a large outdoor area and if there is background noise or wind, your guests may not be able to hear you, rent an outdoor mic and speaker set.
It is a good idea to have some of these things on hand (get your ushers to make your guests know about them)
- Bug Spray
- Water
- Umbrellas
- Sunscreen
- Pretty Parasols and paper fans
Make sure you have a plan and that you are comfortable with it because you have no control over things like the weather! Once you have decided on your location and you are comfortable with it, the fun part starts! How to decorate it!?
Some Wedding Decoration Ideas for Outdoors Ceremonies
- First of all, let the space speak for itself, dont over complicate it with decorations, just add a touch here and there.
- Hang spheres of flowers in bright colors from tree branches. (make sure 
they are strong robust flowers that wont wilt easily)
- Hand candle holders with tea light candles from tree branches
- If it is your garden, plant some bright pretty flowers to fill in bare patches or place pots with lots of bright flowers around the garden
- Have lots of white chairs for your guests, well at least enough for the elderly and pregnant to sit, ideally you will have enough for all your guests.
- Have an arc or a tree or some kind of feature where you and your groom and the minister/priest/celebrant will stand. This creates magic photos and makes for easy organizing
- Have some kind of aisle fashioned with a row of petals or the chairs or some stakes in the ground with flowers on the ends so that it is clear where you will walk
- Lots of white is what makes a spring garden wedding magical as does with a beach too, white petals, ribbons, flowers, chairs etc choose 1 other color as well if you like
Your decorations are only limited b your imagination! Outdoors wedding ceremonies are wonderful, magical events so have fun planning yours and don't forget to visit my website for more tips, secrets and wedding decorating ideas
