Hosting An Outdoor Wedding? The Main Factors To Consider

*Collaborative Post

An outdoor wedding promises plenty of fun as you celebrate your special day. Think sunny weather, traditional lawn games, glamping accommodation and scenery galore. But with such joyous visions comes a lot of planning, and there are a few things you wouldn’t need to think about when marrying indoors. 

Whether you’re unsure of where to start planning or simply searching for some inspiration, here are some factors to consider when planning your outdoor wedding.

Time of year

This might seem like an obvious point, but if you’ve got your heart set on an outdoor wedding, you’ll want to pick a date in the warmer months, ideally the summer. Not only is there less chance of rain, but you’ll also be able to lean into fun themes, including wedfest and woodland wonderland. If you pick a date in late autumn or winter, a more than likely rainfall could scupper all of your plans and leave you wondering how to save your special day.

Licensed spaces

Although most wedding venues have beautiful grounds and manicured gardens, many of them aren;t actually licensed to hold civil ceremonies outside. Make sure you check this before you start booking, or you could end up having to compromise on your dream day. Equally, if you love the venue too much to give it up, you could consider an indoor ceremony and the rest of the day outdoors, a church ceremony beforehand, or simply have a celebrant ceremony at the venue and pop to the registry office to make it legally binding. 

A rural location

An outdoor wedding requires a venue with plenty of outside space. As such, you might find that venues in the middle of large cities, though accessible, will have considerably less space than areas outside of busy cities. Luckily, England’s busiest urban areas are usually surrounded by more rural, pretty counties with easy access and travel links. Instead of London, look at outdoor wedding venues in Essex or Oxfordshire, or if you’re in Cardiff, consider smaller towns nearby or even Herefordshire and Malvern.

Wedding outfits

If your marrying outside and spending all day in the grounds, considering the style of your wedding outfits is a must. Firstly, if warmer weather is expected, consider a sleeveless wedding dress, a lighter colour for the bridesmaid dressed and perhaps forgoing the suit jackets for the groomsmen. If you’re on a beach or walking on plain grass, consider wearing a slightly shorter dress if you are concerned about the skirt or train getting dirty.

Menu choices

If you’re having an outdoor wedding, you probably won’t want to have a sit-down, formal meal, especially if it means heading inside. Instead, why not choose more casual, summer-friendly options like a barbeque, food trucks, buffet, or even live cooking. Who can resist a delicious burger straight from the grill, or an oven-fired pizza cooked before your very eyes? This is also a great way to accommodate everyone’s dietary requirements, so the meat eaters, vegans, gluten-free and even the fussiest of eaters will be happy. Plus, it’s usually more forgiving when it comes to the budget…

*This is a collaborative post. For further information please refer to my disclosure page.