Best Outdoor and Backyard Wedding Tips
1. Backyard Weddings/Outdoor Weddings vs Wedding Venue.
Decide on either an Outdoor Backyard Wedding or an Outdoor Wedding venue, then figure out if your Wedding Ceremony and Wedding Reception will be in the same location. Regardless on what you decide these tips apply to either a Backyard or Venue Wedding. Backyard Weddings have been a popular route in 2020 for obvious reasons, they’re a little more intimate, you have full control and small weddings have been a hit for 2020 and 2021 Weddings.
2. Choose a day with comfortable temperatures.
Depending on where your wedding will be at, it might be helpful to check on the best months for comfortable temperature levels and best weather for that area, city or state, to continue to plan your wedding accordingly.
3. Prepare for the unexpected
Mother Nature is unpredictable, several weeks prior to your wedding day check again on the weather and have available for your guests either: shawls to keep warm; fans and iced water bottles to keep cool and maybe umbrellas if your wedding ceremony will be out in the open and there will be a possible rain passing.
4. Walk over your premises
Analyze your premises, especially if its a venue! look out for bug or mosquitos, gnats or wasps.. this might be something you may need to address so that they aren’t crashing your wedding and making your wedding guests miserable. I’ve had a wedding incident where one of the guests stood over a yellow jacket (yellow jackets have nests in the ground!) nest and it was a horrible moment for several ladies wearing dresses. For mosquitos — look for “citronella” candles and torches!
5. Reserve a tent
If your location has no shade and is out in the open, a tent is ideal, more often than not weddings happen during the harshest sunlight which results in squinty eyes and not so attractive shadows on faces. Tents are not only for rainy wedding days but also provide relief on the hottest days. Wedding tents can also help tremendously in windy cases as well. Mother Nature has a mind if her own and in case of a weather twist with a tent you’re covered from most weather situations. P.S - I’ve seen water misting can also be attached to tents to provide relief from the hot weather too!
6. Ceremony In Shade
As a photographer I will say LIGHTING is KEY, if at all possible choose a shaded location for your wedding ceremony. Mid day/harsh sunlight will create unflattering shadows on your faces and your wedding ceremony photos may not turn out the way you had hoped. Shade provides even, flat light which is IDEAL for your wedding photos. If your location has zero shade, the next best thing would be to setup your altar so that the sun is behind you and not shining directly on your faces. The way to do this is to come to your venue/wedding location at the hour of your wedding ceremony and analyze where the sun will fall.
7. Dress Accordingly
Sometimes lawns can vary, this goes back to when analyzing your location/wedding venue. It might be best to choose a thick block heel as your wedding shoes or go with heel stoppers if the wedding shoes you already have chosen have a thin heel. Make sure you let your bridesmaids know so they can dress accordingly as well, no one wants stand and sink into the lawn.
8. Tell your Guests
Make sure your guests are aware of your outdoor wedding ceremony and outdoor wedding reception. This will help them think about the steps they need to take to dress for maximum comfort during your wedding ceremony and wedding reception.
To summarize, check out your location ahead of time, find the direction of light at the time of your Wedding, order all the things that will make you and your wedding guests feel the most comfortable. I hope these backyard wedding tips helped you with your “planning an outdoor wedding checklist,” Outdoor weddings have always been popular amongst photographers and they result in some of the BEST WEDDING PHOTOS, nothing beats natural light. Happy Wedding Planning!
