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Special Considerations for Outdoor Weddings


Summer is the time for weddings. You can, of course, get married any time of the year, but it just seems so much more romantic with the scent of blooming roses in the air and birds singing. Many brides choose to have garden weddings in the summer. Outdoor weddings are beautiful, but there are some things you need to think about when preparing for one.

Scheduling Outdoor Weddings

You might think that if youre having your wedding outdoors, you could just decide on a place and have the wedding there. Not so. Some parks have to be scheduled a year or more in advance, and some charge hefty fees. If youre having your wedding on private property, you still need to make arrangements with the property owner. You may have parking and traffic issues to deal with, and should check with local authorities well ahead of time to see if you need a special permit.

Power for Outdoor Weddings

Decide if you will need electric power for anything at your wedding. Most of the time youll at least want amplification for music, and its also a good idea to have microphones for the bride, groom and whoever is officiating. There is a lot more ambient noise at an outdoor weddingtraffic, wind, animals, children, etc.and you can rarely hear the ceremony unless its amplified.

Find out if power is available, and figure out what you will need. You may need to arrange for back-up power, and may even want a technician at the wedding to help with power and sound issues.

Weather Issues at Outdoor Weddings

Lets just be honest; the weather can ruin your outdoor wedding plans. It can be rainy, windy, threatening, stormy or hot. Make contingency plans for the weather. Find a back-up place to have the wedding in case the weather is just too bad for an outdoor ceremony. Publish that location on your invitations, and include a note that tells them who to contact to see if the wedding has been moved.

Ask a friend to take care of this for you; answering phone calls, calling the wedding party members, and posting signs at the outdoor location saying that the wedding has been moved. Make sure you do not have to deal with it on your wedding day. You might also consider putting up tents to shade and protect the wedding party.

Bugs and Dirt at Outdoor Weddings

Theres only so much you can do about bugs. You can set up fans to keep flying insects away, or you can spray the area before the ceremony. Citronella candles help, but they do not smell very wedding-like.

Dirt is another issue. If its windy, dust and dirt will get on everything, but even if its not windy, things will still get dirty. Wedding dresses with trains drag in the dirt, and theyre hard to get clean later. Everybodys all dressed up in their fancy best, and things just get dirty.

Provide places for people to sit and rest without getting their clothes soiled. Some parks dont allow you to bring in chairs, so provide blankets to cover picnic benches or the ground. Put paper or cloth down where the bride will walk to protect her dress.

Outdoor weddings are romantic and beautiful. They do take some planning, though, and contingency plans for the things that can go awry. Think about how you will avoid and/or deal with outdoor snafus, and you will have the wedding of your dreams.

With the number of arts and crafts stores rising, as well as scrapbook and other classes available, it is perfectly acceptable to manage your own wedding photography and create your own albums.

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Remember, your wedding favors are a gift to your guests, and therefore should be purchased with them, not you, in mind. Theres only so much you can do about bugs. Keep in mind that a specially made dress takes longer to create and ship to you, so it is wise to plan ahead.

Its easiest to do this if the patterns are all the same brand and size.
Any limitations of desired musical selections should be sorted out prior to the day of the wedding. This allows for great flexibility in dress standards, and it also sets a casual, laidback tone for the wedding, as opposed to the orchestrated pomp that results in a church wedding. Weddings are so expensive that you must carefully decide how you are willing to spend your hard-earned money. If you can borrow a sapphire necklace from an older niece or grandmother, youll have something old, something borrowed, and something blue taken care of. Do they want step-parents at the wedding? Remember, when planning for your wedding, budgeting is always a key element.