3 Tips for Keeping an Outdoor Wedding Elegant

Outdoor weddings can be a cost-effective way to have a novel, beautiful ceremony unlike anything your friends and family have done before you.

“Outdoor ceremonies connect refined elegance with the rustic, natural elements to bring guests an unmatched retreat destination,” say experts at Keyah Grande, who provide Colorado destination wedding packages.

However, keeping a modern outdoor wedding elegant can get expensive if you are not well prepared for the undertaking.

Here are 3 tips for keeping an outdoor wedding elegant.

Keep it Simple

Regardless of where you are hosting your wedding, remember the golden rule: keep it simple. You do not want to go overboard, because then you run the risk of going over budget. Worse than going over budget, however, you run the risk of asking your guests to attend a boring, bloated, or overall unorganized event.

The day of your wedding, you should be focusing on getting married—NOT on managing minute details. Of course, if you have a wedding planner, some of this hassle will be taken off your plate. However, even the most diligent of party planners can only do so much.

When you are planning an outdoor event, you should always be prepared for the elements. And the less moving parts you have to move indoors if your wedding should suffer an unforeseen weather event—the better! Think about how you will transition your event to a safe, dry place if the weather should take a turn for the worse.

Keeping it simple is a good way to keep your mind clear and your head on straight. Plus, it helps your guests feel more relaxed and focused on the main event: the union of yourself and your beloved.

Having an outdoor wedding does not necessarily mean you are in for a cheaper ride, either. So naturally, the less moving parts you invest in when it comes to your wedding, the better. You should let the beauty of the great outdoors do the talking.

And if you can’t trust your outdoor venue to do the talking for you…then you have chosen the wrong venue!

Prepare for the Worst

When making arrangements for an outdoor wedding, you should of course be conscientious of the climate for your chosen venue.

Beaches make for great pictures, but the audio tends to be drowned out by the sound of the ocean. Additionally, the season may impact the severity of potential storms you need to keep an eye out for, so keep that in mind.

In forests or wooded areas, you should have better audio for any videography because of the insulation provided by the trees. However, your lighting will likely be grayer and darker because of the tree canopy inhibiting sunlight. You will also want to keep in mind the potential for any wildlife that might disrupt your ceremony.

Black bears and grizzly bears can be found in the American northwest. They have sometimes been found to attack people. Snakes, hawks, and other creatures should also be on your radar.

You will want to forewarn any photographers or videographers you have hired for the event that your ceremony and reception will be taking place outdoors. This will impact the lighting of their work and, therefore, may change the type of equipment they need to bring along. If you are paying a pretty penny for your wedding video or photos, you will want to run a trial with the photographer or videographer before the day of the event to ensure the lighting and audio are right.

Keep it Fun

At the end of the day, there is nothing less elegant than losing your cool and stressing yourself (and your guests!) out. Remember why you and your closest loved ones have gathered on the day of your wedding: to celebrate your incredible depth of love for one another!

Plenty of lawn games like cricket and even badminton can be played in a manner which preserves the dignity of your guests in their finest formal wear. After all, you do not want to ask your Great Uncle Joey to play touch football in a four piece suit, but cricket is a little less invasive.

DIY projects made available to guests can also be a fun outdoor activity. These little DIY projects should be self-explanatory and involve no mess. Ideally, they will have minimal clean up, too. They should commemorate the occasion with a custom message or photo reminding your guest of the special day you shared. Stay away from any activities which might ruin clothes or makeup (like water sports or games like water balloons). You also should steer clear of providing these types of messy activities for children, because you run the risk of irritating any parents in attendance!