I love a summer wedding, maybe it's the fear of planning something in the British summertime and dealing with whatever the weather might throw at us, but I love summer. The summer is one of the most popular times of years to get married, with many ceremonies taking place in July and August. In this blog, I give you my tips for planning a summer wedding.
1) Plan an Outdoor Ceremony.
If you're planning on a summer wedding, you may as well go all out and plan something for outdoors, obviously make sure your chosen venue has a back up plan just in case!
It might be you choose to have your ceremony in a forest, by a lake, on the beach, in the grounds of a castle.... the possibility for an outdoor wedding are endless.
Plus if you use a celebrant, you really can get married anywhere, this covers the legalities of using a celebrant and what you need to do to make your wedding official.
2) Theme.
Having a summer wedding means that you can really go to town with the theme.
It might be that you opt for a festival wedding, your own mini Glastonbury. You could hold your reception in an open green space, have hay bail seating, you could hire tipis for your guests to chill in, street food, bands. The whole wedding can have a really chilled out and casual vibe.
Maybe a garden party is more your thing, you can serve your guests afternoon tea, have traditional games like hoop-la, hook-a-duck, a bouncy castle, you could even have barn dancing for your entertainment, it's a great way of getting your guests to mix.
3) Clothing.
When choosing your outfits for the wedding, whether it's yours, the bridesmaids or the groomsmen, make sure you keep in mind that your wedding might be happening in the midst of a British heatwave.... even if it's not a heatwave, it'll be summer and the weather (hopefully) will be sunny, so try and pick clothing that will be comfortable.
Try and keep fabrics light, if you're feeling brave flash a bit of skin, or add sheer fabrics to your dress.
You could also wear flip-flops, or have some wellies on stand by just in case.
4) Colours.
A summer wedding gives you the perfect excuse to embrace bright colours, pops of yellow, oranges, turquoises, coral can all be worked into clothing, decorations and flowers.
Or you could keep it natural and if you're getting married in a forest, keep everything neutral and go for a natural colour pallet.
The colours you choose can really help bring the summer vibe to your wedding.
5) Decorations.
If your wedding is outdoors, then plan decorations accordingly, it might be that you can have bunting or and fairy lights hanging between the trees.
You can have different "stations", maybe a basket full of flip-flops, or parasols, hats and fans for your guests to use in case it's too hot. You can set up a "relief station", where there's sunscreen, bug spray available.
You could have a paddling pool set up for people who might want a paddle (but maybe warn your guests of this beforehand, so they can bring a change of clothing for their children, or themselves for that matter!)
Flower walls are a great way of decorating an open space too, they come in a variety of sizes of colours.
Check also what power is available to your space too.
6) Food
If you've gone for a festival theme, then you could look at hiring different street food vendors for your big day, this gives your guest variety and means you don't have to worry about trying to accommodate everyones individual needs too much.
Being outdoors gives you the option of having a bar-b-q wedding breakfast or a hog roast, simply make sure there's a selection of salads and vegetarian / vegan options too.
You could also hire an ice cream van for a few hours too.
7) Entertainment.
Double check with your chosen venue, what power is available and then you could hire a band, organise an outdoor barn dance or have a disco under the stars.
Being outside gives you plenty of room for games too, giant jenga, a huge connect 4, hook-a-duck, hoop-la, croquet - the list is endless.
You can also set up an outdoor Photo Booth too.
There are so many options when it comes to planning a summer wedding, I have barely scratched the surface with my suggestions.
My previous blog has a free wedding checklist download, which you might find useful.
If you'd like to talk to me about being the celebrant at your wedding, then you can
email me, katiethecelebrant@gmail.com or contact me via my website.
コメント