Mother Nature Can Be a Real Beach

Apr 21

Picture this: walking down the aisle, on a beautiful white sandy beach, the waves gracefully splashing in front of you and all of a sudden boom! Rain out of nowhere, wind blowing sand everywhere, your guests running for cover. Now your vision is completely destroyed, as well as your perfect hair and makeup! Now, I am not saying that all outdoor weddings are bad or that this certain scenario will happen to you but, it is a possibility, I mean come on its Florida! The best thing to do when planning an outdoor wedding is to be prepared for all outcomes and yes, that means even moving it inside.

First, let’s talk about some pros to having an outdoor wedding.

A beautiful or unique backdrop and setting for all your guests to enjoy and to create a good vibe for the entire wedding day.
Less décor is needed because the outside locations provide the real décor! You can do really simple center pieces, some tables clothes and call it a day!
Natural Lighting that will be perfect for capturing all those wedding pictures that matter so much! All your guests will also enjoy the lighting for all those social media posts. And when the sun goes down you know everyone will love those string lights that are sure to be strung!
Outside weddings typically mean more space for more guests. You may have more flexibility in the number of guests in an outdoor venue, rather than an indoor venue and also have more room for fun entertainment!

Ok, get ready, now for the cons:

Mother Nature seriously can be a real Beach and in Florida it can be clear blue skies, no wind at all one second and then all of a sudden, a random mini hurricane comes out of nowhere with a downpour of humid rain! This is the hardest part about an outdoor wedding because most venues need to make the call to move the wedding inside at least 4 hours prior. You have to also think about you and your guests being comfortable. If it is 1000 degrees outside and miserable and everyone is dressed in full suits, you may want to move it into somewhere with AC! You do not want your guests being uncomfortable and for the one thing they remember about your wedding was that it was hot as hell!
What is Florida known for besides beautiful sand beaches? Yes, you are correct, BUGS! EEEk! If it is summer time or really any time in Florida you can expect some bugs! Make sure you provide mosquito repellent and have some citronella candles around to help minimize those damn bugs!
The good old hidden costs of doing a what you thought was a budget friendly outdoor wedding. Alright people, yes doing an outdoor wedding can be magical, but does it have coverage such as a tent in case of weather? Tents can be expensive AF and need to be planned in advanced. Also, when hiring your vendors, you need to think about who is going to need electrical outlets, DJ, band, and Photo Booth will definitely need some kind of electrical options and most likely you will need additional lighting options. This will all cost extra if they need to bring in generators, etc. Also did you think about Bathroom Rentals? They have luxury ones that are way better than your typical port-a-potties, but the cost a pretty penny!
If you are having your wedding at a public park or beach you might get some unwanted onlookers. I have seen my fair share of weddings at the beach and watched people stand right by the chairs and taking their own pictures. Come on, what are you going to do with those pictures, you don’t even know these people!
Finally, the Backup plan may not be as nice as the outdoor area. It may just be your typical ballroom and not set up to your desire since it most likely is a last-minute decision.

After all that information, basically the sum of it is, if you are having an outdoor wedding BE PREPARED! Rent the extra supplies needed, Love the backup option as much as you love the outdoor venue, and be ok to make the call a few hours prior to your wedding if it needs to be moved to the backup plan!