Outdoor Wedding Ideas - Shelter and Lighting

There are many great ideas for outdoor wedding receptions to choose from. You can explore many themes or allow the venue to guide your wedding reception decorating decisions. It may be that the decor you need is minimal, if the location is particularly beautiful you don’t want to try to compete with it, or you may use the natural surroundings as a backdrop and bring in many decorations to realise your particular vision.

There are a number of practical issues you need to address along with decorating your outdoor wedding reception.  Some of them will have little impact on your decorations, but others will make a big difference to the eventual look of your reception.  Two of those areas are discussed here.

The first is providing shelter for your guests.  It is a rare location and time of year when you don’t have to worry about any kind of shelter for your outdoor wedding.  If it is going to be warm on your wedding day, you will want to provide guests with shelter from the sun.  If it is a cooler time of year you will want to consider the possibility of rain, or wind, interfering with your guests’ enjoyment.  The type of shelter you provide can tie in with the rest of your decorations, and make a big impact.  

If you are having a summer wedding and shelter from the sun is the main concern, one solution is to provide guests with paper parasols to carry.  Not only does this provide a shelter solution but the sight of parasols in white, pastels or brights adds a beautiful element to a garden party styled reception.  Don’t forget to allow plenty of small tables for guests to rest drinks and food on as they will only have one hand free if they are holding their umbrellas!

Still on the summer theme, two very different looks, both appropriate to beach themed weddings, can be achieved by using large free standing umbrellas in either beachy stripes or tropical palm leaves.  Plain canvas, cafe style umbrellas will give a casual, urban feel to an outdoor wedding.

The next step up from umbrellas are tents.  Again there are a wide range of options that will give different effects.  Small or large marquees can be used for traditional or garden themed weddings – and allow for a full sit down meal to be served in comfort.  Because of their structure it is easy to decorate marquees with bunches of flowers, garlands or streamers.  Feature lighting at night can also make a marquee a magical place. 

Outdoor wedding ideas that are a bit different and may require some research to locate are other specialist tents that can add to the atmosphere of a themed wedding.  Tents in bold panels of color with scallops and heraldic banners will instantly add a medieval feel to an outdoor wedding, stripy beach shelters will produce a holiday mood and tents from other cultures – the Nepalese yurt or tipi will be a focal point for your celebrations as well as a practical addition.

We chose to get married in fall, when the weather is often at its most brilliant in my home town.  We were getting married at my parent's home, and had planned a sit down meal in a marquee for the reception, but were hoping to get married amongst the trees on their property.  

the week before the wedding we travelled to my parents' house to do the final preparations.  And it started to rain.  It rained non-stop for four days and on the morning of the wedding it was still raining.  I wish I could say that it stopped raining in time for us to get married, but it didn't.  We had to move the ceremony into my parent's large living room, with half of the 75 guests standing on the veranda looking through the sliding doors, and then we celebrated the reception in half an inch of water on the floor of the marquee, which had been set up on the tennis court!  It pays to have a wet weather option.

Two days later the weather changed completely to the blue skies we had hoped for, but our consolation was that the rain had broken a drought!

The other area, particularly important for an evening wedding, is lighting. During the day beautiful light fixtures such as lanterns or candelabra, can be a feature of your wedding reception centerpieces. For an evening ceremony or reception the lighting will be a design element in itself. When you are outdoors, lights strung from the branches of, or between, trees are a festive way to decorate. There are many options – paper lanterns in a variety of colors and shapes, plain white lights or fairy lights are all popular options.

.  If the location and season allows for it, torches on stakes can be used to mark pathways or the edge of the garden and for a fall or winter wedding a bonfire or wood burning outdoor heaters would add a unique focal point for your celebrations.  Of course candles are also a popular choice, and the options for candle holders are endless.  If you are worried about safety or suspect that candles will go out, explore the various battery operated LED candles which give the appearance of flickering candlelight but are much more reliable.