Outdoor Wedding and Weather
Everyone in Colorado wants to an outdoor wedding. Of course you do, it’s beautiful! Please remember, however, that outside weddings need to be adjusted for all the elements…wind, rain, dust, sun, melting, blowing, and drenching. Here are some important tips that will guide your outdoor wedding setup and decor:
- Wind. Wind. Wind. Everything blows, tips and falls. All decor needs to be heavy and short. Secure anything within your outdoor wedding spaces. Last night I had an outdoor wedding, on the Boulder Flower Farm. Cue the wind. We ended up having to tie the napkins to the water glasses just to keep them on the table. Against my advice, the client did not want chargers on the table….which would have then allowed us to put the napkins in a waterfall, underneath the charger, and they would have been more secure. We did pre-set water goblets, filled with water, which held down the runner. Tall vases of flowers blew over continuously until I finally had to take them off the tables. She ordered tall vases from the rental company, and the florist filled them with heavy flowers, so they tipped over in the slightest wind. Her table numbers were 6″ high acryllic arches….and guess what….they blew over all night. She would have been better off with short, fat, round, rock-weighted vases with low flowers and a post stuck into the vase with the table number. See the difference?
- Rain and afternoon showers are a staple in the mountains on a dreamy summer afternoon. Does your outdoor space have cover? Decide what is acceptable for your wedding day; in otherwords what is your must-have? If you “must” get married outside, be prepared to either do it under umbrellas, or swap cocktail hour with the ceremony time, so you can have cocktails indoor and then go outside when that late afternoon shower passes by. If you “must” dine outside, remember that set up begins about 3 hours prior to your ceremony, and dinner is about 1.5 hours after that. That means, no drops of rain during set up, ceremony, cocktails or the full dinner hour. Recently at a wedding at Lyons Farmette, radar told us it would rain at exactly the ceremony start time, so we set up all chairs indoors. At exactly the ceremony start time it was not raining, so all the guests ran inside and grabbed a chair and carried it outside to the ceremony spot and sat down. About 2/3 of the way through the ceremony it started sprinkling but the couple held their spot and finished just in time for a true downpour. If you have booked a tent (smart move) remember that often the tent is installed the day before and removed the day after, so you may have increased venue rental fees. Also remember that rain drips off the side of the tent, so all tables and chairs need to be “inland” about 2 feet (which can greatly affect available space and layout. Always buy clear and white umbrellas for the bride/groom and wedding party.
- The sun is hot. Even on sunny days, we have to remember the outdoor wedding elements. Candles sitting out in the sun for 4 hours will melt. Food cannot set out and raise above certain temperatures (go to passed hors d’oeuvres rather than buffet). Your cake will melt. Your key lime tartlets cannot go on the dessert bar. You cannot spread crayons on the kids’ table. And your guests will need 2-3 times the amount of water (if you are outside, what is your water source?).
- Pack these essentials for all of your guests: bug spray, oxygen, sunscreen, water bottles, umbrellas.