Outdoor Wedding Essentials: Tips to Combat the Heat

Today, I wanted to talk more about weather, specifically some outdoor wedding essentials that you will need to make your wedding as heat-friendly as possible for your guests. If you are a native of Eastern North Carolina, you know firsthand how hot it can get here. From the end of June to the end of August, it is not uncommon to experience a series of heat waves and heat advisories.

Just ask me, not only did I suffer from sun poisoning last summer, but at a couple of my outdoor weddings, I had a few guests who got too hot and fainted (three at one of these events), both of which these clients did not know about. As I have mentioned before, there are a lot of behind the scenes issues that occur that brides may never know happened, which is why you should hire a professional wedding day coordinator that can think and move fast to handle any issue that may arise. I may elaborate more about this in another post.

Following are some practical tips to make sure your guests are comfortable at your outdoor wedding.

• Consider hosting your outdoor wedding in the evening! If you are having an outdoor wedding in the late spring or summer when and where the weather gets very hot, ideally you should host your wedding in the evening when the sun is about to set (no sooner than six o’clock). In this way, the sun is not directly shining down on your guests. This is especially important if you are having your outdoor ceremony some place that is overlooking the water because not only is the sun directly shining down, but it is also reflecting back from the water.

• Choose a location that offers shade! In some outdoor venues, you may be able to setup in an area that is shaded or at least next to a shaded area. This is important if you are hosting your wedding outside early in the day when the sun is the highest in the sky. If your outdoor wedding site does not offer any shade consider only hosting the ceremony outside. Even then, you should invest in paper parasols and fans for your guests. Trust me they do come in handy, and of course they make for great favors. Otherwise, if your entire event will be outside, you really should consider having a tent wedding.

• Keep your guests hydrated! This seems like a given, but I think it is worth mentioning. As your guests are arriving to your ceremony, have your hosts to pass out chilled water bottles as your guests are being seated. If you want to spruce up the water bottles, you can order personalized labels in your wedding colors to put on them. As I always say, personalization is everything.

Another thing to note is that elderly guests tend to be very susceptible to the heat, so if you are having a great deal of elderly guests, you want to be especially considerate of them. Even more, they should be made aware that you are having an outdoor wedding. This may determine whether or not they attend depending on their sensitivity to the heat. Another factor is that they may be taking medicine that makes them more sensitive to the sun exposure. I know about this firsthand because I take a diuretic everyday to regulate my blood pressure.