Outdoor weddings can provide you with freedoms that indoor venues can’t. Usually more relaxed and easier to put your own stamp on, you can really go to town on making your day stand out from the crowd. Here’s some ideas to make your outdoor wedding one to remember.
Festival flags
If you’re looking to create the ultimate festival or boho vibe, festival flags are the perfect choice. Use them to lay out pathways, boundaries or to simply add a pop of colour and movement to your outdoor space.
They also make for amazing photo opportunities – are you at Glastonbury or a field in Worcestershire? Who knows!
Umbrellas, blankets and sunglasses
Let’s face it – the great British Summer likes to surprise us. So, what’s the best course of action? Preparation! Providing umbrellas, blankets, or sunglasses for your guests is a really lovely touch to make them feel comfortable.
Blankets are perfect for when the sun goes down and the evening turns chilly, and umbrellas give your guests the chance to enjoy the outdoor space without having to congregate under shelter if it does rain. Place them in wicker baskets around your venue with cute signs and let your guests take their pick.
Lawn games
Ever been to a wedding and not known anyone? Trying to get chatting to people can be hard (especially at the start of the day), and lawn games can provide that perfect ice-breaker, as well as giving your guests something fun to do in between different elements of the day.
A coconut shy, horseshoe hoopla, ball in a bucket or giant noughts and crosses are perfect for keeping your guests entertained. If your wedding is in a large area, these giant-sized games can also help fill some of this space.
Street food
When you think of ‘street food’, it no longer cooks up the idea of dodgy burgers and hot dogs sold from a van in a lay-by, but exciting and fresh flavours from all over the world. It’s for this reason it’s becoming a more and more popular choice of catering for weddings. Whether you’re after pizza, paella or crepes, you can find a street food vendor for almost any tastes – and an added bonus? It’s all made fresh.
If you don’t fancy a sit-down meal, or if you’d like something different to feed your hungry evening guests, the relaxed and flexible nature of street food makes for a fun option that your guests will love. Oh, and it’s also the perfect stand-up food – meaning your guests can carry on mingling and dancing into the night with some good grub in one hand, and a drink in the other!
Silent disco
Silent discos have been a super fun trend at weddings for the last few years, and one that your guests (young and old) will love!
There’s nothing funnier than taking your headphones off halfway through the night to see your guests jumping around and singing along to a mix of songs in a seemingly silent room... it also makes for hilarious video footage!
Silent disco headphones come with a number of channels and there are loads of super easy options when it comes to organising the music on each one. You could have your DJ playing on one channel, a personalised playlist on the next, and the third plugged into your own phone or tablet so your guests can select songs to play from Spotify. This means everyone can flick between channels to find their favourite tunes to dance to.
Another bonus is that guests who would prefer to sit and chat can do so without the background noise of music… just a maniacal mass singalong instead! A silent disco will make your wedding one of a kind, and one that your guests will be talking about for years to come.
Fire pit
If your venue allows you to (or if you’re holding your wedding on your own land or garden) an outdoor fire pit is a great idea for a number of reasons. It provides a focal point for your guests to congregate around, chat, and keep warm as the night goes on.
You could also provide seating – even if it’s hay bales or old sofas – and marshmallows for toasting to give your wedding some cool glamping vibes.