Tips and Ideas for a Summer Wedding

Summer fruit platter

Winter, Spring or Summer, why would you choose a Summer Wedding?

Choosing a date on which to have your wedding for some people is a simple task but for others, it can be a little trickier. It may be the anniversary of when you met or got engaged. It may be someone’s birthday that you want to commemorate. Or it may be that you simply want a date within a time period. One of the most popular times for weddings is the summer but it pays to remember that it isn’t always gorgeous sunshine and flowers.

Outside venues

One of the biggest draws for a summer wedding is the ability to hold it outside. Whether this is a ceremony held in a garden setting or the reception using a marquee and the landscaped areas of a hotel, there is an appeal of setting your wedding outside when the sun is out. But there are some pointers to remember that can prevent the day being all about relaxing in the sun and sipping wine.

For starters, if it happens to be one of those times when we get real sunshine, make sure you have plans for your guests to be able to cool down. This can be anything from little hand-held fans that can be distributed as needed or small bottles of sunscreen right through to renting air conditioning units. You can make use of natural shade by having guests sitting partially under the shade of trees or even erect a tent area over some of the seats for those that really feel the heat.

Consider the time of day to hold the ceremony for a summer wedding. You don’t want to be outside or even in a sun-filled room at the height of the day around noon. Consider timing the ceremony for later in the afternoon and have the reception as an evening only event, even timing the meal for sunset for a beautiful backdrop.

Food and drink

If you love the idea of a summer wedding, then embrace the idea of food that suits the warmer times of the year. Soups and big, heavy, hot meals may need serious consideration for a summer wedding with dishes such as sorbets, cold soups or fruit platters being good substitutes. Frozen cocktails or fruit juice can make a fun dessert that will help keep your guests cool.

As well as the traditional drinks, consider having a table filled with ice water decorated with slices of lemon, lime and orange. Guests can help themselves when they are warm and it won’t overfill everyone for the meal or lead to too much early alcohol consumption either!

Contingency plans

The other thing to always remember about a summer wedding is that there are no guarantees about the weather. You can plan for a hot day but you may end with a cool and raining one just as easily. Therefore, consider contingency plans if the weather turns against you. Look at venues with an inside and outside area that could hold the ceremony in either. Consider having cover for the ceremony if it is outside, protecting from the sun but also from the rain. And keep a stack of umbrellas handy, just in case!