Outdoor Ceremony Vs Indoor Ceremony
While some brides have always dreamed of having an outdoor garden wedding, and some have known since they were little girls that they would have their weddings in an elegant ballroom venue, other brides are struggling to decide on their perfect style and location of wedding.
If you’re among those brides weighing both indoor wedding and outdoor wedding options, here are some of the top considerations of each type of wedding venue:
Outdoor Weddings:
- Outdoor garden wedding venues are already decorated in beautiful splendor, with lush trees and gorgeous, flower-filled gardens…providing an already-bloomed venue that you don’t have to spend a large portion of your wedding budget to decorate. Master landscape artists and gardeners have created a magical garden wedding venue featuring beautiful seasonal blooms, as the setting of an outdoor wedding ceremony. Read more…
Outdoor Wedding Ceremony
Outdoor wedding ceremonies are so romantic, and many of our brides and grooms say that among their top wedding ideas is having an outdoor ceremony so that they and their wedding guests can enjoy a beautifully-bloomed garden wedding venue as they take their vows.
We’ve hosted thousands of outdoor weddings here at our Northern New Jersey wedding venue, and we offer you the top tips for planning a spectacular outdoor wedding ceremony:
Wedding planners advise providing plenty of space between rows of chairs, so that guests can walk more comfortably between rows to take their seats.
Add in the decorative style of an aisle runner, making sure to choose an aisle runner that has a non-slip underside for your and your guests’ safe use. Thin-fabric, inexpensive aisle runners tend to bunch up and blow in the breeze, and your wedding is too important to allow for any careless details such as those!
Set up a speaker system at your outdoor wedding venue, so that guests can hear you both speaking your vows, and listen to the officiant’s readings and other ceremony elements. When you’re outdoors, sound can be carried away even on the gentlest of breezes, and a speaker will save your outdoor wedding ceremony from being virtually unheard by all.
Provide shade for guests on a hot day. Some outdoor wedding couples marrying in a unique wedding venue will arrange for fabric draping in the trees surrounding their ceremony sites, and others hand out colorful umbrellas for guests to shade themselves with. Always provide for your guests’ comfort, especially on a warm day.
Coordinate your ceremony décor flowers to match the flowers and plants that exist at your outdoor wedding site, for lovely décor and savings on your wedding budget. When you incorporate the same colors of roses, peonies, tulips or other flowers planted at your site, it only takes a few budget-friendly floral décor additions to make it look like you decorated the entire scene.
Maintain a relaxed atmosphere. Outdoor wedding locations may be deemed formal, but it’s become a trend for guests to seat themselves, rather than having ushers seat each guest.
Ask your photographer to take a series of panoramic shots of your outdoor wedding venue’s scenery, to capture the beauty of the setting.
An important wedding planning consideration: Choose weightier décor items, such as a heavier pedestal for your unity candle and a sturdy floral container. If your wedding day is breezy, you don’t want the wind to tip over any of your wedding ceremony décor pieces.
Have greeters hand your wedding programs to your guests. Don’t place them on guest seats, or they may blow around in the breeze.
Choose florals that hold up in warmer, sunnier, outdoor weather. Always tell your floral designer that you’re having an outdoor wedding, so that he or she can advise you on which blooms hold up best when displayed at an outdoor wedding venue.
Michael Mahle, Director of Communications, Pleasantdale Chateau
For so many brides and grooms, their dream wedding takes place in a garden venue, surrounded by the beauty of nature and the magic of endless flowers in full bloom, in the trees, in landscaping, along pathways…and a perfect blue sky above. The garden wedding is the choice of so many celebrity couples who lead bridal trends, and bridal magazines are filled with stunning images of outdoor weddings in gorgeous gardens.
Garden Wedding
What is it about the garden wedding that calls to so many of today’s brides and grooms? Beyond the sheer beauty of it, as designed by our site’s landscaping team and sometimes enhanced further by additional floral décor and lighting on the grounds, many couples say that a garden wedding creates a European feel to their weddings. An outdoor ceremony and celebration may be a replica of the family weddings that took place in Corsica, in Greece, in Tuscany, in the far-off regions of their ancestors. We’ve seen those weddings in Under the Tuscan Sun and other hit movies, left breathless by the flowers, the arbors, the scenery…with the bride and groom in their wedding finery standing out amongst the sea of natural color.
English Garden
Another factor of the garden wedding’s popularity is budget. If a site is already expertly planted in floral splendor – as is ours at The Manor — the couple might not have to spend any extra money on décor. In a plain and simple ballroom, at a basic site without garden grounds, hundreds if not thousands of dollars must be spent to create that floral splendor the couple dreams of. Planters would have to be brought in for the wedding, then carted off and discarded after the celebration. Since most couples are on a budget, it’s often impossible to create the same level of garden image that already exists in an actual garden venue.
And finally, many couples are eco-minded these days, mindful fans of nature, preferring to marry among living trees and plants, out in the fresh, clean air of a beautiful day in nature’s beauty.
For some, the reason is simply this: it’s always been their dream to have a garden wedding. They’ve never considered a different option. Whatever the inspiration, we’re happy to make the dream of a garden wedding come true, even better than you imagined it.
Until next time,
Preston Postlethwaite, Banquet Manager, The Manor
