Outdoor weddings can be a beautiful way to celebrate the love you share as a couple. If considering an outdoor ceremony, here are seven things to keep in mind to make sure your day goes off without a hitch!

Seasonal Temps

If your wedding is set to take place on a cold day, consider handing out blankets, portable heaters, and warm rice bags as people are being seated. One great wedding I attended this past year offered guests tiny stretch gloves from the dollar store. What a great idea—and inexpensive, too!

If the temperature’s more likely to soar, offer guests custom water bottles or print your wedding program on a fan. Guests will also appreciate if you have sunscreen on hand as well.

Volume

A detail that’s often overlooked, make sure to have a mic on hand for when you exchange vows. Often your DJ will have one you can use, but you’ll have to ask in advance and make sure their arrival time aligns with the ceremony.

Rain

According to Brides.com, the fear it might rain is the biggest reason couples choose not to have an outdoor wedding. Renting a facility that offers both indoor and outdoor space, however, ensures your event will go as planned matter what surprises the weather holds. Golf courses are especially equipped for this, as most have an indoor space equal in size to one outside.

Decorated Facilities

Outdoor wedding decorations are as creative as they are beautiful. Even if your ceremony is at a golf course with well-maintained grounds, you can still add your own touches by including an arch or trellis to frame the two of you as you exchange your vows. Other great ideas are to string lights or lanterns in the trees, decorate the grounds with luminaries or torches, or use potted plants as table center pieces or aisle markers.

Refreshments

Offer a little something for everyone by serving a variety of drinks such as lemonade, flavored waters, teas, and punches. Although on a hot day, it would be wise to think twice about serving alcohol,  cocktails such as a mint julep or a mojito can be a crowd favorite. Just make sure to also have plenty of water and ice on hand!

Keep Away Pests

Outdoor events bring with them the possibility you and your guests will become irritated by swarming mosquitoes, gnats, flies, and other bugs and insects. Using citronella candles, mosquito dunks, and staying away from ponds without running water are great ways to tamp down on these uninvited guests.

The Sun

According to a recent wedding poll, the number one reason guests dislike attending outdoor weddings is the sun that makes them sweat, squint, or else casts a shadow over the couple during the ceremony. Consider timing your outdoor wedding for sunset, where your guests will see you take your vows surrounded by the warm—not hot—glow of the sun. If you are having a daytime outdoor wedding, orient the ceremony so sunlight beams onto your guests’ backs rather than in their eyes.