10 Tips for the Perfect Outdoor Wedding – Prep for Your Outdoor Fairy-tale

The last thing you want is to have is a houseful of grumpy guests dressed in their finery, furious at not being informed of the wedding being a garden party. Insert a note into the invitation such that the guest is aware that s/he would need to be dressed for an outdoor affair. Generally, when it comes to destination weddings, guests do know that it would be on the beach, by a river or in a lush garden, however, it is best not to assume.

Among the many beautiful places in Kalutara, one actually has the freedom to choose between beaches, rivers, gardens and even lagoons. As wonderful as this is, the hosts must ensure that the entire event is not washed out. Ideally, the ceremony should be held outdoors with the reception continuing indoors. In case there is torrential rain or an unexpected heat wave, you always have the option of moving the ceremony indoors instead of cancelling.

Just as you dreamt of the idyllic location, you undoubtedly would have dreamt of the perfect suit or dress for yourself. While it is important to bring this dream to life, one needs to be practical about it as well. Check the weather report and wear something that will keep you comfortable and spruce during the ceremony.

Your guests will be thirsty even before they reach the venue if it is a sultry day. Therefore, arrange for a bottle of water to be handed to each guest and have a light lemon or mint based juice or iced tea served as the welcome drink. Travel blogs such as Travel Kalutara will reveal that even on a rainy day, the Sri Lankan shoreline can be humid, making a solid supply of drinks an essential requirement.

Use simple techniques to keep people comfortable. For instance, print the day’s programme on a fan and leave it on everyone’s seat, so that they can fan themselves if they feel warm. Avoid bulky decorations that will be in everyone’s way and sway crazily in the wind.

Consult the locals to find out which months have the most rain, what time the sun sets during a particular month and the direction of the wind. Accordingly, you would need to completely avoid rainy months, put up tents for slight showers, time the ceremony just as the sun sets and arrange the seating so as to not be disturbed largely by the wind.

Blaring recitals in your ears are not welcome, but at the same time, half the guests would not want to sit around not knowing what is going on. Get the sounds tested more than once and brief the sound engineers about adjusting the volume if there are loud droplets of rain or howling winds in the backdrop.

If you plan to serve finger food as the ceremony progresses, make sure the items won’t make the guests any thirstier than they are anyway. Usually salty, spicy and starchy foods make people thirsty, a bit of cut fruit or cucumber sandwiches should work well to keep the guests happy.

When the party is outdoors, chances are that you and your guests are not the only people in the area. Therefore, to evade having little boys and girls running to and from the swimming pool in your background, it is best that you choose a location slightly remote from the rest of the world.

Either choose to have the cake and the champagne fountain placed indoors; far from harm’s way or get a cake that can withstand the high temperature and a short fountain that will not crash for the wind.