This Indiana outdoor wedding was a blast and filled with all the good things that come with summertime. From a sunny ceremony with a gorgeous floral arch, to a food truck, cornhole, cold beer, and dancing, Nick + Brandy’s wedding was the perfect picture of an Indiana outdoor wedding in the summer.
If you’re wanting a wedding day like this, we have some tips to make sure you have all you need!
Indiana Outdoor Weddings
In case you wondered, I am a complete sucker for an outdoor wedding. I’m also a sap for summer weddings. There’s just something about warm nights, lightning bugs, s’mores, bonfires, and gathering your favorite people up in one spot that just gets me.
This is part of the reason why I wanted to get married in the summer. And why we ALMOST had an outdoor backyard wedding.
When planning an outdoor wedding, you can keep things as simple as you want or make it elegant. It’s completely up to what you and your partner want. If you’re thinking simple, quaint, micro wedding vibes, then we are here to share some essential wedding items we recommend looking into.
5 Essentials for Outdoor Summer Weddings
- Find an officiant.
- Book a photographer and videographer.
- Finalize a ceremony space.
- Decide on a reception space and food.
- Choose the little details that make your day perfect.
1. Find an officiant.
One of the most vital things a wedding needs is a person to marry the couple! Pick your officiant whether it’s an ordained family member, friend, or pastor/minister. Once you have them and your marriage license, the rest is whatever you want it to be.
2. Book a photographer and videographer.
Do you want your wedding day captured? Odds are the answer is yes. Do you want photography, videography, or both? In case you wondered, we cover both so if that interests you, contact us here. Book your photographer and videographer early because they can book fast and you want to make sure to have your Indiana outdoor wedding documented just how you want it to be.
3. Finalize a ceremony space for your Indiana outdoor wedding.
When thinking through the ceremony spot, consider lighting and temperature. What time of day are you wanting your outdoor wedding ceremony? Will this spot be in direct sun?
For summer outdoor weddings, getting married in the morning or later in the day is ideal not only for the cooler temps, but also due to the lighting.
If you have a nice, evenly shaded spot, this creates more flexibility on the time of day for the ceremony. An open area can work, but it all depends on which direction everything faces as the placement of sun can cause major contrast in photos. For Brandy + Nick, they chose an open area that worked well based on their afternoon wedding.
Having a ceremony under trees can work well but can also create spotty light if the sun is shining through depending on the hour.
Feel free to talk to your photographer if you have questions or concerns about lighting.
4. Decide on a reception space and food.
After your outdoor ceremony, you want to celebrate, right?! Outdoor weddings give you lots of fun options!
When it comes to a location, you can rent a tent with twinkle lights or go with open air reception with light strands in the trees above.
Once you have your reception location sorted out, decide whether you want to serve dinner, appetizers, or stick with desserts only.
Brandy and Nick supported a local business and had a food truck at their reception! It was delicious and made things easy for them and for guests. Plus, let’s be honest, who doesn’t love a good food truck?
Another dinner option is a dinner party under the stars. You can rent tables, chairs, and décor to complete the look and have a buffet style dinner.
If you’re wanting to keep things a little simpler, then go for appetizers! Have a table or two set up with all your favorite goodies for people to graze on. Add some cocktail tables set up in an open outdoor space and cute coolers filled with your favorite drinks. Or if desserts only is what you have in mind, then you can do a dessert table very similarly to the appetizer table idea above.
Then it’s up to you if you want to hire a DJ or rent some speakers with a playlist of favorite tunes. Like we mentioned earlier, you can keep things as simple as you want whether the evening is filled with dancing, chatting, games, or anything else.
5. Choose the little details that make your Indiana outdoor wedding perfect.
An outdoor wedding and flowers go hand-in-hand. Flowers aren’t a necessary thing, but they are something that many choose to include in their weddings and can be as simple or as fancy as you want them to be. Brandy + Nick included some beautiful real florals done by a local florist. Stunning bouquet and a gorgeous floral arch for this Indiana outdoor wedding!
If you’re getting married outdoors in the summer and plan to spend the whole day outside, have sunscreen, hairspray, and bug spray available for guests. Also, having cute coolers filled with water bottles or a specific water cooler station available is vital to keep your guests hydrated.
If the outdoor wedding is taking place in a large space, think through how people will get around on the big day. Golf carts are a great solution to help get everyone where they need to be. The best part about these is if you have grandparents or anyone who would need assistance with mobility, they really help them to get around easier.
Nick + Brandy had a golf cart that they used for this reason, and it allowed for their grandparents to be everywhere they wanted to be in a smooth, quick fashion. It also helped when it was time for Nick + Brandy’s sunset photos to be able to drive to other parts of the property.
One of the big questions with outdoor events—especially outdoor weddings—is where will people use the restroom? If you want to keep your guests comfortable, a luxury restroom trailer is probably the way to go. Nick + Brandy had one of these trailers and it was incredibly convenient for their guests.
Summer Backyard Weddings
Here’s the thing: We love small, outdoor weddings. We also love when people choose to have a backyard wedding at a place that special to them.
We 100% support couples planning the wedding of their dreams—not everyone else’s dreams. If that is a quaint, backyard summer wedding, then do it. Start your marriage off the way you want to with the people you want to be with.
If this is what you’re looking for, you can reach out and contact Jonathan and I here and we can start talking about your dream day.
Brandy + Nick’s wedding is featured on Partyslate here and on Zola here.
If you liked this post, then we think you would enjoy looking through these as well:
Indiana Elopement at Sugar Creek Retreat
