Are outdoor weddings the future?
I love outdoor weddings, whatever the weather. I can’t help wonder if outdoor weddings are going to be a lot more popular from now on due to the current coronavirus pandemic. Although I believe that eventually we will get back to normal (hopefully sooner rather than later!) and that the virus isn’t going to control us forever, but I also think it may make us more aware of germ transmission or even just that we’ve enjoyed spending time outdoors and can brave the cold a little easier. Currently the only physical social interaction we can have with people outside of our own household is outdoors and, I for one, have enjoyed those outdoor occasions even when the weather isn’t too great.
At the moment (early June 2020) we cannot have any weddings at all and most weddings that are planned for the next couple of months, at least, are being postponed. Recent evidence shows that the virus is much less likely to spread outdoors and can even be killed more quickly in the sun so are we going to feel safer and more relaxed in large groups being outdoors in the near future?
Why I love outdoor weddings
From a photographer’s perspective outdoor weddings are wonderful as you can move around more freely, capturing more angles without being really obvious to the guests and causing less distractions.
But more importantly when we have plenty of natural light available we can have a lot more control over our camera settings and produce the style of images that we love the most. When indoors we have to take whatever lighting is used by the venue (and adjust by using flash if necessary and allowed). I’m not saying that indoor weddings aren’t wonderful too (as they definitely are!) just that the photographer can have more control over their style of images when outdoors.
Why people love getting married outdoors
From the perspective of a couple getting married, marrying outdoors can be a lot more relaxing, helping with those nerves that I’m sure most people have. Being indoors in a quiet room can be more nerve wrecking for the person walking down the aisle. Outdoors you can hear the nature around you, the wind blowing, birds tweeting, even cars passing breaks the silence and therefore can help with nerves.
How about this for an aisle to walk down? This ceremony is in Clumber Park Glasshouse. Technically the ceremony was indoors inside the Glasshouse but it had an outdoorsy feel and the aisle was completely outside.
There are, however, restrictions to having an outdoor wedding. In the UK you can’t just choose a spot and get married there, you have to marry under a licensed covering/pagoda. Therefore sometimes couples may choose to do the official ceremony the day before, or even earlier on the same day, at a registry office and then hold a mock ceremony on the day of the wedding so to still have a full traditional wedding in front of friends and family.
The photos above are from an outdoor wedding at Rosliston Forestry Centre in Derbyshire. The official ceremony was allowed to be outdoors as the ceremony was conducted underneath a licensed pagoda.
The images below, on the other hand, are from an outdoor mock ceremony at Moot Hall where the venue doesn’t have a license to conduct official ceremonies so the bride and groom got officially married the previous day at a registry office. One of the plus sides of having a mock ceremony is you can hold it wherever you like and the ceremony can be conducted by anyone (even a friend). This particular ceremony was made up of Chloe and Will’s musician friends playing different pieces of music so it was very personal to them and a beautifully unique experience for everybody.
As we know the weather can be very variable here in the UK. As long as you are prepared then it’s perfectly possible to have an outdoor ceremony in the winter, just ask your guests to bring a big coat, you could even provide a box of blankets in case anyone wants an extra layer to wrap up in (you can often buy these kind of things second hand on wedding selling pages and then sell them on afterwards in the same way, or buy them from a charity shop and then donate them back so it doesn’t have to cause extra waste or much expense). Ceremonies don’t have to be an hour long either, a short and sweet ceremony might be enough for an outdoor winter wedding.
We do obviously have some really awful weather days too involving torrential rain (as we have had this week!). It would be quite unlikely to have torrential rain at the specific time of your ceremony as the weather changes throughout the day but it could still happen so it’s good to have a backup plan just in case. Hotels that host outdoor weddings will have a room indoors that you can move to if needs be. I’ve only photographed two weddings before that were meant to be outdoors but then had to be moved inside. In fact at the wedding in the images above at Roslington Forestry Centre it rained all morning, then stopped to allow for the outdoor ceremony, and then rained again as soon as everyone was in the marquee, it was as if it was perfectly planned and the rain didn’t cause any inconvenience!
It’s very common for couples to worry about what the weather will be like on their wedding but I can honestly say that I have never been to a wedding that has been ruined by the rain. If it does happen on your day then you really won’t care so much when it comes to it, you’ll be so busy soaking up your special day that you’ll barely even notice!
Whatever you decide to do, outdoors weddings are still a bit of a risk due to our ever changing weather conditions here in the UK. So if you are a big worrier or don’t like the idea of your plans having to change last minute then an indoor ceremony might be better suited to you.
Good luck! I’ll leave you with a few images that were taken at weddings during rainfall.
