3 Tips for Your Outdoor Wedding Ceremony || Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Outdoor wedding ceremonies are beautiful but can have its challenges. Take into consideration these three tips to plan your ceremony without a hitch!

HAVE A BACK UP PLAN FOR YOUR OUTDOOR WEDDING CEREMONY

Sadly we can’t always predict the weather! So rain or even snow (dependent on the time of year) is a possibility at your outdoor wedding ceremony. It’s always a good idea to have a backup plan. A great place to start is by asking your wedding venue. Often they will offer inclement weather ceremony sites that are available rain or shine.

PLAN FOR THE WEATHER

Even without rain, it is a good idea to think about the time of year your outdoor ceremony is taking place. If your wedding is on a sunny day in July, your guests might appreciate wedding programs that double as a fan. While your guests at an outdoor ceremony in late fall, probably would appreciate snuggling up with a few blankets while they celebrate you getting married!

THINK ABOUT LIGHTING

Coming from experience as a wedding photographer, it is very important to think about lighting. While this probably isn’t the first thing that you think of, lighting will greatly affect the look of your outdoor wedding ceremony photos. So making a few adjustments could greatly improve your images!

If possible outdoor ceremony sites that have shade will provide you with the most flattering and gorgeous lighting. The ceremony site below was evenly shaded by trees with the sun coming from directly behind the officiant.

If shade isn’t possible having the sun directly behind you during the time of your ceremony is the next best option. This is highly dependent on the time of your ceremony, but lighting that is coming from behind your officiant will be even as it is not shining more brightly on either side of you or causing harsh shadows as you look towards your guests (your photographer’s point of view).

Sometimes you just can’t change the fact there is no shade or that the sun will be shining more brightly to the left/right of you during your outdoor wedding ceremony. This is when I recommend thinking about avoiding times of the day when the sun is harshest (typically 10 AM to 2 PM). The further you are away from this time of day, the less harsh the sunlight will be. This means the more beautiful the lighting!