Ceremony venue selection is one of the earliest tasks when planning your wedding day. So, if you’re one of the new Valentine’s Day engagements – Congratulations to you, by the way – you’ll soon be looking at venues for your wedding ceremony. Outdoor ceremonies continue in popularity, and can be beautiful, but there are some extra things to consider when visiting outdoor ceremony venues. For example:
1. Bad weather – is there an indoor backup space at same location? If not, how would your guests know where to go, and if you’ve moved the ceremony indoors somewhere?
2. Position of the sun – will it be in your eyes? The eyes of your guests? This can be a real distraction if you select a ceremony time anywhere near sunset.
3. Accessibility – are the distance from parking and the terrain to be covered comfortable for your guests? Certainly consider elderly guests, but a broken leg can happen to anyone at any time.
4. Privacy – is there a place for the wedding party to gather and line up for the processional that is out of view from the guests? Some venues are so open that there’s no place to begin the processional from, and guests can see the entire wedding party at all times.
5. Seating – is seating provided for the guests? Do you have to set it up, or is that handled for you? Unless you are having a very brief (10 minutes or less) ceremony, your guests will be more comfortable if they can be seated. And arranging chairs is an additional task that your wedding party doesn’t need to be handling on a busy wedding day.
6. Facilities – are there bathrooms in the vicinity for you and your guests to use? Especially important for guests who have driven a distance to be with, you want them to be comfortable upon arrival.
7. Insects – are there any provision for bug control? I’ve seen guests spend most of the ceremony swatting at mosquitos, bees, and small biting insects. Memorable, but not the way you want it to be. See if it is possible for the venue to do a “bug bombing” of the ceremony site in advance of your ceremony time.
Using the considerations above, potential ceremony venues can be evaluated in a fair and logical way. Ceremony venue selection can soon be checked off your to do list, and you’ll be moving on to planning other aspects of your ideal wedding day.