Through my many years of DJing weddings, I have noticed more and more couples having outdoor weddings. An outdoor wedding can be magical. Especially if all of the elements are perfect from the sun shining, stars at night, fresh air and the beautiful sounds of nature.

Outdoor weddings are a hot trend that can’t be ignored. With that said, I thought I would share some outdoor wedding tips from my experiences in providing my services in many different outdoor settings.

Outdoor Wedding Planning Tips

Plan Your Budget Before Sending Invitations 

It is often assumed that having an outdoor wedding will save you money. Indeed this is often true but is not always the case.

Not only will you want to tally up the expenses of hiring all of your vendors far in advance, one thing that is often overlooked is the expense of preparing the property for the wedding.

This can often cost more than the wedding itself!!

I have heard stories of the expenses spent to host an outdoor wedding piling up and piling up long after sending out the invitations and the couples found themselves in a position where they ended up thousands of dollars over-budget.

Make Sure Your Vendors Are Insured

Which vendors you may ask? ALL of them!

Possible damage to their equipment or your property both outside and inside may occur and you MUST make sure you protect yourself and the expense of your property if any damage occurs.

Unexpected events are much more likely to occur at an outdoor wedding because banquet halls were designed from the start to host many vendors and guests.

Your property will be modified to host the wedding at a later date than which you purchased or rented it.

I will always remember pushing my DJ gear up a HUGE wet grassy hill on a dolly praying I didn’t slip. I don’t think I’d be here today writing this blog if I did!

Weather Clauses In Contracts

Every vendor should have a clause in their contract covering what happens in regards to the expense for their services if the wedding is disrupted by weather or any other condition.

Inclimate weather clauses are obviously more applicable when hiring your vendors for an outdoor wedding.

However, you should still address this even if your wedding is indoors because people may not show up if they have to drive in extremely poor weather conditions.

Every vendor drafts their contracts in a way that makes the most sense for them and their clients.

Furthermore, I’m not referring so much to the right or wrong way to write up a contract.

However, I can’t stress enough they must have a cancellation clause in their contract that is clear and easy to understand.

Access to Power

This is the most overlooked factor in hosting a wedding outdoors.

It is important to ask ALL of your wedding vendors needing power, how much power they need, if they have the proper extension cords and if they have a backup generator.

Some may charge a small extra fee to bring a generator, but it is imperative to always have at least two backup generators on hand whether they are owned by the host or vendors.

Always remember, no power no party. The important thing is to always plan ahead and have adequate power that is accessible in place.

Portable Bathrooms

This one is pretty straightforward. If you are hosting a backyard wedding, nobody wants possibly hundreds of people walking through their house potentially damaging their property, also tracking in dirt and mud.

Furthermore, you may also need portable bathrooms if you are renting public outdoor space as well. Portable bathrooms can be expensive so be sure to shop around EARLY.

Set Up As Early As Possible

Two things are for sure when hosting any event. It will almost always cost more than planned.

It will also take longer to set everything up than initially planned.

Furthermore, unforeseen circumstances occur at EVERY event and usually more in a less controlled outdoor environment.

It could be bad weather, added time to set up power supplies, poor driving access causing vendors having to walk their equipment across miles of land barefoot in the snow (ok maybe not that bad).

You name it, it could happen, so be sure to plan extra set up time accordingly for an outdoor wedding.

Dance floor or No Dance floor

Renting a standard 12′ x12′ dance floor usually costs around $200 to $300. If you have it in your budget, I advise renting one.

It will look great and actually ties everything together in the dedicated dancing area significantly taking the ambiance of your wedding to the next level.

It also simply tells people where to dance. I have DJ’d outdoor weddings without a dance floor.

It is much easier to build the momentum of the dancers when they are not scattered about in different places.

Not to mention it saves the lawn too!! So if possible, be sure to bring everybody together with a dance floor!