HOW TO STAY COOL DURING SUMMER WEDDINGS

Outdoor weddings are wonderful – no matter what time of year — here in Florida. 

It’s important to avoid passing out from the heat or looking sweaty in your wedding photos, and there are ways to avoid those pitfalls of summertime weddings and have a beautiful wedding. Here are a few of our best “summer wedding” tips:

WATER STATIONS ARE A MUST

You may choose to wow your guests with offering flavored waters, lemonade and sparkling water. Your guests will be nicely surprised to see an interesting display of refreshing water. Keeping everyone well-hydrated will be the most crucial component to the success of your outdoor, summertime wedding. The same will go for you and your groom and your wedding party — drink LOTS of water all day long. Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate!

JESSICA LEIGH PHOTOGRAPHY

TIME OF DAY MATTERS

We suggest choosing a later start time for your ceremony. We recommend an hour and a half before sunset. Later in the day is cooler and we can also take advantage of the golden hour during sunset for those gorgeous pictures on property.

CHOOSE WISELY

Keep your outdoor, warm weather wedding in mind while dress shopping – for both you and your bridesmaids. Same goes for your groomsmen attire. Maybe skip the three-piece suits this time. Shirts with suspenders can be a classy, trendy look for the guys. (Another tip: For your groom (and any of the guys who will be wearing button-ups), have them bring an extra shirt (same color) to change into after the ceremony and prior to the reception. This way, they’ll be clean and dry and ready to celebrate!

JESSE GILES PHOTOGRAPHY

FAN THOSE FANS OF YOURS

Print your programs on thick cardstock or make them into fans — trust us, your guests will LOVE YOU for this! We’ve also seen couples order pretty paper fans from places like Etsy. You can have these fans placed on a pretty table, in a basket somewhere on the way to the ceremony site (maybe next to the guest book or water station) or you can have a paper fan preset on each chair.

LET YOUR GUESTS KNOW THEY MAY DRESS FOR COOLNESS

Send out an email or some kind of message prior to your wedding (maybe even on your invitation), informing your guests that the ceremony will be outside. Give them permission to dress for the weather. Example: “Our ceremony will begin at 6:00 pm and will be held outdoors. It will be short and sweet, but we would still recommend dressing as lightly as possible. We will be sure to have icy cold drinks available upon arrival! And do not worry — the reception will be held indoors with the A/C working hard to keep us cool throughout the evening!”

MAKE-UP AND HAIR PLAY INTO YOUR COOLNESS FACTOR

Consider wearing your hair up and make sure your makeup artist sets your makeup (so you don’t sweat it off) — doing both of these things will keep you as cool as possible throughout your warm weather wedding. Same for your bridesmaids!

ENJOY THE A/C AS LONG AS YOU CAN

You can arrange to take photos indoors before the ceremony. And, prior to the ceremony, you certainly can make sure your grandparents and older guests enjoy the A/C as well. Starting your ceremony on time keeps your guests out in the heat for as little time as possible. As soon as the ceremony is over, have lots of icy cold beverages available for your guests inside. For our summer weddings, we offer the restaurant as an option for an indoor cocktail hour, subject to availability.

The Royal Crest Room offers so many options to enjoy both the outdoors and the indoors for you weddings at any time of year. We’re all about making sure our couples and their guests are well taken care of, and these wedding days are filled with happy times and memories.

Share