Dinner outside under the sunset (pros and cons?)

An outside dinner certainly sounds nice, but three of my biggest concerns would be rain, heat, and bugs. The severity likely depends on where you are and what your summers are like. I think it also depends on the age ranges and whether or not your venue will have a building with A/C for folks to step into to cool off if needed. A friend and her husband had their wedding and reception outside in the fall, but it was also in Southern California. It was actually very beautiful even though it was like 98 degrees outside! There was a ranch house that was part of the venue for people to hang out in and cool off. My husband and I had ours just a couple weeks ago and we wanted the reception/dinner in a climate controlled building because it was going to get very chilly outside. You definitely won’t have that problem in the summer 😉

Wow cool! Thanks for the remind.

Yeah, having dinner outside does seem quite risky? The early July summer here in Zurich is quite comfortable. like 80 degrees I think, if the weather is good.

We had dinner outside at our wedding. But we live in California where it doesn’t really get too hot or too cold and we don’t have bugs. We had heaters and lights. Also everyone used a microphone for their toasts.

That looks beautiful! I would be worried about bugs though, especially if you’re near water, and also if it’s windy that day it could knock down decorations/make it hard for people with long hair to eat!

Eating outside would be nice, but as PPs have already mentioned the bugs and heat might prevent guests from enjoying their meal! I think I could tolerate the heat as long as there weren't a bunch of bugs, so I'd look into Tiki torches or other forms of insect repellent!

I went to a wedding last month outdoors and there were definitely more cons than pros to me aha.


1) loud cars driving by and sirens
2) dust (your venue might be grassy but this one I went to it was in a dusty area so shoes were very dirty by end of the night)
3) bugs. I definitely got bitten by bugs in there
4) the restaurant was still open to the public. That was fine and all but it definitely was not that private.
However I do admit everything felt very beautiful

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That looks amazing! I guess they also need plan B when the weather is not good ?

At least I hear some positive examples and know what to consider. For definite rainy day we would need to move inside. And for good weather forecast, we need to make sure the location is

not too cold, not too hot, not too windy, not many bugs,

speaker for toasts, lights as decorations, plan for sudden rain(ehh...this sounds bad).

....cross my fingers.

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Tiki torches sounds amazing!

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Thanks for all these points.

This is even a public grass and definitely there will be strangers walking around. We kind of like that but I just realized that our guest might not. Summer + lake does sounds like bugs are unavoidable...... let me rethink.

View Quoted Comment Yeah definitely have a plan b! If I lived in a place with bugs I wouldn’t have done it outside. We also rented out the entire property to have to ourselves.

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Ah yes....wind is another thing.

Sounds like I'm hoping for a day not too hot, not too cold not too windy, not rainy, not many bugs..... To be honest, I still think it's likely Zurich early July. But know I understand no wonder indoor dinner is much easier.

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Emm, now i have to dig out my memory whether there are a lot of bugs or not last summer. haha. Thanks for your suggestion!>

Also plan for WIND. We had our local reception at a winery in So Cal and the afternoon wind was a nightmare on our place cards, tall centerpieces and even broke some wine glasses.


Instead of place cards, do a seating chart and make sure if glass if can’t fall and break. Choose low heavy centerpieces. Account for decor that can blow over/away (props on a photo booth table, cute bar decor). Choose frameless candles for safety and ensure they don’t blow out.
Honestly, it may be well worth having that gorgeous outdoor ceremony but indoor reception for comfort and control over elements (lighting, climate, etc).

Cons: Mosquitoes, gnats, bees, humidity, rain, sweating, being cold, not being able to hear, dust, pollen, misc allergies, boat/car/etc noise, sunburn.

Personally not a fan of outdoor weddings/or receptions because I have been to a lot and ZERO of them were nice and comfortable. It was always way too hot, cold or rainy, directly in the sunset (butt sweat is real, people), buggy, humid, etc. Unless you get lucky with a 75 degree no humidity day with moderate sun, most people will not be comfortable no matter how pretty it is.