Indoor vs. Outdoor spaces

My spouse and I are indoor cats. My only vision of my wedding prior was to not be sweaty in my dress. So we looked at indoor only with a priority on air conditioning (church and ballroom). We ended up changing our date from fall to hot August, so everyone was happy.

We initially wanted an indoor space, just so we didn't have to worry about the weather, but the venue we fell in love with has an outdoor ceremony space, and an indoor/outdoor reception space!

I think we would have been fine with either, but most of the places we looked at had an outdoor ceremony space. We knew we wanted a spring wedding, so we want to take advantage of the natural flowers and blue skies and everything. Also some indoor spaces are ugly AF, with patterned carpets and whatnot...

So much of that depends on the time of year you're having your wedding and what the weather might look like. We're getting married in early September and since the weather will be lovely (warm but not scorching), we definitely wanted an outdoor setting. If you're a winter bride or getting married somewhere with more rain, you may opt for an indoor setting. Personally, I find that outdoor settings are more beautiful than more indoor settings

We wanted all indoors. I didn’t want to worry at all about the weather. My best friend had an outdoor ceremony and reception on September 8 and it rained the entire day plus it was freezing... 30-40 degrees Fahrenheit 😅


However, due to Covid we decided we wanted everything to be outdoors to make some of our guests more comfortable attending a large gathering. So we had our June wedding outside and luckily had good weather.

Ps. The freezing September wedding was in NJ 🥶

So, I'm one who is very wary of the stress with outdoor ceremonies, and worrying about the rain. But I love the natural light and beauty. A lot of the spaces I looked at had really large windows, like floor to ceiling, or so, which can allow you to enjoy the view. However, the one we went with is actually both. They have a lovely terrace, where we are planning to have the ceremony. But if it rains, we'll adjust for their indoor space. So I guess I didn't avoid the rain stress altogether, but still love the venue and that we still get to potentially have an outdoor ceremony.

As far as totally outdoor weddings, I'm okay with it if it's a casual wedding. It's very hard to feel fancy when you're squishing around on grass. And, again with the rain. But maybe that's because I grew up in an area with a lot of rain and went to a lot of outdoor weddings.

We wanted indoors - church wedding and ballroom reception - as we didn’t want to worry about weather. I’ve been to several outdoor weddings that were really beautiful, but almost all of them had issues with wind (veil flew off, hair messed up, couldn’t hear the vows, etc) and several had seats facing the blinding sun (sunburns, couldn’t see very well).

I wanted a woodsy ceremony so I specifically looked for one I could afford. It didn’t matter whether the reception was or not. Ours is in a barn

We both knew we wanted outdoor ceremony, with a good backup for weather. We also knew we wanted more of an indoor ballroom feel for the reception

I had always been very strongly in favour of an indoor ceremony - no bugs, no weather to contend with, and overall less planning since you do need to have a wet weather back up plan whether it rains or not.

BUT. My now-husband was adamant he wanted an outdoor ceremony, and since he is incredibly easy going and has supported everything that meant a lot to me, I was determined that he should have what he wanted. So, we arranged for an outdoor ceremony. But it ended up raining and I was so sad for him that we had to get married indoors, and I do wonder how the photos will turn out because the lighting was pretty meh. But it is what it is! You get what weather you get on the day!

I HATE noise lol
We’re getting married on the beach in HHI, SC and our reception will be on a covered patio with ocean and lagoon views . The resort also has a soft seating area with cornhole and ping pong and a separate area with Fire Pits.
I feel like it lets people get away from the noise and chaos if they need to 😁

Adding on: the covered patio can be set up for a ceremony in a pinch in case of rain and has electronic walls that can be rolled down in case of wind 😁 it also has 2 working fire places, fans, and heat.

We are doing outdoors on Memorial Day weekend. So typically the weather is nice that day. If not we will move everything inside my parents home. LOL

I always wanted an outdoor ceremony and an indoor reception. i wanted outdoor cocktail/social hour as well.

where i live we don't have a whole lot of nice outdoor ceremony options though so i just kind of had to settle for my church area but that's ok, it was really cheap and it was meaningful to us. but in an ideal world i would have loved an outdoor garden area

We are hoping to have an outdoor ceremony and indoor reception.

We want an indoor wedding!

My hair doesn't do "outdoors," and I'm paying way too much money for it to look like a frizzy mess lol. I've seen a lot of outdoor weddings get absolutely destroyed due to weather, and it's always heartbreaking seeing all that hard work and planning ruined and the poor bride literally having her day rained on. Fortunately, getting married in our church was a non-negotiable for FH and I, so that part worked seamlessly. Our reception is an indoor rooftop spot with floor-to-ceiling windows, so we kind of get an outdoor vibe without actually being outside.

We are hoping to have a all outdoor wedding and ceremony. Twinkling lights, camp fire, roasting marshmallows, hot chocolate, and a sparkler entrance. This wedding is going to be filled with family, friends, and fun. I can’t wait!
December 2023

Mixture! I’m having an outdoor ceremony and tented reception