Outdoor Wedding - no tents

Tents are literally the only backup plan for an outdoor wedding, unless you plan to pay for a second "just in case" venue.

I don’t know of another backup plan besides an indoor building or a tent. Are you saying you aren’t currently planning on renting a tent because you hope the weather is nice or you won’t rent one last minute even if the forecast looks bad?

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Completely agree with this!

Finding a venue that has multiple sites. We had an outdoor wedding but our venue had both semi covered (outdoor veranda) and indoor sites where we could move if needed. I'd never choose a venue with no plan b for weather.

Does the space you are having have a pavilion or overhang of any sort? If not, add tents to your budget from another section. An outdoor wedding without a backup plan / tent is screaming for a hurricane to come through that day

If it rains and you don't have tents or canopies or another area for guests to go inside a building, guests will leave. So those are really the only backup plan options.

I don't really see what you can do if tents and/or canopies are not an option. So really you either have to cross your fingers really hard and pray that there's no bad weather, rent tents, or have it at a venue that has outdoor as well as an indoor space.

Outdoor wedding back-up are tents or an alternative indoor location. I'm curious if anyone on here can think of anything else as I sure can't.

I went to a wedding like this! It was bad. It was a bearable mist at first (guest were still visibly upset). Rain picked up mid ceremony, during the vows and literally 90% of the guests got up, in the middle, and walked to the reception building or to stand in the back with umbrellas. We ate and left because we were damp and uncomfortable. If you don’t want this to happen you need a plan B of tents or an indoor location.

I can’t think of anything besides a tent, except for having a completely indoor alternative location on back up. There are ALL SORTS of tents out there though , haha

Sorry guys I guess I didn’t realize how stupid of a question this was. To be clear, our ceremony will be at a separate location, indoors. If the venue we are talking with agrees to do the reception it will be out on an open field. I was hoping to not have a tent to keep the view of the open desert and sunset as unobstructed as possible. There will be a house on the site that we plan on renting, I guess our guests could just huddle in there if need be.

Hi Hannah! Welcome to WeddingWire and congrats on your engagement!

Your reception venue sounds gorgeous but it being in an open field definitely leaves you vulnerable to any unforeseen weather that might happen.

Out of curiosity, where are you located?

As perhaps you can look at the weather averages for the month of September over the years to have a better idea of the chance of rain, prior to committing to anything with out a tent/backup plan.

If there isn't enough room in the house to comfortably hold the reception then tents will be your only option if you choose this venue. Guests will not want to have to "huddle" together in a building that isn't large enough to comfortably hold them all. How will you keep the tables and chairs dry? Comfort is more important than a view.

View Quoted Comment If it rains and your guests’ only option is to huddle inside the house, I’d be prepared for many to leave at that point.

The option is to get a tent. Even if there is no rain, I would not sit outside for a reception in the sun and would leave. I burn in like 30 seconds and don't sit outside unless under an umbrella and hat.

Unless there is a indoor location you can move your reception too, I feel that tents/canopies would be the only other option.