Outdoor wedding October 31

Congratulations 🎊🎉🎈🍾

Do what you want! I’d just suggest having a back up plan on case of poor weather conditions!

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Thank you! I'm thinking of having tents up anyway, maybe that idea will please them haha

View Quoted Comment My wedding will be held in June. We’re having an indoor wedding with the option of opening the venue in the event it’s not too hot!

I would do an indoor ceremony and reception, but have a contingency plan for if it is nice to be outside.
That time of year and that area means weather can be frosty. Of course there’s a chance it’ll be nice. One never knows, sadly.

We did October 20th. Outside ceremony with a pavilion reception. The daytime was perfect high 50’s with sun so it wasn’t to chilly. As soon as the sun went down it was freezing though! You have to take that into account, the sun goes down around 5:45pm that time of year and it drops about 15/20 degrees when the sun goes away. You can perhaps get away with an outdoor ceremony but I would honestly plan on an indoor reception that late in the season. We spent $2000 on heaters to make sure the pavilion wasn’t unbearable (it also had super heavy fabric walls that could come down and we had to bring them down it was so cold at night). Plus the 31st is 11 days later than we did and we were already on the edge of it being sketchy...and you’re running the risk of below freezing with snow so if you have an outdoor ceremony make sure you have a plan B.

Wasn't hurricane sandy around that time?

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That's probably a good idea, our wedding is going to be very small so I was just thinking of doing the whole thing in my grandma's backyard. Will have to look into venues.

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I was thinking of doing blankets/tents and such. Are you in New Jersey? I can't recall a Halloween where we've had below freezing temperatures or snow. I suppose I'll have to look into other options. It's going to be a small wedding so I'm trying to make it as simple as possible by having it in my grandma's backyard, my mother is also handicapped and it's very difficult to get her out of the house.

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I believe so, but in the 6 years since then we haven't had anything that bad. Guess there's no telling.

I’m just outside of Philadelphia getting married on November 1st. We’re having the reception indoors and the ceremony outdoors. When I mentioned the temperature and using the indoor space if needed; everyone- the coordinator at the venue, the photographer, the florist - all had the same attitude of “unless it’s raining the ceremony will be outside”. The venue coordinator told me if it’s chilly people will keep their coats on. So it can be done!

I went to a wedding in early October that had the entire event outside. They had a bunch of heat lamps set up.

We got married on 10/28/18 in northern NJ. Our ceremony was outside, but we did have a plan b in case it rained. I do wish that I had a shawl/wrap for my girls, but they were troopers.

View Quoted Comment I think the main concern is the precipitation aspect, I’ve taken into account how cold it can get and was thinking of planning accordingly. My mom isn’t too set on it though, but it’s good to hear it has worked before!

View Quoted Comment No I am not in New Jersey but I’m in Ohio on the side closest to NJ and I feel like we have similar fall time weather. But regardless you can’t operate off of what the weather is during the day. Like I mentioned my during the day temp felt like high 50’s/60 degrees it was beautiful. As soon as the sun went down it was like 41 degrees which is just to cold to be outside for long periods of time. Even if you had a tent, that won’t keep people safe from the chilliness that comes with a fall night. You will make whatever decision you decide, I’m just giving my recommendation that a tent isn’t enough to make that night enjoyable for your guests when the sun goes down and the temperatures cool down. If you absolutely insist on outside reception you’ll definitely need heaters but for the heaters to work you’ll need to rent a tent with walls.

View Quoted Comment What was your plan b? I’m looking at doing a backyard wedding but if the weather doesn’t turn out well I’m not sure what I’d do then.

View Quoted Comment Wasn't there a nor'easter this year around that time? I agree with the others in please make sure you have a contingency plan.

If you're using a tent, ask if there is weather that would prevent the use of it during your wedding. Id also plan and budget for heaters.

If it's going to be cold enough for you to want to give your guests blankets, it's too cold for a wedding ceremony. Your guests will likely be outside for upwards of 45 minutes beyond the actual ceremony. Most people arrive 30 minutes or so early, and then there's the time right after the ceremony when people tend to linger before moving on to the reception. Add in anything that might delay the start of the ceremony, and you could have some really chilly guests. Do you want your guests to get to the reception and be complaining about cold hands and feet? I wouldn't. Now if you have a freak warm day (60 or above at ceremony time), go for it!

I went to a wedding October 14th, we froze. Everyone was very uncomfortable.

View Quoted Comment Our plan b was moving it indoors at the venue. I made sure that the indoor option was something I liked. If you are doing backyard wedding, I would definitely check out tents & portable heaters.

Also, not sure if you are on Facebook, but there’s a super helpful NJ bridal group called New Jersey Private Bridal Group.

It has definitely snowed in nyc around halloween in moderately recent history. The weather that time of year is SUPER unpredictable. There were days before that this year that were freezing.
You definitely need a heated back up plan.
Tents are decent for rain protection, but they won’t keep things warm — you’ll need sidewalls and some sort of heaters for sure, especially if you’re planning for late afternoon or evening— it’ll get cold when the sun goes down!

I'm in South Jersey and as far as I can remember the past couple years Halloween has been beautiful during the day. Although it does get pretty chilly when the sun goes down. If you have your heart set on a Halloween outdoor wedding would you consider having the ceremony in the afternoon and the reception following right after while the sun is still out? I'm getting married 10/10/20, outdoor ceremony, indoor reception. But we do have a fire pit outside if people want to hang out outside of the venue but still be warm.