Tips for planning an OUTDOOR wedding? (with zero power outlets)

Do you have a backup plan in case of rain? are you planning on pitching a tent? Are you planning on hosting the reception here as well? if so, what are you doing about food and keeping it hot or keeping drinks cold without electricity?. What will you do about music? what will you do about bugs? Just some things to think about.

We're looking into renting a clear tent for the space just in case and yes the reception will be in the same location.

As for food, we'll be hiring a catering service that serves and uses butane heaters under the trays and we'll have several containers of ice available in coolers under the food serving tables, 2 to keep drinks in and 1 only for serving ice. The wedding is going to be less than 30 people so the 2 large drink coolers should be just about perfect. We can also use the fireplace pictured to heat tea kettles of hot water for coffee, tea and coco (and S’mores!)

Music we are still working out, my brother in law has a huge boom box that he uses at the construction yard and it gets LOUD but there are noise restrictions because it's still public land even during the event. We planned on making several CD's with a variety of music and putting my younger brother to be the DJ for the evening. My Fiancé doesn’t want to rent a generator just because they’re so loud.

As for the bugs, we'll have a little basket when you walk to the ceremony space with several cans of OFF! spray and repellent bracelets. We also thought about maybe working those OFF! lanterns into our wedding décor by hanging them or using them in the center pieces, they're battery operated and very easy to decorate.

We’re also looking into hanging some white paper lanterns with LED flicker candles in them as well as having LED pillar candles everywhere and again, working the OFF! lanterns into the space might be easier than we originally thought!

Thank you for bringing those questions to my attention, glad to make sure I'm not forgetting anything!

What about temperature? I think NoCal in March could be pretty cool.

ETA: And it might get dark early too. I think it's a beautiful space, just lots of logistics to take into consideration.

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Honestly, I would hire a wedding planner and/or DOC. It seems very difficult to plan something so far away especially when working with a non-traditional venue.

I used Yelp to help me find vendors that others had used at the venue we booked. We weren't able to see anything in advance so that was my savior.

@kahlcara I totally forgot to change my wedding date, thanks for reminding me! We're actually planning on getting married the end of May or the end of June (set it for June though, just in case, haha) because we just couldn't find any other venue that compared! We're planning on lots of LED pillar candles and you have to be completely cleared out of the space by 8pm so it'll end about 6:30-7pm so we can clean up.

@annakay511 That's what I was thinking, drat :/ And thanks for the tip! c;

@Tracy I never even thought of yelp and I use it all the time! Ohmygosh, thank you!!!

Yes, you need a DOC. I didn't have one, but I would recommend having one since you have the no-electricity issue and you need someone who can handle any issues that might arise.

May I ask what you're going to do about bathrooms?

@E-Txt, what is a DOC? And there are bathrooms nearby the spot.

If you're asking vendors to be outside, with no real kitchen , no running water, and no electricity, they will not be cheap. It is going to be too dark for all LED's and none of this is going to be as inexpensive as you think.

I hate to be negative, but I think you're in for a lot of work and logistics unless you go with total planning from someone local who knows the venue and has worked there before. We've catered these gigs; not everyone can do it, especially from far away.

LED lights will be enough to make paper lanterns visible at night, but they will not be enough to make the lanterns emit enough light to light up the dining area. Without a generator or an electrical outlet, Here's a photo of some of our lanterns. The biggest ones were lit with stick-on bulbs, and still weren't all that bright. As you can see, the smaller ones (with LED lights) were lit up enough to be visible, but weren't casting light on the surrounding area.

Logistics, logistics, logistics!!! You have to plan EVERYTHING very well. It is fraught with potential mishaps, but can be done.

Are restrooms available? Is the caterer used to working mobile (here in my area we have some venues with no kitchens - but you have to pay the caterer more because it is a lot more work for them). You should be okay with natural lighting; that's near the longest day of the year, and you are north, However, in the redwoods, the sun may go "down" behind a hill early and make it dusky early.

Totally doable with a tent available - with sides to keep out bugs. And the sides will only work if people keep the sides closed. Here in NorCal, just like SoCal this year, we got a LOT of summer rain. AND - we have mosquito issues up here - I used to live in SoCal, no skeeters there!

How about lodging - is it nearby?

Best wishes! A lovely area, that!

A DOC is a wedding planner/Day Of Coordinator.

You said this is a wedding for 30 - so what kind of food service are you wanting? Who will do the cleaning if it's dark? How about having an afternoon wedding so lighting won't be an issue?

I think you should definitely hire a wedding planner for this venue. It looks gorgeous! There are the logistics though that were previously brought up. Maybe you could just have ceremony here and then a reception somewhere with easier access to water, toilets, electricity. It isn't impossible to have your entire wedding there but I do think it will be very expensive to get everything you need there.

Oh, good, Monique is here!

We just got married about 4 hours away from us and our site coordinator was a god send with vendor recommendations and coordination. You only have 30 people so really you need a lot less, but the coordinator will make things a lot easier for you. And the carter is brining cooked food? Otherwise they're going to need power

We have the space from 10am-8pm and plan on having everyone out by 6pm so we can tare down and remove all the decorations. We are planning on hiring someone to help with the set up and tare down, just to be safe.

As for food, most places I've been to pre-cook all the food and then use butane heaters and water pans to reheat and keep the food hot. There are also 4 fireplaces and 3 BBQ's available for use at the site. If that doesn't work out, we were thinking of having a cold food selection or hiring a BBQ catering that can bring their own grill, charcoal or propane. Since the group is so small, I don't think it'd be outrageous if we hired a BBQ catering service and we wouldn't have to worry about electricity in that aspect. (Plus everyone on both sides of the family loves themselves a good hamburger!)

There is a weeding planner and Day of Coordinator I've been looking into, I just have check with her pricing and services. I've been mostly able to find vendors and options on my own but I know there will be one or two that I may need help with, plus having someone else worrying about how everything is going during the day, that sounds like a pretty good idea. I think you guys may be right!

As for restrooms and lodging, there is a restroom close by with running water (not the porta-potty type) and my family always takes an annual camping trip so we're looking at just kind of having both at the same time so lodging won't be an problem. That and we picked the spot because it's the exact midway points for both of our families. My side all live in the Bay Area by San Francisco and his family all live in South/Central Oregon, it's about 4 hours away from everyone. His family is also going to be welcomed to join us camping but there are lodging options available about 30-45 minutes north or south (I'm taking about actual hotels for those who don't want to camp, if they're camping with us, it's only about 10 minutes away.)

Anyone know where I can get LED candles in bulk? Thankfully Halloween is coming up!

I think this is totally doable! I agree that hiring a wedding planner (if you can budget for it) would probably make your life a lot easier give the long-distance.

My dad and step-mom hosted nearly 100 in their back yard when they got married. It was an afternoon ceremony at the beginning of June, and there was no need to hook up to electricity. The caterer brought all the food in and used butane, etc. It was a great party! With only 30 guests, that makes everything easier for you, and the location is so gorgeous!

I think you're in over your head without a planner. Lots goes into outdoor weddings, you want a successful experience, I would hire a planner for guidance.

I enjoyed Monique W.'s comment about logistics.

I spent my entire career in the military and worked in logistics for a good chunk of it. When we were planning our girls' weddings I told each of them "Logistics is EVERYTHING" about a million times. They all eventually looked at me and said, "Mom if you say logistics is everything one more time I'm gonna scream!" Well, go ahead and scream sister because if your logistics suck so will your wedding. (we gifted their weddings to them)

In all honesty I would want to talk to more than one vendor who has done a wedding in this location and I would be asking for brutally honest feedback. I have to be honest - if you were one of my girls, I would not be encouraging this idea.

1. If I need bug spray for your wedding, I am not very interested in coming. I don't want to sound mean, but it is the truth. I have no desire to put nice clothes on and then have to bathe in Off. I feel gross when I have to do that in jeans and a tshirt for a campfire, not going to happen in nicer cloths. And, where there are mosquitos there are ticks.

2. Let's talk about the boombox for a moment. Are you wanting people to dance? Is this just background music? Think about how music might sound at a construction site vs a wedding reception. That won't be pretty.

3. Those LED candles? those aren't bright like flashlights and lanterns. The emit very soft light - I have a couple on my mantle. Light attracts bugs - LED candles are going to be a little hotel for all those bugs in the forest. You won't want those on the tables.

4. the more work a vendor has to do to compensate for the lack of electricity and running water (Yes I know it is in the bathrooms) the more they will have to charge you. I think Celia covered that part.

5. What will you do if it rains? If it is a rainy weekend? You are counting on this being a camping weekend for many - I love to camp but not on a rainy weekend. Do you have a very solid indoor B that you can put in place 2 or 3 days out so you aren't rushing around like crazy people in the rain? If it has been raining for a day or two, how will you be able to set up?

2 of my girls mentioned maybe wanting an outdoor wedding. My response? "Sounds awesome honey! Come up with your plan B, where that will be and how it will fit into the budget because I am not writing a single check to anyone until there is a solid plan B that can be put into motion a couple of days out. Get me all the pieces of the puzzle as you want it to be and we will get this show on the road. No inside plan B? No outside wedding. while they absolutely agreed with my train of thought, they decided to have indoor weddings. The other 2 were not interested in an outdoor wedding.

These are just a few of the concerns I would be having - and every one of them is based on logistics. I really want to encourage you to remember that a dream wedding site will not make for a dream wedding if your logistics are weak. It will mean people might not be there, the weather might do you in, etc? What is more important? Having everyone there or having a dream venue where you can't put solid logistics in place? Sucky logistics make for sucky weddings.

I checked weather reports from the last 5 years for the area that we're having it in and the whole month there gets less than an inch of rain and this last year it didn't even drizzle once. We are planning on a clear tent and asking people to NOT come dressed up, this is a happy but mildly casual event because we never planned on having a wedding in the first place. Our families pushed for a wedding and my FH and I are paying for everything ourselves so we honestly wouldn't care if it all went crazy because it's not about the party, it's about us getting married haha! We will be looking into DJ options though, but no promises c;

Plus everyone is going to be camping the whole week so we'll already be covered in OFF! spray from the get go haha! Both sides of the family are used to the bugs and the smell of bug spray so I think we'll be okay in that aspect c:

We're not worried about it being "pretty", we just want the family to show up, have a good time, eat some hamburgers and s'mores. I appreciate the input though @jeleebeenz but I was hoping for tips from fokes who have had outdoor wedding vs.. people telling me that I should have it somewhere else. It isn't about anyone else experience except mine and my Future Hubby <3