To have booked our wedding outdoors in July, in the uk?!

[TheFunkyFox]

😩😩😩

Wedding July 12th at 4pm. Romantic idea of getting married then a little small garden party with hay bales and lots of food.

Now I’m panicking it’s going to rain and we will all be squashed in the living room instead 😩😩

Make sure you have wellies and brollies.

Well you need a back up plan if it does rain. Where is the ceremony taking place?

I think it's really unwise to book an outdoor wedding at any time of year unless you have some kind of contingency. It absolutely poured with rain on the day of our midsummer wedding, and I've been to several other wet weddings over the years. Can you hire a small marquee/ gazebo to give you peace of mind?

It sounds like your getting married at home. In which case I would have assumed people would be in and out of the house whether it was nice weather or not.

How big is your downstairs, is it large enough for all guests to be inside at the same time? If not you probably need a back up plan, it would be unfair to invite people with no provision for them should it get too hot or rain.

What’s the plan b?

Just as long as you have a back up plan that you are equally fine with.

I regularly walk through a wood on a farm near here that hosts outdoor weddings the ceremony tends to take place in a little clearing in the wood, and the reception in a field in the middle of the woods in a yurt or marquee, often with individual vans dotted about supplying hog roasts, fish and chips, acting as a bar etc. I've certainly seen one or two happening in rainy weather, even in midsummer one I remember because it looked lovely, and I walked through just as the wedding party was coming out of the wood and towards the yurt in a downpour. Everyone had boots and brightly-coloured umbrellas, and the bride was wearing a short fifties-style dress with her wellies and umbrella, and everyone looked happy.

But I imagine that if the bride and bridesmaids were wearing floor-length pale chiffon and strappy sandals and guests hadn't dressed appropriately and had faces like slapped arses because their fascinators were getting soaked, it could have been depressing.

No plan b yet 😩 we literally have just 15 or so friends coming, very relaxed and informal. I might leave it a few weeks before and either try and hire somewhere or a marquee 😩

I waitressed at a wedding exactly as you are describing - they had an open sided marquee and some open air areas.
The weather was ok but it’s a plan to have some shelter if not from the rain then the scorching sun ☀️ 🤞

You would be absolutely mad to wait till a few weeks before to hire a marquee or venue, they would be a huge chance you wouldn’t get anything.

There not they

It’s on a Friday and not in the school holidays, hoping it will be ok? 😩

My daughter's birthday is July 14th and every year I have had visions of a lovely garden picnic with her friends. It has pissed down every single year for the last 5 years, sorry!

Oh god 😩😩😩😩😩😩

Iv never bad rain on my birthday and I’m july 4tj 😩

The last two weeks of the summer term are often wet - just when you want to be spending time out on the school field. Last year,for a change, it was very hot - it may be worth getting some shelter (gazebos, tent etc) for either rain or sun.

So is the reception in your back garden then?

Yes

15-20 people? A few decent sized gazebos and you'll be fine. Adds to the fun, I reckon. It's unlikely to be too cold during the day, but if you are planning on carrying on into the evening, I'd maybe borrow some chimeras or similar as it does get cold quickly once the sun goes down.

You'll probably find that regardless of the weather there will be a contingent in the kitchen. You could have elvis presley brought back from the dead performing in the garden, and there would still be a contingent in the kitchen.

I would most definitely have a plan B.

My first wedding was July 4th it hammered down, floods and everything. Hire a marquee now before you can’t get anything x

I'd book a marquee now, you won't get a reliable company any closer to the time. I used to work for a marquee company most people book a year ahead but you should be ok for a tiny one if you book now

Just saw 15-20 people you can buy decent size gazebos look at them, they will be fine

Just get a big gazebo and cover with fairy lights.
You mention hay bales but I'm assuming you'll have some proper seating & tables too?

Homebase sell pop up gazebos fairly cheaply. I'd buy a couple and then flog them on gumtree afterwards.

"No plan b yet 😩 we literally have just 15 or so friends coming, very relaxed and informal. I might leave it a few weeks before and either try and hire somewhere or a marquee 😩"

We had our wedding in the church followed by walk through woods to an open air garden party. Around a 120-150 guests including children. I don't know the exact figure as quite few people turned up to the ceremony and stayed on for the party afterwards (at our request).

As it turned out we got perfect weather in the week leading up to the wedding which helped our preparations (it was a DIY do to keep cost down) and it was 30 degrees on our wedding day. The only fully dry week in the whole summer.

We had bought a couple of marquees in case of rain (sold one of them on afterwards) but they would have been barely adequate if it had rained.

My wife's cousin replicated our wedding on a grander scale the following summer (same location) and it was a wash out. Her Plan B marquees were much better though so the day was still enjoyable.

I wouldn't leave booking a marquee too late because you might not get one. For 15 guests you could use a large gazebo.

My daughters birthday is in mid July and she regularly gets crappy weather. Can you not afford to get some form of shelter?

You really should sort it out now and then you can feel stress free in the run up. It's likely to be warm in July so it's just a bit of a roof you need