What’s In:
● Wedding Cake Art
● Seasonally themed Dessert
● Charcuterie tables
● Statement Aisles
● Welcome Parties
● Dramatic Ceilings
● Welcome Beverages
What’s Out:
● Uniform bridal dresses
● Bouquet & Garter toss
● Welcome bags
● Signature cocktails
● Sparklers
10 Tips for a Summer Wedding
When planning a summer wedding there are several important considerations not to overlook to ensure your guests’ enjoyment.
1.Shade – When choosing a ceremony site, or pre-ceremony cocktail
space, make sure there is plenty of shade and adequate seating. There is nothing worse than guests overheating or worse needing medical attention.
2. Welcome Beverage – A great way to add to the guests
experience is a Welcome Beverage!A refreshing welcome beverage will help ensure a pleasant experience while guests wait for your ceremony to begin. Starting the party upon guests arrival is always fun, but a refreshing non-alcoholic beverage will help your guests stay hydrated and cooled off during your Ceremony.
3. The Rain Plan – Don’t forget to plan for rain! There are several ways to ensure that you adequately prepare for rain:
a. Have towels ready incase you need to dry off the ceremony chairs last
minute.
b. Have a back-up ceremony and/or cocktail hour space option. c. Have extra umbrellas for guests to use as needed. Manor House has 3 ceremony locations that can be moved indoors in case of rain or extreme heat.
4. Dessert – Seasonally themed dessert is always a fun way to
keep guests cooled off: Ice cream, Fruit Popsicles, Gelato etc. However, if you’d like to keep things more traditional and purchase a Wedding Cake, consider closely which frosting you choose. If your reception is outside, the chances of your cake melting is much higher than if your reception is indoors. In this case, Fondant would hold up much longer in the heat.
5. Sunscreen – A summer wedding can be a scorcher and one thing
that is often overlooked, is the need for sunscreen. Providing sunscreen for your Wedding party and guests is a nice touch to show guest satisfaction.
6. Flowers – While picking out your wedding flowers, keep in mind
that the summer isn’t very kind to fragile flowers, such as Tulips. If your reception is outside, it’s imperative that you pick something sturdy that will survive the heat. Also, have your wedding party put their flowers somewhere cool or in some water between photos to ensure that they last until the ceremony.
7. Photo Timeline – If you’re planning on doing a “First
Look”, where you see each other for photos before the ceremony, try to avoid taking all of them during the hottest part of the day. If needed, take water breaks to cool down, and make sure to utilize the shade between shots!
8. Wedding Attire – Finding the perfect wedding attire to fit
everyone’s body type is already so difficult; let alone ensuring that it’s seasonally appropriate. However, this is very important for a summer
wedding. Bulky, heavy attire in the summer can easily lead to overheating, not to mention sweaty photos!
9. Tipping Vendors – Vendors work incredibly hard during your
event to ensure its success and for future recommendations for their business. The controversy arises when asked, “should I tip my vendors? which ones? And how much?” Some companies include gratuity but whether or not that’s the case, tipping is completely up to your discretion. If you would like to add a tip, the normal range is $25-100 per person. In some cases, such as wedding coordinators, a nicer gift or higher dollar amount is usually given.
10. Traditions vs. Desire – There comes a point in every
wedding where the responsibility of upholding a family tradition might conflict with one if not both of the newlyweds. It’s important to know how to delicately separate your desire as a couple and your family’s desire to uphold a tradition. Ultimately, the final decision is up to you as a couple, but keep in mind that they will still be your family after the wedding is over so diplomacy is needed when delivering the final decision.