Planning Outdoor Weddings: What You’re Forgetting

The global pandemic from the Corona virus has had a huge impact on weddings in general, with more and more couples choosing to have their wedding online or outdoors for safety. 

In a report from 2020, there was an 11% increase in the number of outdoor weddings from 2019 to 2020. There was also an increase in the number of outdoor receptions from 43% in 2019 to 59% in 2020.

Because of the impact of the virus, many couples are continuing to choose to have outdoor weddings and why not? Outdoor weddings can be beautiful, practical, and budget-friendly (if you want them to be!). 

Budget for Outdoor Weddings

When it comes to your wedding planning budget, an outdoor wedding can be just as expensive or just as budget friendly as any average wedding planned indoors. It just takes a little thought and a little bit of creativity. 

But thanks to Covid, you can take advantage of the ideas that many couples before you managed to come up with during the pandemic. In 2020, thousands of couples had to change their plans drastically and even at the last minute, but thankfully, you won’t have to with this helpful guide.

Let’s take a look at budget numbers for the low and high end outdoor wedding budgets.

Low End Budgets

Lower end outdoor weddings can cost anywhere from $500 up to $4,000, but can be much cheaper if hosted on your own property (or a friends’) or in a public space.

Of course, it depends on a variety of things such as your personal taste, available spaces to use from friends or family, and how many guests you plan to have.

High End Budgets

Higher end budgets for outdoor weddings can range from $10,000 up to $50,000 (and beyond, if you really want).

Your venue choices, transportation for the bride and groom, plus optional hotel rooms and airfare for friends and family can easily bring your budget up by hundreds or even thousands of dollars.

Things You’re Forgetting for Your Outdoor Wedding

With all of the other items on your mind, it’s no surprise that you may be forgetting a few things that could help your wedding go down in the history books. We’ve helped you by making a list!

• Toilets. Not all outdoor weddings are created equal and for those that are out in a field somewhere, or in the middle of nowhere, portable toilets are a great option to be sure your guests (and you!) can relieve themselves easily. (Be sure to have enough for everyone! Especially if you serve alcohol and/or food!)
• Play Areas. If you have family or friends with children, especially smaller children, it will be a gift to the mothers you invite to your wedding to have an area just for the kids.
• Clean Up Areas. Portable sinks or other ideas to help get cleaned up in the absence of traditional bathrooms will be a great relief to all those that happen to have a mess on their hands (or cheeks, or suits, etc.)
• Mirrors. Ladies, we know you go through a lot to get your makeup just right. Having a mirror for your friends and family that wear makeup is a nice amenity.
• Transportation. How will your friends and family get out to that barn in the middle of a field? Make sure that your guests have a way to get to your wedding with extra vehicles or transportation.
• Backup Plans. What if it rains and the mud is so thick you can’t make it to your destination? What if not everyone you plan to invite have a truck? What if something goes wrong with the venue? Having a backup plan for what you will do in case of the worst is always a good idea.

Ideas to Make Unforgettable Memories

No wedding would be complete without great memories. Of course, you’ll be making plenty throughout the day and night without our help, but we thought we could share a few things that could help in case you were out of ideas!

• Polaroid cameras and sharpies
• Ring light with video equipment (and helpful friends or family to record the action)
• Unbaked Clay platter with pottery markers
• Messages in a bottle (paper and pens with jars/bottles)
• A matted picture frame with sharpies for a picture of the wedding

Cool Ideas for Portable Toilets

For those of you that are deciding to use porta potties on-site, have no fear! They do not have to be an eyesore!

Take a look at these cool ideas for portable restrooms for your outdoor wedding:

• Decorate the outside of the stalls according to the theme of your wedding with flowers, paper streamers, and more.

(Link for Image above)

• Hide the portable bathrooms behind clever disguises with repurposed fence panels or even shades from the thrift store.

(Image above found via Pinterest)

• Make fun of them by pointing them out with clever signs or adding a funny silhouette of Big Foot on the door. 

Need some more inspiration? Check out this article we wrote, “How to Make a Porta Potty Classy for an Outdoor Wedding”.

Luxury Bathroom Trailers for Your Special Events

If a portable toilet doesn’t sound like the idea you have in mind for your wedding, you’re in luck. As you may have read in our article we linked above, you know we carry a selection of restroom trailers for just such an occasion.

These higher end, classier portable toilets are pulled in behind a trailer and are connected to running water and even electricity for a cooler or warmer experience, depending on the weather for your wedding.

Choosing these kinds of mobile bathrooms allows you to hide more of the less desirable sights from your traditional porta potty such as looking past the toilet seat into the waste tank full of blue stuff and toilet paper. 

How Many Porta Potties Do I Need for My Wedding?

While there are plenty of variables that will make this answer change, generally speaking, you should probably plan for 1-2 toilets for every 25-50 people.

For some more reading on the math on that, take a look at this article where we broke down that information for you!

Some Interesting Reads to Help You Budget

While you’re surfing for ideas for your wedding, we thought we would include some interesting articles to help you stay on budget.

The following articles give a few different takes on how to stay on budget so that your wedding doesn’t have to follow you around after the honeymoon!

• This article from The Knot gives a good breakdown on budgets, but forgets important things like the porta potties for an outdoor wedding! We would list that under the must haves.
• An article breaking down budgets by specific items, to help brides and grooms narrow down the important things.

If you’d like a quote for bathroom rentals for your outdoor wedding, give us a call at 918-272-0568 or fill out this form for a free quote online. 

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<a href="https://www.freepik.com/photos/background">Photo created by freepic.diller</a>

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