So it’s come down to finally start planning your wedding. Surrounding you are Pinterest boards, and Instagram pages for days. Frankly, maybe your mind is a bit overwhelmed at this moment. Trust us, we get it. The wedding world can be filled with a ton of information, it’s hard to consume it all at once. When it comes to that first decision, aside from your wedding date the second most important thing is choosing your wedding venue. You not only have to decide what kind of venue you want but if you should have an indoor or outdoor wedding. Surely, this is a hard decision. That’s where we come in. We’ve seen it allllll and we’re ready to spill the tea and help answer the question, should you have an indoor or outdoor wedding?

Benefits Of An Outdoor Wedding Space

Personally, we love the great outdoors. So we’re going to start off by talking about some of the benefits of having an outdoor wedding venue/space.

You Get Way More Space

With an outdoor wedding, you’re almost always guaranteed more space. When you choose to have an indoor ceremony/reception, you’re typically confined to four walls and a much smaller space than just getting married in a wider area. This also may depend on your guest count too. If you’re planning on having a more intimate wedding or elopement, then you may not need that large of a space for the great outdoors. If you’re planning on a larger wedding, then an outdoor space might be the best option for you.

Mother Nature Speaks For Itself

This goes without saying that Mother Nature speaks for itself when you decide to have an outdoor wedding. You’re able to rely on nature to give you some amazing views that will leave you and your guests in awe. Whether you decide to get married overlooking the mountains or an incredibly stunning lake that stretches on for miles. The opportunities are endless and are a great way to let MN (Mother Nature) do all the talking. It also helps you in saving money on your decor! You can read more about that in this blog here.

It’s Easier To Have Simpler Decor

Speaking of doing all the talking, when you have an outdoor wedding it’s easier to have much simpler decor. Depending on where you choose to get married, you can end up not having to do a whole lot in terms of decor since you will already be surrounded by what the green goddess already gave us. This may be something to consider if you’re looking to spend less on your wedding budget. You can read more about wedding budgets and how to establish them here.

Child Friendly

If you’re planning on having children attend your wedding, then having an outdoor wedding might be the best option. An outdoor wedding venue can be a lot more family-friendly and keep children occupied. Okay, here us out! Things like trees, flowers, wind, and open spaces keep children more preoccupied. Which in turn can allow them to be on their best behavior without distracting from your special day.

Cons Of An Outdoor Wedding Space

It wouldn’t be fair if I were ONLY raving about outdoor wedding venues. So with that, here are some cons of outdoor wedding spaces.

Weather Is Unpredictable

This is the most obvious one, but clearly, weather is our #1 enemy when it comes to having an outdoor wedding. As much as we want to rave and love Mother Nature, there is another side of her as well. Since she can be so unpredictable, having an outdoor wedding leads to a lot of questions. You end up wondering if the weather will be clear on your wedding day. If you live in an area where the weather and temperatures vary and are completely unpredictable, having an outdoor wedding might not be in your future.

Wind Might Not Be Your BFF

When you’re soaking up the great outdoors, it is inevitable that you will have to deal with the wind. Wind can be one thing that constantly has your veil hitting your face every 5 seconds. The wind is one is also one of those things that can seriously mess up a good wedding set-up, which may be a deterrent for some of you. Especially when it comes to having your reception outside and your table placements + settings.

Nature = Bugs & Everything That Comes With It

While nature is beautiful, yes it can get a bit messy, and when you’re having an outdoor wedding you have to deal with everything that comes along with it. Some of that being bugs, gnats, mosquitos, or anything else that you may come across when you are having an outdoor wedding. You not only have to think about how you and your partner would feel about this, but how your guests would feel as well.

Noise

This is entirely dependent on where you choose to get married, but if you choose to have an outdoor wedding the one thing you probably didn’t think about is noise. If the wedding venue is located near a busy road or businesses like bars and restaurants, this may lead to a bit more noise than you would like on your wedding day. This is something that tends to get overlooked while wedding planning but is definitely something you need to consider.

Benefits of Having an Indoor Wedding

So we’ve discussed some of the brighter and not-so-bright reasons to have an indoor wedding. At this point, you may be the one rooting to have an indoor wedding! Here are just some of the benefits of having an indoor wedding.

Weatherproof

This is a given, but having an indoor wedding means that you are basically weatherproof. With an indoor wedding, all of the worry of “if it will rain on my wedding day” gets whisked away. Rain, sleet, snow, and thunderstorms can’t have an effect on your wedding day and your guests will never know. Not only are indoor wedding venues weatherproof but they are also almost always climate controlled. You are in the perfect temperature throughout the entire day.

More Creative Freedom

When you choose to have an indoor wedding, you are also choosing to have a bit more creative freedom. While with an outdoor wedding you let nature do the talking, indoors you can really play around with decor, florals, and style to really bring your wedding vision to life. You aren’t distracted by all of the movement and things going on outside and can make it your wedding day utopia.

Cons Of An Indoor Wedding Space

Guest Capacity Restrictions

When you have an indoor wedding you are more likely to run into stricter wedding guest capacity restrictions. Since you are going to be in an enclosed space, the wedding venue will usually disclose how many guests they can allow in each venue. If you’re planning on having a lot of guests this may end up being an issue for you.

Expenses

Typically, if you choose to have an indoor wedding your expenses may end up being a little bit higher. This is because of the money that you would spend to decorate the indoor wedding space and to help bring your wedding vision to life. Unless you are choosing a wedding venue where the interior speaks on its own, you’re going to need to spend a pretty penny getting everything exactly how you like it for your wedding vision.

Lighting Can Be Off

When you choose to have an indoor wedding, keep in mind that your access to lighting may be limited. Especially if you’re someone who values your wedding photography, the lighting means everything. If you do choose to have an indoor wedding space, consider how much natural light is coming into the space.

Should You Have An Indoor Or Outdoor Wedding?

So let’s go back to that original question, “should you have an indoor or outdoor wedding?”. The answer is, it’s entirely up to you. If you’re a couple who is looking to be blown away by stunning views or are wanting the luxury of having plenty of space for your wedding guests, then an outdoor wedding might be the best option for you. On the other hand, if you’re a couple who does not want to have to worry about the weather and wants to create their perfect wedding day vision and have creative freedom with their decor than an indoor wedding might be just for you.

At the end of the day remember, it’s your day. While you should think about the experience as a whole for not only you and your guests, you choose how you want to spend your special day. If you’re still struggling with where to have your wedding, check out this blog!

So let me ask you, should you have an indoor or outdoor wedding?