1.Water
You will have water on the tables anyway no doubt about that, however when the weather is shining its bright sunshiny goodness down on us until 9pm at night, your guests will drink about triple what they normally would if the weather was grey. Drinking alcohol in the sun makes you want a big glass of water to refresh so it is important that you have it readily available, it will also stop your guests getting tipsy too quickly. Bonus points if the water is chilled! To make it look appealing, fill a large dispenser with water and chill overnight. Add lemons, oranges and any other fruit you would like to infuse the water with, mint always goes down a treat. Add in a lot of ice cubes and bring it out last minute so it stays cold as long as possible.
2. Shade
As a guest at a wedding, there is nothing worse than being made to sit in the heat of the day for 40 minutes during a wedding ceremony, and it only gets worse if there isn’t any while you have canapes! With ceremonies mostly being early afternoon, you will need to make sure you have some sort of shade for your guests if your ceremony is longer than 20 minutes. Otherwise your guests will be thinking more about how hot they are and how much they want a big glass of something cold instead of focusing on the gorgeous ceremony that you’ve spent months planning. Think about where your ceremony is taking place and if you should potentially move it to under a large tree or add some sun umbrellas in so at least your grandma is shaded. Apparently direct sunlight is the most unflattering light to photograph so you would be keeping you photographer happy as well as your guests, and getting better photos out of it too! It’s a triple win.
3. A place to sit
This goes hand in hand with shade, however is more for the reception portion of the day. Ensure you have plenty of areas for your guests to sit and relax, if it’s a stunning day, a nice spot in the shade with a view is perfect. It creates areas for guests to socialise, keep cool, and it also will stop them from becoming too tired too quickly as standing in the sun can do. Have you ever sat with a glass of wine under a sun umbrella with your girlfriends and hated it? Exactly! Don’t make your guests stand for hours; give them the option of sitting if they wish. Bench seating is great for being re-used from the ceremony into the cocktail area to add additional seating. Beanbags are amazing although hilarious to get out of, outdoor tables and chairs, rugs, cushions; even hay bales can create the perfect seating areas.
4. Sunscreen
With summer and gorgeous sunshine comes sunburn and if your guests are outside in the sun more than 30minutes they are most likely going to get a bit pink! Sunscreen is one of those items you never think to pack in your purse when you’re heading off to a wedding and to be fair who has room for any. Do your guests a favour and supply some for them to apply when they need to, while you’re at it, don’t forget to put some on yourself! You will be out in the sun for hours between the hundreds of photos, ceremony and mingling with guests and won’t have sunburn on the brain. Put it on early and then again in the afternoon.
5. Insect repellent
Those pesky mozzies are out in force in the summer and sand flies love to hang around areas with water. No one wants ugly itchy welts on their ankles and up their legs so be prepared with insect repellent for guests to spray on to stop the bites. Bonus points for dotting citronella candles or other repellent products around your outdoor area.
If you have a few of these in place, your guests will stay comfortable, and bugfree all day and night! They will love that you put extra thought into them and their wellbeing on your special day. The best part is you won’t have anyone complaining about having no seats or it being too hot while you are having the time of your life, because that’s what it is all about, and more than ever, we want you to love every moment of it.
Happy planning!
Ash xx