An outdoor wedding: what nature gives and what it asks in return
A ceremony in nature looks like a fairy tale in photographs, but it asks for a few smart decisions about light, seating and a plan B. Here they are.
Lazar Mihajlović
Published: 11 September 2026
A ceremony under a treetop, on a mountain meadow or by the bank of a river looks in photographs the way no hall ever can. Nature gives depth, greenery and a sense of space that no decoration can create. So I understand every couple who dreams of their ceremony under an open sky.
But nature has its own rules too. You cannot turn down the strength of the sun or ask the wind to wait for the vows. After many outdoor weddings I have learned what nature gives and what it asks in return. Here is how to get the first and plan the second in time.
Shade is an ally, midday sun is not
The biggest misconception about outdoor weddings goes: the more sun, the nicer the photographs. In reality it is almost the opposite. Midday sun makes hard shadows under the eyes, forces the guests to squint and turns a white dress into a glaring surface without a single detail.
Soft, even shade is a far better terrain. A treetop, a pergola or the shadow of a building gives light in which skin looks natural and eyes stay open. If you choose the hour of the ceremony yourselves, late afternoon is the most rewarding: the light is lower, warmer and lovelier with every minute, and after the ceremony there is just enough day left for portraits. Your guests will be grateful: nobody remembers an hour of sitting in the July sun in formal clothes fondly.
Facing the sun: the small thing that decides the album
When the place for the ceremony is chosen, everyone looks at the background: a floral arch, an old tree, a view of the river. Few people check where the sun will be at that time of day, and that is exactly what determines how the photographs will look.
The rule is simple: the two of you stand with your back or your side to the sun, never facing it. That way nobody squints, the light draws the outline of the hair and the veil, and the background keeps its color instead of burning out into white. When I visit a location before the wedding, the path of the sun at the time of the ceremony is the first thing I check. Five minutes of thinking that shows in every photograph of the ceremony.
Nature is the best set designer I know. It asks for only one thing: that you listen to it.
Wind, sound and small things easily forgotten
Wind can be both a gift and a nuisance. A veil that flutters at the right moment is a frame to remember, a hairstyle across the face during the entire ceremony is not. So a long veil always has its keeper, one of the bridesmaids who holds it and releases it on a signal.
Think about sound as well. Without walls the voices get lost, so a microphone for the registrar or the priest means the guests really hear the vows. In the photographs that shows indirectly, but clearly: guests who hear the ceremony laugh and wipe away tears at the right moments, instead of leaning towards each other and whispering.
If the ceremony is in summer, provide shade and water for the guests while they wait. A relaxed guest is relaxed in the photographs too. And one more small thing that is often forgotten: paper programs and confetti fly away at the first serious gust of wind, so let someone hand them out right before the ceremony.
There is always a plan B
I do not think about rain as a disaster but as logistics. Every outdoor location has to have a covered option you can move to without drama: a tent, a terrace, a hall nearby. That arrangement is made in advance, while the forecast is still irrelevant, and after that nobody has to worry about it anymore.
From the photographic side, a cloudy day is actually a gift: the light is soft and even, and the colors are deeper. For the scenario of a real downpour I have a separate text about a plan B for rain, where you will see that the album does not suffer even then. An outdoor wedding is planned with the head and experienced with the heart. When the schedule, the shade and the spare roof are all in place, what is left for nature is what it does best: to be the unreal set design of your day.
Lazar Mihajlović Photography
Planning a ceremony under an open sky?
Send me the location and the date. I will gladly help you turn the ceremony towards the right light and keep a plan B calmly waiting on the side, and along the way we can check the date.
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