21 Enchanting Forest Wedding Aesthetic Ideas That Will Take Your Breath Away (You’ll Love #10!)

Imagine saying ‘I do’ surrounded by towering trees, the sound of leaves rustling in the gentle breeze, and dappled sunlight creating a magical ambiance.

There’s a certain ease to a forest wedding in a photograph. In person, not so much.

I can say that from experience. I put together two of them for my cousin and for Sisi, a friend of mine.

The first one was an education you can’t get from a mood board. We had a floral arch go down in a gust of wind, the generator gave out on us twice, and the caterer’s van was in the mud on the way in with only twenty minutes to spare. You’d be hard-pressed to find a more lovely wedding, though.

So when it came time for Sisi’s, I had a better sense of what was going to hold up and what was just for show.

What follows are 21 ways to have a truly fine forest wedding, with some hard-won tips from those I’ve been through. You won’t see this kind of practicality in the rest of the guidebooks.

What Nobody Tells You Before You Plan a Forest Wedding

You can’t put a price on what a forest has to offer that an indoor room never will. I’m talking about the kind of natural light that’s different in the morning than it is at dusk, the scent of pine and dirt, and the noise of the trees, not some pre-recorded track. There’s a real draw to it.

But you have to be realistic. You don’t have the reins. The weather does what it wants. You’ll find out quickly if the access road is up to snuff for a catering van or not.

And when there’s no power to be had, you’re left with a generator, which has a way of giving up on you when you can least afford it—been there. Then there’s the ground; what seems like firm footing in June can be a hazard after a hard rain.

I’m not saying to run the other way. Just go in with your eyes open and make a plan for the venue as it is, not the one in the picture that sold you on it. You’ll see how we’ve worked around all of that in what follows.

What a Forest Wedding Actually Costs

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