6 Tips for Incorporating Nature in Your Raleigh Wedding

By Emma Bishop

Credit: Caroline Lima Photography Hair and Makeup by Makeup for Your Day

Get me to the park on time! Outdoor weddings are a growing trend right now. The idea of exchanging vows in the beauty of nature has expanded from backyards, parks, and beaches to ranches, barns, and even wineries!

Any wedding venue, whether outdoors or in, is enhanced with a touch of nature. That includes everything from the decorations and gifts to the bride herself.

Ways to incorporate nature into the tying of the knot are limited only by your imagination. It’s a great way to get the bride, groom, family, and friends involved in the hands-on adventure of creating an experience that is uniquely yours!

Here are a few ideas for starters.

1. Prep Your Venue

Credit: Fancy This Photography  Hair and Makeup by Makeup for Your Day

If it’s an outdoor setting, make sure the lawn and plants are neat, trimmed, weed-free, and pruned. Indoors or out, see that electrical lines to lights, speakers, and instruments are tidy and out of the way, not only for appearances but for guests’ safety.

2. Consider Potted Plants

You can place these practically anywhere — at the end of seating rows and on prosceniums, stages, and altars. Arrange them in asymmetrical groupings with taller ones at the center, and shorter ones huddled around. Choose blooming plants that complement the surroundings and your color scheme. Orchids are favorites because they come in such a large variety of shapes and colors. Hibiscus can give the event a tropical flair, and you can’t miss with roses. Hint: Plants with heart-shaped leaves such as philodendron and anthurium impart a subtle message. Keep in the spirit of the season — poinsettias around Christmas, lilies at Easter, red, white and blue blossoms in July, and garnish with gourds in autumn.

Credit: Fancy This Photography

3. A Flower for Her Hair

Continue the nature theme with a complementing flower, crown, or wreath in the bride’s hair. Garlands are challenging traditional bouquets as a wedding favorite. Blooms intertwined in vines may be a simple shoulder wrap or trail elaborately down the train. Smaller versions are great for bridesmaids.

Credit: Blueberry Creative Hair and Makeup by Makeup for Your Day

4. Think Arbors and Bowers

Arbors and bowers can be constructed from a trellis available at any garden center. Intertwine with vines of ivy and a few blossoms for color. Weave in eucalyptus branches to add a pleasant, fresh aroma.

5. Hang Baskets, Ferns

In an indoor setting, Use a suspended frame to allow English ivy or fern fronds to dangle above guests. Just make sure the frames are sturdy and securely suspended.

6. Trees

The owners of the hall you rented might frown on planting trees in their space, but you can always use potted trees to add diversity to your venue (and cover up things you don’t want showing). Topiary trees make excellent sentinels at the entrance of the aisle. Instead of buying, you might find them at rental companies that carry wedding supplies. Good artificials can work as well as real trees.

In addition to beautifying the decor, touches of nature work as gifts. Small potted succulents make excellent take-home favors. So do wildflower seeds in decorated packets. Tiny glass terrariums are more expensive, but always a hit.

Adding a little extra nature to an outdoor wedding has a practical benefit. If the weather takes a turn for the worse, you can always take your portable forest inside at your Plan-B setting. Another practical advantage is that with some careful planning, nature weddings can cost less than a traditional formal ceremony.

Don’t be tied to old-fashioned ideas and rules. It’s your wedding, so make it the once-in-a-lifetime experience you want it to be!

Emma Bishop is a lifestyle and design writer, and mother of two beautiful girls. She is a social butterfly and loves to entertain guests at home with beautifully decorated spaces for any occasion.