Dealing With Insects at Outdoor Weddings

Planning an outdoor wedding is a lot of fun, but let's face it, you also have to deal with some extra challenges. The bride and groom are not the only nature lovers at a wedding; there are also uninvited guests, namely insects. briarcliff manor It is not exactly the most romantic thing, but dealing with the insect problem is something that you will have to face if your outdoor wedding is to be pleasant for you and your guests.

I once knew a woman who had a beautiful outdoor wedding by a lake, and afterwards she showed me her wedding album. The bride and her attendants all looked lovely in their pretty dresses and delicate wedding jewelry. But the first thing that jumped out in her pictures was not the wedding gown or the jewelry; it was the ugly red welts on her arms. For this young bride had had a sunset wedding, you see, and did I mention it was by a body of water? - that's right, the bride, the groom, and all of their guests were eaten alive by mosquitoes on that fine summer evening.

Don't let this be you! There are many ways to combat pests like mosquitoes and bees at outdoor weddings. You just have to do some advance planning to thwart them before they make a nuisance of them at your wedding. Mosquitoes are an especially big problem for weddings that are held at dusk near a lake or pond, so if that sounds like your venue, you might need to try a combination of these tactics.

The first thing to do is visit your reception site at the time of day and in the same season as your wedding, if at all possible. After a few minutes, you should have a pretty good idea of how bad the bug problem is. One bride that I knew wanted to have her reception in her backyard, which was surrounded by woods and had a stream behind it. 

She knew that the mosquito situation was terrible by her house, so well before the wedding she purchased one of those propane powered mosquito vacuum systems that claim to clear the mosquitoes from up to an acre around the unit. It was expensive, but she swore that it did a fantastic job, making her property not only comfortable for her wedding day, but for her family all summer long.

A simpler approach is to use a combination of citronella torches, candles, and bug spray at your wedding. The citronella torches work best when they create a perimeter of smoke encircling your party area. Just be careful about using torches if there will be a bunch of children running around at your wedding! You can also use citronella candles on tables placed strategically around your site. They do have a fairly distinctive odor though, so be careful not to place them anywhere where they would interfere with the delicious aroma of your food.

A very elegant approach to insect repellent is to place little cans of bug spray in the powder rooms, or even in a basket where your guests will see it as they arrive. Products with DEET are generally the most effective, but they are also quite noxious. You might want to consider providing your guests with a safer herbal spray instead. You can also get products that can be sprayed on the legs of the tables and chairs about an hour in advance as another line of protection.

Don't forget about bees. The easiest way to avoid bees is to not attract them in the first place. This means no scented lotions or perfumes, and think twice about wearing a fresh flower in your hair. If you are concerned that the food at your reception will attract bees, steal a trick from outdoor cafes, and place jars of sugar water away from where your guests and food will be. It works very well to draw off the bees.

Planning for flying pests at your outdoor wedding is no fun, but it is important to ensure the comfort of your guests. Dealing with these types of details is a small price to pay for having your wedding in a beautiful natural setting.