There is no doubt outdoor wedding ceremonies and receptions are beautiful. There’s something magical about reciting your vows underneath towering trees and holding hands while walking down flower-lined paths.

But sometimes your perfect, dream venue is a banquet hall.

We run into this a lot. As an indoor wedding venue in Arizona with a stunning urban chic vibe, couples fall in love with our rustic century old hardwood floors, exposed brick and grand chandeliers…not to mention having the comforts of air conditioning during the blazing hot Southwest summers.

So we’ve had to get pretty creative about bringing the outdoors in to help our couples enjoy a bit of nature within our walls.

Here are some ideas on how to do just that!

Outdoor Details for Indoor Weddings

No matter the season, you can capture the bounty of nature by including a few outdoor details.

Blank Canvas Venues

One of the easiest ways to bring the outdoors in is to start with a blank canvas venue. Places like this give you the freedom to express your theme and wedding style in a much easier way.

Blank canvas venues are often in the form of empty lofts, open spaces, and industrial buildings. Look around the space, the textures, items, and colors already present, and think about how you can decorate the walls, floors, chairs, etc. with the natural elements of your choice.

Lots of Light

There’s nothing like bringing in lots of natural light to a space. This is most easily done with large windows, skylights and patios, so you can look for those details when visiting potential venues.

You can also accentuate an indoor area with strings of lights, whether hung from the ceiling, wrapped around bushes and trees that you bring in, or draped and used as a backdrop at the altar.

For ethereal and romantic ambiance, decorate the area with soft, glowing candles. You can place them on the floor (at the aisle entrance or lining the path) and on tables. Check with your venue to see what kinds of candles are permitted. Some spaces only allow LED candles, but they can be just as romantic.

Natural Elements

Of course, anytime you can bring in Mother Nature herself, it helps: plants, trees, shrubs, flowers, grass, fruit, pinecones, leaves, tree stumps, moss, the list goes on.

Here’s an example of a DIY decor project we created to do just that:

Think about the season and how you can incorporate natural seasonal elements (wildflowers for spring, for example) into your decor. Place flowers in vases and fruit in baskets. Consider using local items, like shells if you live by the sea and local flora.

Use greenery as a table runner, floral backdrops, wreaths, and stones and minerals as escort cards. Fill a bucket with water and floating candles and blooms. Hang greenery from chandeliers, place candles on tree stumps, decorate with driftwood, hang sprigs of lavender from chairs…the possibilities are endless!

Fun Favors

Wedding guest favors are a fun way to include your love of the outdoors into your indoor celebration. You might gift potted plants like succulents or cactus (so easy to take care of), crystal air plants, jars of ocean goodies, natural drink coasters, geodes, etc.

If you’d rather skip the favors, you can still give a gift that keeps on giving by letting guests know that you’ve donated an amount in their name to your favorite environmental organization.

We hope you love these ideas on how to bring the outdoors into your indoor wedding. It’s as simple as finding the natural elements you love and creating space for them inside your venue.