How to Keep an Outdoor Venue Cool (arizona)

August is part of the hottest time of the year and Arizona is definitely a hot state. What time of day is your ceremony? I would think that it could easily be high 80's up to 100 degrees depending on your ceremony time. I looked up the weather for your date last year and the high was 102, with the rest of the month with highs regularly in the 100s. I would recommend misting fans as well as regular fans, but even then I worry that your guests would be absolutely miserable in that kind of heat

View Quoted Comment I’m sure there’s a way! I saw the weather as well for the last few years, but this venue is our best option so we’ll make it work

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Is there an option to have the ceremony indoors at your venue? That's some extreme heat that could be dangerous for people dressed for a formal event, especially older folks.

View Quoted Comment This is a destination wedding so there won’t be as many older folks as if I had it at home. I only want an outdoor ceremony. It’s part of the reason we decided on this venue! I’m fine with an indoor reception but the ceremony has to be outdoors.

We ended up getting a ton of rain & moving our ceremony inside, but we were prepared for it to be outside around 80 degrees. We planned on having three kinds of flavored ice water for guests out before the ceremony, and had fans for guests available. Our ceremony was only going to be around 15 minutes and guests knew in advance the ceremony would be outside on grass. Since AZ is so much hotter, I'd hand out umbrellas/parasols, have misters going, and keep your ceremony in the shade & short as possible.

View Quoted Comment It will be very short! FH gets hangry so I wouldn’t want it to be too long before he can eat 😂 I like the water idea! I was thinking parasols as well.

I would provide a tent and fans. I would also give guests advance notice that the ceremony will be outdoors, many people may decline or only attend the reception.

View Quoted Comment We aren’t doing tents especially for 20 min, but I can agree with letting people know in advance!

I went to a day after brunch last year and the family had a large porch they wanted to take advantage of even though it was warm so they rented something like this.

View Quoted Comment Hm I’ll have to look into that! Did you notice a difference with it?

View Quoted Comment Yes I noticed a big difference! I’m extremely sensitive to heat and I was able to sit outside on a 90 degree day which I normally wouldn’t be able to do.

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Especially if you inform guests the wedding will be outside (on the invite or your website), I think everything will be fine. We went to a wedding in the dead of winter outside. It was a short ceremony, they provided hot drinks & hand warmers & blankets, and everyone was fine. We knew to wear warm clothes!

View Quoted Comment Wow that’s awesome!

View Quoted Comment I agree! It’s for such a short portion and there’s access to the indoor part before the wedding, I think it will be fine. I just want to make everyone as comfortable as possible!

Oh man this is a tough one. I live in Arizona and don’t mind the heat but August is a miserable month (it can easily be over 110 and pushing 120 degrees). Definitely try to keep your outdoor portion as short and possible and out of the sun. Fans might help a bit but not a ton because the air is just so hot. Mister and some sort of shade are your best bet. Good luck!

View Quoted Comment Jodie’s right, it can easily be 120 degrees (or more) in AZ in August. I’m completely shocked the venue is ok with an outdoor ceremony in August . I sure hope they have a misting/cooling system around that area.


Since this is a destination wedding, people are probably not aware of how hot it can get in AZ. They should get a heads up on the wedding website so they can plan accordingly (whether it be their attire or their decision to skip the outdoor ceremony and arrive for the reception only).

As an Arizona native myself, I would definitely never have a wedding outside during summer. It's actually considered very rude here and people decline invitations based on it. A lot of venues have a shaded outside venue or a tent with misters. 20 minutes outside (add in waiting time before/after) and people can easily over heat and/or sweat through their attire (especially if they aren't used to AZ heat). I definitely think you'll have a grumpy sweaty guest list during your wedding. Extreme heat advisories are common around that time. Definitely consider a tent, misters, fans for your guests, ice water and cool drinks that contain electrolytes. Shade is a must.

I used to live in Tempe and would never have an outdoor wedding in late summer around there. Unless it's before 8am or after 10pm, it will be miserable and possibly dangerous. If you insist, you have to provide plenty of water and industrial fans and should really provide shade for your guests. I would really rethink the decision to not have a tent.