Summer Wedding Ideas: 44 of Our Favourite Summery Wedding Ideas
From macramé décor and festival themes, to beach ceremonies and floral invites, these summer wedding ideas will help you totally elevate your day
Want to really elevate your June, July or August wedding? If so, you've come to the right place, as we have all the wedding ideas for summer that you need to plan a dreamy celebration. There's a reason that peak wedding season spans across the whole of summer, and Saturday weddings in August will cost a premium - it's simply a great time to get married.
Whether you're looking for country wedding ideas for summer, or fancy something a bit more DIY, we have a whole host of inspiring ideas and tips that'll help you nail your summer wedding theme.
Our guide explores some of the most unique wedding ideas for summer, as well as excellent themes for summer and even outfit ideas for you, your partner and the wider wedding party.
Wedding Ideas for Summer: How to Nail Your Summer Wedding Theme
Getting married on a budget and need cheap wedding ideas? Tying the knot in a rustic venue and need barn wedding ideas? Love doing things yourself and want some DIY tips? Whatever the brief, we have you covered with our ultimate roundup of summer wedding ideas.
Wedding Ideas for Summer
1. Get Married Outdoors
Nothing says weddings in the summer quite like an outdoor ceremony, and outdoor wedding venues like The Orchard at Musley a perfectly suited to sunny 'I dos' surrounded by friends and family. If you are planning to embrace the great outdoors on your wedding day, we have an article on the best months to get married based on the beautiful British weather.
2. Have a Garden Ceremony
When it comes to outdoor ceremonies, garden wedding venues really do set themselves apart from the rest. Weddings ceremonies on a lawn, whether that be in the grounds of a venue like Chaucer Barn, or at home in your very own garden, really do have a magical, summery feel to them.
3. Embrace Cherry Blossoms
Surrounding yourself with crisp, white cherry blossom is a summer wedding idea we can definitely get on board with. Whether it's natural cherry blossom trees or faux alternatives, there's no doubt that this bloom is perfect for elegant summer wedding themes, especially when used to decorate an outdoor wedding like this one at Botley's Mansion.
4. Tie the Knot in a Tipi
It's a well-known fact that tipi and yurt wedding venues make the perfect spot for a summer wedding, and looking at this set up at Browning Bros Events, you can see why. If you're planning a festival themed summer wedding, hiring a festival-style wedding venue should be your first task on the to-do list.
With that as your backdrop, the décor ideas will just flow so naturally.
5. Floral Staircases
We love a staircase moment at a wedding, and if you're tying the knot in summer, there's no better way to decorate yours than with fresh or faux flowers. This grand staircase in the orangery at Botley's Mansion was made to be decorated with flowers, and you can match the bloom to your colour scheme or make it seasonal.
For example, if you're getting married at the beginning of summer, you could choose from this selection of June wedding flowers.
6. Have a Draped Wooden Arch
Wooden arches are a rustic idea we've loved for a while now, but if you fancy giving yours a summery makeover, drape it with light chiffon fabric in the colour of your choosing. We love the white used here at Kingdom, as it really brightens up the natural greenery, but a pop of colour to match your summer wedding theme could also work.
The light, airy fabric gives serious summer vibes, so whatever the colour, keep the fabric you drape light-weight.
7. Host a Rooftop Reception
We all love a rooftop cocktail with friends in summer, so why not recreate the same vibe for your wedding? For those who never thought a summer wedding idea like this was possible, we're here to it certainly is, and we have an entire article dedicated to rooftop wedding venues like Kingdom for you to explore.
8. Decorate Your Aisle
Wedding aisle décor is one of those wedding ideas for summer celebrations that's simple in essence, but adds so much to your venue aesthetic. Whether it's flowers like these from Iris co, candles in a barn wedding venue or photographs in rustic frames, decorating your wedding aisle is a great way to embrace a summer wedding theme.
9. Have an Outdoor Photoshoot
Is it even a summer wedding if you don't have a photoshoot outside? We think not. Wedding ideas for summer don't come as easy as this one - just pop yourselves outside, come rain or shine, and make the most of your wedding venue's outside space - especially if you get married somewhere like The Orchard at Munsley with grounds like this!
10. Have Drinks in a Yurt
If your idea of a wedding theme for summer is boho chic or festival fun, gather your guests together in the evening and enjoy a night of drinks and dancing in a tipi or yurt wedding venue. Venues like Camp Katur are perfect for this kind of celebration, and have a number of outdoor and indoor spaces that'd suit this type of vibe.
11. Use Rustic Signs
Wedding signs really set the tone for a wedding theme, and if its a rustic wedding in summer that you're after, wooden signs like this are an absolute must. Wedding venues like Wyresdale Weddings have signs like this already set up, but if you wanted to buy your own wedding signs, you could keep them after the big day and even display them in your home!
12. Celebrate on a Beach
If you get married at a beach or coastal wedding venue, then ideas for your summer wedding will pretty much be sorted. With a beachy backdrop like this one at Carbis Bay Hotel, what more do you need? A beach wedding venue can also act as a theme for your day - think coastal wedding invitations, shell-themed favours and caramel and sea-salt wedding cake...
13. Invite Your Dog
After cheap wedding ideas for summer? Bring along your furry friend, we say! What better event to have your dog at than your summer wedding where there'll likely be acres of land for them to run around in the fresh air? We have an complete guide on dogs at weddings, including what you need to consider. Just make sure you have a dog-friendly wedding venue like Oaktree Farm.
14. Use Wooden Benches
If you're getting married outdoors or are looking for some outside barn wedding ideas for summer, consider having wooden benches as seating instead of formal chairs. This could work for your wedding ceremony, reception or even both if you fancy it.
Having wooden benches instead of formal chairs gives your day a picnic-in-the-park-meets-woodland-fairy-tale vibe - and we're here for it, especially if you're tying the knot somewhere as enchanting as The Woods at Oakley.
15. Play Garden Games
Couples looking for DIY wedding ideas for summer should seriously consider creating or bringing some garden games that can be played outdoors. These guys at Oaktree Farm are playing giant jenga, but if you can't get your hands on that, why not just have the original size, and set up little games stations for everyone to enjoy?
You could even create your own tombola, bowling or croquet for guests to play. The only limit here is your imagination.
15. Take Board Games to the Lawn
And why stop at garden games when venues like Cain Manor can facilitate giant games of chess? We can just picture it now, people crowding around the maid of honour and one of the ushers as they battle it out to become the wedding chess champion. You could even re-use this board for checkers or a game of human chess for the children to have a go at.
17. Eat Al-Fresco
We love the idea of having an outdoor summer wedding theme, and eating outside in the warmer months is just a delight. The surroundings here at The Woods at Oakley are the perfect place to set up an al-fresco dinner. We love the way they have brought nature to the table with the elongated floral table runner and the rustic wooden chairs. It's a chef's kiss from us!
And this is something you could recreate yourself if you're planning on doing some DIY wedding ideas for summer. You could forage for greenery to use as your table runner and arrange something like this for your garden wedding, perhaps?
18. Host a Pool Party
Hiring a wedding venue with it's own swimming pool and sunbathing area is probably one of our favourite summer wedding ideas ever. Just imagine having a wedding with a pool-party vibe? And if you didn't want that for the wedding day itself, you could plan a wedding weekend and let guests enjoy a pre or post-wedding pool party.
We guarantee you they'll love it, plus, it's a great way to keep everyone entertained without additional costs attached. Watermouth Cove Weddings is one of those unique venues with a pool in the UK, and we're obsessed.
19. Make a Boho Aisle
We love a boho wedding theme in the summer, and one way to embrace that theme is to have bohemian furniture and decoration for your wedding ceremony. Hanko Flowers have created pretty floral arrangements to adorn this boho aisle, and we love the mismatched chairs - it adds to the free-flow vibe that suits boho summer weddings so well.
20. Use a Natural Aisle
If you're after cheap wedding ideas for summer celebrations, how about spending absolutely nothing decorating your aisle? Sounds impossible, but using nature and natural surroundings as your ready made wedding aisle makes that a very real possibility.
The large pampas grass and potted plants at Oaktree Farm create such a beautiful summery wedding aisle that's so pretty, you don't need to add anything of your own.
21. Have Floral Stationery
Floral wedding themes can work with a wedding in any season, but we absolutely love them as a summer wedding idea. This set of floral wedding menus, place names and table numbers at The Woods at Oakley is so beautifully done - it's floral simplicity at its best and matches the greenery on the table so well. If you're after a summer wedding theme that's subtle and beautiful, simple florals are the way forward.
22. Host a Limbo Competition
If hosting your own limbo competition - or better, tournament - wasn't the best summer DIY wedding idea of all, we're not sure what is. Something as simple as three bits of wood tied together can keep your wedding guests entertained for hours on end, like these guys pictured at Oaktree Farm - especially if cocktails are involved!
And the best bit? If the weather turns, you can bring it inside and it'll still be fun!
23. Throw Confetti
Confetti wedding pictures look good anywhere, sure, but outdoors at a summer wedding, confetti pictures really do hit differently. To embrace the summer wedding theme, you could opt for bright-coloured confetti or dried natural petal confetti which will also smell beautiful as it's thrown in the air. This picture of confetti being thrown over a couple at Cain Manor is giving is all the feels.
24. Hire an Outdoor Photobooth
Wedding photo booth ideas can really set your summer wedding apart from the rest, and there are so many which enable you to embrace your sunny theme. Photo booths like Airstream Studio allow you to have an outdoor source of wedding entertainment that looks so cool in pictures, as well. What's more, it's weather proof - so guests inside will be dry just in case the heavens do open.
25. Offer Glamping Accommodation
Festival wedding venues like Wyresdale Weddings have summer wedding ideas exuding from pretty much everywhere - but the part that really caught our eye was the overnight accommodation. It's glamping pods! Summer wedding ideas don't come much cooler than that, and your guests will be so impressed when they see where they get to stay!
What's more, having guests stay in these self-contained pods means everyone can share a coffee and a good old post-wedding catch up the next day after a good night's sleep.
26. Have Outdoor Seating
It sounds like like such an obvious one, but sometimes the simplest wedding ideas are the best ones. One of the best ways to create a great atmosphere at your summer wedding is to ensure you have plenty of sociable outdoor seating.
We love this guest area at Wyresdale Weddings - the benches are laid out in a way that encourages lots of conversation, and the fire pit and blankets will keep guests warm well into the evening - genius.
27. Wear a Flower Crown
Not for everyone, but for those who are into it, we highly recommend wearing a flower crown to your wedding - it just screams summer wedding and there are so many directions you can go with it. For a chic and simplistic look, stick to greenery and foliage, and for romance and warmth, go for something with roses like this crown by Frankie Lane Flowers.
And if not for you, what about your bridesmaids, flower girls or even a man of honour?
28. Hire a Funfair
Yep, we said it. We think you should hire a funfair for your summer wedding. And actually, it's not as excessive as it sounds, we promise! There are actually a number of fufnfair wedding venues in the UK which have funfair facilities on-site, like Oaktree Farm - so you don't have to invite the entire fair down to your venue - they'll already be there, waiting for you.
Can you imagine your guests' faces when they turn up and see a carousel and a big wheel!?
29. Take a Boat Trip
If you're lucky enough to get married at a venue like Exceptional at the Lake at Norsted Manor Farm, which has its very own lake on site, we highly recommend having your wedding photographs during a cute boat ride.
Not only does it make for excellent pictures (see exhibit A above...), but it's also a unique experience and an excuse for you and your love to spend a bit of alone time on the day.
30. Get Introduced Outdoors
If the sun is shining at your summer wedding, why not do your line of procession or first marital introduction outside instead like this couple at Wyresdale Weddings? It's a cheap wedding idea (that'll actually cost you nothing!), but the pictures will be beautiful and it's a last-minute decision you can make based on the weather.
31. Have a Semi-Naked Cake
Semi-naked wedding cakes are the perfect addition to any summer wedding - and they're not just for rustic themes either! Add some rose gold or silver drip icing to keep things chic, or decorate with fresh flowers for a super summery vibe. We love this one at Eden Barn - and the fact they have two is just our style.
32. Use Bright Coloured Flowers
Neutral colours are all the rage, but we're still here for bright, bold colour schemes, especially when it comes to summer weddings. We love the colour of these vibrant blooms arranged by Blossom & Threads, they are so eye-catching and really work well with the rust bridesmaid dresses.
33. Have a Gin Cocktail Bar
Gin is one of those drinks that suits so many seasons, but none better than summer. Wedding suppliers Gin Lizzy (how great is that name?) have the coolest converted carriage which they use as a mobile bar for weddings. The unique look will be such a talking point for your guests, even when they're a few gin cocktails down.
34. Arrive in a Convertible
When you think of summer, and you picture a car, be honest - it's a convertible. So why not hire a convertible as your wedding transport like this couple pictured at Kingdom? You can get some awesome pictures in it with your partner and also have the wind blowing through your hair as you arrive or leave your venue.
35. Have Sharing Platters
Instead of a three-course sit-down meal at your summer wedding, why not offer your guests sharing boards and platters instead, like this set up at Eden Barn? Not only is it a really sociable way of eating, but it also allows you to give them more options and choice, and not get filled up with heavy meals more suited to winter and autumn weddings.
If you are still keen for a more formal meal for your wedding breakfast, you could offer guests wedding grazing boards for the reception instead.
36. Fairy Light Backdrops
Most people think fairy lights are more of a winter wedding idea, and they do look amazing in the colder months, but we actually love them for summer weddings as well. Fairy lights paired with bright, pastel or white coloured flowers offer a really romantic and fresh backdrop for summer wedding couples to say 'I do' in front of, or to act as a backdrop for guests to snap pictures.
This one at Eden Barn is so beautifully styled, we're totally obsessed.
37. Do a Champagne Spray
Giving us pool party vibes and Ibiza feels is this epic champagne spray by the wedding party at Kingdom venue.
It's everything a summer wedding should be and more, and we recommend every summer wedding couple have a go at it - just make sure the photographer and videographer are on hand to capture it all - and don't do it before the formal pictures. No one wants wet patches in the official wedding images.
Styling & Summer Wedding Themes
One of the best ways to incorporate plenty of wedding ideas for summer is to choose a summer wedding theme that embraces the season. Deciding on wedding themes for summer include choosing a summery colour palette, appropriate wedding venue style and overall vibe of the day.
Another big part of summer wedding themes are the outfits - from the couple to the guests - what people wear can really set the tone for a summer wedding celebration. Here's some of our favourite summer wedding themes and styling ideas to add to your wedding vision board.
38. Chic & Champagne
If you love the idea of muted tones, but want a summer themed wedding, consider a muted champagne colour palette like these two brides at Wyresdale Weddings have. The champagne satin bridesmaid dresses look so elegant next to their wedding dresses, and he pampas grass in the bouquets really adds to the overall look.
This kind of colour scheme works really well at country wedding venues, as the washed stone of the building becomes a ready-made backdrop for your champagne and muted scheme.
39. Fun & Pink
For some, neutrals are everything, but for others, summer wedding themes mean bright, bold and vivacious colours - just like this bride at Kingdom who has opted for an ombre pink wedding dress and pink bridesmaid dresses to match. We love the bold colour scheme, it's really eye-catching and a flattering shade, but if you choose a bright colour scheme, it doesn't have to be everywhere.
This bride has just the right balance - bright bridesmaid dresses, paired with a pastel coloured train and neutral coloured flowers, so the colour palette doesn't become too overpowering - we love!
40. Neutrals
We're fully obsessed with this couple's' choice of outfits at Eden Barn. The ivory shade wedding dress has a warm tone to it, which is highlighted beautifully by the groom's beige summer wedding suit. Neutrals have never looked better, and we love when lighter colour summer wedding suits are embraced.
41. Bright & Bold
This groom certainly got the memo about it being a summer wedding at Eden Barn, and we love the way they have spiced up their outfit. Pairing the chequered suit with both pink and red accessories is a bold statement, but it really works here. We also love the addition of sunglasses - every summer wedding couple needs some, and (as you can see!), they look great in the pictures.
42. 70s Orange
Orange is a great colour for summer weddings, but pairing it with a floral theme takes it to the next level. This person has taken inspiration from their partner's Iris and Co wedding bouquet and opted for a flower-power orange shirt that beautifully replicates the flowers in the arrangement.
The bold print is balanced perfectly with dark trousers, and we love their partner's use of sequins, too. What a cool couple and an even cooler look.
43. Floral & Smart
From one floral look to another, these two grooms at Exceptional at the Lake Norsted Manor Farm have decided to embrace florals in their wedding outfits as well - but this time, it's been done in a more subtle way. Adding a patterned waistcoat to your wedding outfit, especially a paisley floral one, gives your outfit a bit of oomph, gives a nod to the summer theme without being too out there.
44. Festival Chic
Is there any wedding theme more appropriate for summer than a festival one? We think not. And wedding venues like Camp Katur were made for chic and casual celebrations like that. This couple have styled themselves brilliantly for a cute festival summer wedding - from the braces and chinos, to the flower crown and boho dress, they've nailed it.
We also love the addition of macramé dreamcatchers - macramé is very in at the moment and adds a festival touch whilst keeping the colour palette neutral, if that's what you're after.
After more inspiration for your summer wedding? If so, check out our guide to the best summer wedding venues in the UK - because if you nail that, the rest of the theme comes so naturally!
