Making or accentuating an aisle for outdoor weddings
I saw this photo [pictured below] and it inspired me to try and find more amazing ways that outdoor wedding spaces have created or defined their wedding aisles. Please to enjoy these clever ways to create an aisle in an outdoor setting…

Thanks to Glass and Plastic for submitting this to the OBB Flickr pool.

Thanks brittany w for submitting this to the OBB Flickr pool.

Thanks sarawwr for submitting this photo to the pool.

Thanks DanielleAK for submitting this photo to the OBB pool.
My friends, Jack and Nami, created an aisle for their forest wedding out of boxes of wheat grass. The groom constructed the boxes and the bride used an old connection from her Jamba Juice days to get the wheat grass! They also added daisies for more pizzaz.
You could always use an actual aisle runner. It makes quite the dramatic statement at an outdoor wedding, don't ya think?
Have your guests line up to create the aisle. It's hard to tell in this shot from my wedding but all the guests lined up on either side of me and my dad, it was pretty cool.
Having a fall wedding? Line your aisle with leaves and pumpkins, or maybe just a lot of baby pumpkins and then re-use them as favors?

Photo by Megan Finley Photography

Photo by Joanna Tano Photography.

Thanks to trphywifekmeyer for adding this to the OBB Flickr pool.
Or you could just use what's already there, like this pre defined path that Marie-Gael and Michael turned into their wedding aisle.
I know there are TONS of great ideas out there, so you know what to do… leave 'em in the comments section!
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About Megan Finley
Megan Finley is the Managing Editor for Offbeat Bride and the Associate Publisher for the Offbeat Empire. When she's not slaving away for the Empire, she's sharing her dork side on her own blog and on Twitter @meganfinley.






Cortney said
The lantern picture is down.
Tanya said
What great ideas! I'm having an outdoor wedding on my family's ranch and have been thinking about ways to accentuate the aisle.
lindsay said
This is actually really useful – I'm getting married next weekend in a park with no real ideas on how to do an aisle (or even if I need one). I'll let you know what we come up with!
Samantha said
Yay! We're getting married next year in a state park and this was a very helpful post.
What about those who are eloping/self-uniting? Instead of an aisle, we're thinking of spreading flower petals around us in a circle and then exchanging vows. Maybe we'll come into the circle separately and leave together? It's hard to draw the line between sacred and silly sometimes, when it comes to rituals. We're still trying to find that middle ground.
Does OBB have a post on common and uncommon ceremony rituals? We're writing the entire ceremony ourselves, and I'd like to find some things we can do to symbolize our union.
Shannon said
Our site has a bunch of trees so it's not clear where to walk in from, so we'll be marking the path with a line of pinwheels. I think it's especially important for the flower girls so they know where to walk and don't meander away!
Jessica_Iowa said
Epic ideas, love the parasols and Jessica and Matthew's wedding has always been a favorite wedding of mine.
Katy said
Some great ideas here.
We're technically getting married inside but it's only a tiny building (more a roof on pillars) so I think we're going to need to extend the aisle to allow plenty of time for some awesome music.
Kendall said
I really love all the aisle photos above but my favorite would have to be the fireweed! It's so simple but the purple color of the flowers really stands out.
Kristine said
Hm… someday I want to have an outdoor winter wedding, and this post got me thinking on ideas for that… Little snowmen? Cedar branches? So many ideas…
Christen said
The little snowmen idea sounds fabulous. You should take that and RUNNNN!!!!
Mizdid said
When my fiances sister got married on the beach, their aisle was made out of the guests flip flops.
Ms.NT said
My husband and I did the same thing for our wedding! It looked so cute.
Kadie said
What about white paper lanterns or oversized candles? Tiki torches?
I love the idea of a dusk wedding filled with soft light.
Laura said
We're having a sunset summer or early fall wedding in the park we first got together in and we're thinking about using old hurricane lamps provided we can do it safely.
Otherwise, possibly glass encased tealights
Nicolette said
I was wondering what I ought to about an aisle in the middle of the forest. Thank you.
Electric Jen said
We are getting married on the beach and we are going to use driftwood to make an aisle. So many beautiful and simple ideas! I also like the thought of using birch branches, shells and other nature-inspired items. If we were having it inside I think I would line the aisle with peacock feathers, but they could blow away outside…So we'll see.
Mae said
We got married in a State Park last September. It was in the middle of a clearing, I guess you could call it. Our aisle was lined with large orange and pink paper lanterns, hanging from shepherd's hooks. White flower petals were thrown down before the ceremony. When the flower girls went down the aisle, they threw hot pink flower petals on top of the white, out of little pails. It was so much fun coming up with a cute, not-so-traditional way of lining the aisle.
Ms.NT said
My husband and I had a beach wedding and the aisle was made from our guests shoes.
Lauren K. said
What did Casey and Colin use for their wedding arch… thing? I saw a similar off-beat arch idea on another site (forget where!) where the wedding party held dowels with long tissue paper garlands that were all attached to two balloons at the top that kept it all elevated.
Any other ideas for an alternative arch?
Kortney said
I am getting married in a field next month. We are lining the aisle with empty wine bottles with wild flowers in them. We'll weight them with sand so they don't tip over.
Jheri said
How did this turn out? I am thinking of doing it myself. Do you have any pics?
Bernice said
I'm having an late afternoon/evening wedding and i was wondering what ppls opinions of having candles or tea lights light the way as an aisle
Trine said
Candles or tealights sounds amazing! I particularly have a soft spot for tealights (don't want to advertise, but IKEA ones are excellent for central heating in a small room!) and you can reuse them for centre pieces or scattered on tables. Mind the fire factor though. Are there small kids around/ long dresses/narrow aisle? If that's the case, how about fairy lights? You can get them quite cheaply and there's lots of options. Simple white, coloured, shapes… Or you can put the candles/tealights in waterfilled glasses or something. That should take care of the flame if it was knocked over and would serve as an extra barrier for dresses.
I love the idea of candles and it would look amazing!!!
Alexandra said
Sounds good. You can also get LED, battery-powered tealights, for safety. Some outdoor venues probably wouldn't allow fire anyway, I know I went to a forest wedding that wouldn't allow matches to be given as favors & no fire or smoking! ;p