How to Make an Outdoor Aisle

Outdoor weddings can be really beautiful, but they can also be hard to make work.  Apart from obvious potential difficulties like rain, cold, bugs, and natural disasters, it can also be hard to turn a grassy (or sandy) bit of land into a ceremony space.  One thing that I found really important was creating an aisle.  I love the look of rose petals used to create aisles, and we decided to make that happen for my sister's wedding.  Since the "altar" area for her ceremony was not in line with the stairs she would be walking down, I thought it was important to make an aisle that would flow from the staircase all the way to the "altar" (as seen in the photos). You can make your aisle thinly outlined like this, or you could opt for more rose petals and make it a bit thicker, or even cover the space entirely.  This aisle took about 50 roses' petals to make, so you can get a sense of just how many petals would be required for something thicker.  Personally, I like the look of an outlined aisle, as opposed to filled in- you don't want the focal point of the ceremony space to be on the ground!

Here you can see the yellow rose petals leading the way to the altar.  You can also see the palm plants used to mark the altar space- very appropriate considering we were on an island!

A closeup of the chairs (with my DIY programs) and the potted plants that marked the beginning of the seats.  These planters were found at the thrift shop for a few dollars, and the flowers were picked up at a local Home Depot on the cheap.  DIY!

The view from the top of the steps shows my flower arrangements (see My Life as a Florist for more on those), as well as the start of the aisle (and of course the lovely scenery!)