Waterfront ceremonies here have one obvious backdrop already, and a flower wall placed badly competes with Manhattan and loses. Where the vows face the water we put the wall behind the guests instead — the receiving line, the cocktail corner, the spot the photographer works between the ceremony and the reception. It gets more use there and it does not fight the view you chose the venue for.
Outdoors on the pier or a rooftop, wind is the whole conversation. The river funnels it and an afternoon can turn quickly. We ballast for it, we call it the day before, and we will move the wall inside rather than gamble on a wedding. That is not caution for its own sake — it is the one failure on a wedding day that cannot be fixed in the moment.