Weather Roulette: What do we do if it rains?

Planning a beach wedding is not for the faint of heart! Especially if you and all of your guests are traveling from a decent distance away. It's already a little challenging without having to wory about the heavens opening up on your wedding day. Here is the advice I give my brides (and grooms) when they are worried about the weather.

Please DON'T fixate on the forecast. It will make you a bit crazy! We have a lovely hurricane season that usually is most active between September and November. We already know it is going to be a factor so we are watching for it and we are prepared. The rest of the year, the weather in Texas is just like the old saying- "if you don't like the weather, wait a few minutes and it will change". The only thing we know for sure is that it will definitely be HOT in the summer :).

That rotten weather man can predict torrential rain and if you walk outside, NOTHING! Not even a drop. Conversely, we have been rained on when there isn't a cloud in the sky. It's kind of a thing down here and we are used to it. I understand that this piece of information may not make you feel better but trust me on this-at the end of the day-you will be married if that is your wish. We regularly deal with "pop up" showers that pass by pretty quickly. Usually 20-30 minutes is all it takes. We can't garantee that it won't ruin your wedding but we will do everything in our power to make sure it doesn't.

How do we deal with this crazy tropical weather?

First things first...

I need to know what is most important to you and your future spouse. For some of our couples, it's all about the date. I have one couple who insist that they must be married on 2/22/22 at 2pm period, full stop! I ask them what they want to do if it rains on their wedding day. I gave them the following options knowing what their prioroty was:

‍Back Up Venue

We are fortunate as we have built out a mini chapel in our offices. It's so not the beach and that can be very disappointing for couples who have planned a beautiful wedding at the sea side. They can choose to marry there or use their reception site or even the living room of the front row beach house they have rented. At least with these last two options, they can see the water. This is as simple as advising the venue that we may have to conduct the ceremony there in case of inclement weather.

(We also have a couple of spots in our back pocket that we may be able to book ahead of time but they will definitely add to your budget, so let's chat about it before it becomes a problem.)

Get married in the rain

Yes, I said that!! I have done a few weddings in the rain. If you have a sense of adventure, it can actually be fun. It is definitely not for everyone. The photographer cannot get wet, neither can our sound tech and the sound equipment. Some of our decor probably shouldn't get wet either but I can't say it hasn't happened with those sudden little "pop up" showers that occur while we are setting up.

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If the date isn't as important as actually doing the ceremony on the beach, then we have to look at:

Rescheduling

‍Now rescheduling can be a little bit of a pain beacuse it may involve moving a lot of people around. Before you get too worried, let's break this down to it's parts.

The weather radar for our area on your wedding day. Our local TV  stations are out of Houston. That's actually about an hour away so we look at the radar. We can usually tell if there is going to be a break in the weather and if it is enough time for us to set up and conduct the ceremony safely.

The size of your guest list. Larger events will need to have a back up venue pre-scheduled. It is way too complicated to change a ceremony time when you have 40+ guests that have to be notified.

The schedule of events and other vendors. It may not be possible to reschedule your make up artists and photographer or change the recpetion time at a restaraunt so again, we would preschedule a back up venue. A lot of our couples are leaving on a cruise the same or next day so we would take that schedule into account ahead of time. My cruising honeymooners will frequently come in a day eearlier if possible so they can move things around if the rain or cold comes. If our couple is planning on staying on island for a few days, we can sometimes move the wedding to the next morning. It really just depends on your situation and travel plans.

The scheduled time of your ceremony. If you have planned on that sunset wedding that everyone wants-we may not have much wiggle room in the schedule and may have to look at an earlier time slot or the next day.

Hurricane season is a real bummer sometimes. If we are advised that we have a major storm heading towards the coast of Galveston-we will postpone your event to another mutaully agreed on day.

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“Hurricane season is a real bummer sometimes. If we are advised that we have a major storm heading towards the coast of Galveston-we will postpone your event to another mutaully agreed on day. ”

What now?

Now after we look at all of these different parts, we will make a decision based on what is right for you. Please rest assured, we usually only have to delay the ceremony for a little while and everything works out as expected.

In the event that it doesn't, We put on a smile and we have a little fun despite the clouds. If we are working on your event, we have already had these conversations and already made a plan. I have already asked how you feel about this situation and know what your wishes are. We have the situation in hand and it will work out the way it is intended to be. Besides: clear umbrellas are less than $8 each on that grey and yellow web site and chances are we can get them here on time :).

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