This year’s winter storms have brought beautiful snowy days – and brides to tears. Although the snow has been {picturesque}, when we don’t typically experience extreme weather, we aren’t prepared when it hits. This is also true for natural disasters. Don’t let bad weather on your wedding day create a stormy situation.
With the advancement of technology and weather models, forecasters can often tell us weeks in advance when a severe storm is approaching. Use that time to be proactive and get plans in place! Even if the weather concerns don’t end up affecting your wedding day, buy yourself peace of mind with these tips:
What to do two-weeks out:
- The Weather Channel offers a free {wedding planning tool} that couples can use to track the weather for their wedding day. Other services include a sunset calculator, flower finder, destination wedding and honeymoon weather tracker, and an outdoor wedding planner.
- It’s common for vendors to have plans for most worst-case sceneries, but start reaching out to inquire about their extreme weather policies in case other vendors need to be pulled in, or if you need to quickly kick it into DIY mode.
- Call hotels near your venue and ask for a block of rooms for your guests that choose to come in earlier to be closer to your venue on the day of.
- Hire a transportation service to drive those staying at the hotel to your wedding so they won’t have to drive on treacherous roads.
What to do on the day of:
- It’s critical to make sure that key players – like your officiant – have transportation. Don’t rely on your vendors to commute to your venue themselves during snowmageddon.
- Use Facebook or your wedding website to communicate any change of plans with your guests. This is the perfect job for a bridesmaid – you’ll be too stressed, so don’t do this yourself.
- If you don’t have a wedding coordinator, appoint someone to troubleshoot for you and ensure vendors stay on their timeline. Also, have a runner available with suitable transportation to be dispatched in case of a last minute glitch.
Above all else, your wedding guests’ and bridal party’s safety is most important. If the weather is deemed life threatening or catastrophic, such as our most recent snowpocalypse – postpone your day.
Things you should always plan upon booking your wedding:
When picking your date, reference the Farmer’s Almanac to estimate what the weather will most likely be like on your wedding day.
Most venues typically include a Force Majeure clause in their contract. This means that if an act of God occurs, venues and vendors have the right to cancel your wedding. Make sure that you know what this entails – do you get to move your date, do you lose your deposit, etc.
Buy {wedding insurance} at the start of the wedding planning process! Policies are usually about 1% of your wedding budget – $500 would reimburse up to $50,000 worth of expenses. This covers lost deposits due to catastrophes, and if you have to postpone your wedding due to severe weather, it also covers non-reimbursable expenses. It also covers your dress, ring and so much more!
