Part 2: Plan Ahead – But Not Too Far Ahead
Plan ahead—but not too far ahead. Hopefully you have established a solid rain plan that you’d be just as happy having to execute as your fair weather plan. Yeah for you! For those of you who are now staring at your weather map and consulting the Farmer’s Almanac six months in advance, I’m afraid you’re adding a level of stress to your planning process that is just not necessary. When you live in New England, you’re used to having 80 degree temperatures in early fall followed by the first frost warning of the season the very next night. Weather changes around here, and quickly. The best thing to do when stressing out about your wedding weekend weather is to NOT LOOK AT THE WEATHER until the week of the wedding. If you have a really well thought out rain plan, that could be as late as the Wednesday before your wedding. Why do I suggest waiting until the last minute to look? Well, here’s the most obvious reason—you have NO CONTROL over the weather and what it’s going to do. First, you do have all the control in the world over your rain plan, which should already be in place. Second, you can’t really get a realistic look at the weather report until 2-4 days beforehand, so sneaking a peek on Wednesday for a Saturday wedding makes the most sense. This gives you time to make the rain call on installing tents and marquees. Most tent companies prefer to install their equipment mid-week, to the end of the week, before your wedding.
Once your wedding is a few days away, it’s time to start looking at the weather reports and make your important equipment calls. After that, it’s up to the weather world to do it’s thing and for you—or better yet, a close friend or your wedding planner—to look at the RADAR to keep an eye on the skies and what’s happening around your ceremony and reception times. Radar can save you hours and hours of headaches, allowing you just a little glimpse into the future if you have to make a last minute decision to move the ceremony indoors, under the tent, or to just wait it out for 20 minutes while a passing shower does its thing. If you have the stomach to handle a little schedule flexibility, watching and working with the radar can really allow you to have the outdoor ceremony you always envisioned, just twenty minutes later than scheduled, or to get your guests to a safe place before a spot thunderstorm pops up in the middle of August.
The bottom line, you can’t do a darn thing about the skies on your wedding day, let alone six months before the wedding day. You can, however, get a good idea of what’s coming your way 2-4 days before the big event, and with the help of a WIFI signal and a good weather radar app, you can make spot calls if necessary right up to the start of your ceremony. Here are some great apps we suggest you download to watch the radar and follow the local weather reports as your day approaches:
Photography by Katherine Jane Photography.
Kate Malloy
Kate Malloy is the creative director and lead planner at Malloy Weddings. Malloy Weddings specializes in destination New England wedding planning and event design, and Kate has planned over 500 weddings throughout New England and beyond. Kate has been planning and designing weddings since 2003 and recently launched the weddings brand of Malloy Events, the corporate and non profit sister brand to Malloy Weddings.