You can file this either under the best laid plans or if you have professionals on your team for heavens sakes LISTEN TO THEM.
This weekend I worked a wedding that was virtually destroyed by the weather. What’s sad is that it didn’t have to be. There was a back up plan but the bride had her “vision” of an outdoor wedding stuck in her head and just would not let it go.
Three hours before the wedding the decision was made to go with the outdoor plan. This was based on the latest radar data and a ton of hope that the massive blob of doom on the radar screen would track just far enough south to miss us. By 4:30 the garden was set for the ceremony, by 5:00 guests were beginning to arrive along with the impending doom of cloud cover and the first raindrops. It is at this point that mistakes were made.
There comes a point in any wedding professionals career when they have to just step back, look at your bride and say something to the effect of “It is your wedding, but I think you are making a horrible choice and I cannot be held responsible for the outcome.” This was the situation at this wedding. Despite the best advice of some of the best, most experienced wedding professionals in the area the bride would not give up her dream of a garden wedding. “We’ll just wait it out, it will pass.” Disregard the fact that these professionals had worked this venue for years, in every season and every kind of weather. They knew what could and could not be done. They also knew that there was a least a ¼ mile between the garden site and the fall back location. With a strong team and a little luck, everything could be moved and reset in about 20 minutes if needed.
At 5:30 the rain began to pick up, “Oh I just know this can’t hold up long, let’s not move the ceremony.” Sigh. At 5:40 the clouds opened and all hell broke loose. Now remember, there is a ¼ mile of garden between the reception location and the ceremony site and another ¼ mile to the fall back site. As the guests huddled in their cars and the bride cried the pros did what they could to salvage a soggy mess. By the time we had broken down the arch and unity candle table and moved them to the new site we were literally leaving puddles. Due to the heavy lightning, the chairs weren’t moved. We had the 20 minutes but the luck had been rained out. The soggy guests stood in our puddles and watched the garland drip as the musicians dried out their instruments. What a lovely ceremony.
Favors were called in and a fleet of limos and a bus arrived to transport the guest from the ceremony site to the reception site in the driving thunderstorm. All of the pieces of the reception were as they should be but let’s just say everyone’s spirits had been dampened. By 9:30 rain was reduced to a steady drizzle and the guest where on their way home.
Every now and then you need to let the dream go and face reality. I know that it is your wedding. You hired professionals for their expertise. They tell you things for a reason. The smart bride knows this and listens to them.
Ugh! That sounded like a dreadful time. It is so easy for me to say – duh! She should have listened and moved the dang ceremony as suggested. But the other part of me – the would be Bride dreaming of her outdoor ceremony part – is crushed! It sounds like she would have been crushed either way though – although had she heeded the advice offered she wouldn’t have crushed guests as well…thanks for the story!
It was miserable. The pros did what they could but you just can’t toy with Mom Nature.
Great story and point! Sometimes reality isn’t quite the way we want it, but if we just do what we have to (like move to the backup plan location) we can save things from going from bad to worse.