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Sunday, September 07, 2008

Care to Do a Rain Dance?

When life gives you lemons, you make lemonade, and when life gives you hurricanes, you make...habanero salsa?

My wedding is exactly one year from now, and while I'd sort of academically thought about what I'd do if it rained, I hadn't really considered hurricanes until Hurricane Hanna blew through town.  A friend of a friend was supposed to get married in Central Park this Saturday, but the downpour in New York made it impossible.  

OK, so let's say next Labor Day another hurricane sweeps up the East Coast.  What's the plan B?  The first thing I did was find out from my venue what they do in case of rain.  Clifton has a large verandah that you can either use for dinner seating or for dancing, and in bad weather, they cover it with a clear plastic tent.

(photo credit: Clifton Inn)
We're also talking to the tent rental company to find out how much notice they need to set up a frame tent. We might have a simple tent on the front lawn anyway during the cocktail hour, just to keep people out of the sun.  But if it rains, and especially if it rains hard, we'll probably need something more elaborate.  We've decided to plan on a big storm and add the cost of the tents into the budget.  If we don't need them, it'll be a happy surprise, and if we do, we'll be prepared.

The one thing that worries me is what do we do if the weather forecast says 60% chance of precipitation.  Hanna took all the guesswork out of figuring out whether it was going to rain, but if there's a chance of an ordinary storm, do we put up the tents or not?  Should we assume it's going to be a short shower and herd everybody inside?  I guess we'll see when the time gets closer, but that is one of the things that keeps me up nights.  

But my photographer just says, "If it rains, we'll use golf umbrellas and have beautiful, arty pictures."  That's why I love her.

PS: This part of the East Coast got really lucky with Hanna, but my thoughts and prayers are with everyone who's been affected by the hurricanes this season, and those who are in the path of Hurricane Ike. Please be safe!

2 Comments:

Blogger Mrs. in May said...

I am the opposite, I was obsessed with rain! When I booked my venue I wanted to make sure there were nice photo spots inside in case it rained. Then I kept talking to my photographer about rain plans and I will tell you what he said to me that made me smile (but, do have something in your back pocket like you are doing) "Let's plan on it being a gorgeous day with sunshine, no humidity and not a cloud in the sky - its your wedding day, dream big" If it rains, well, then we will deal with it, but definitely think positive thoughts!"

I loved him for that. But, you know in the back of my head I am agreeing with you for having the foresight to make something happen in the just in case scenario.

Monday, September 08, 2008 4:36:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

so interested , thanks U

Wednesday, September 10, 2008 1:20:00 AM  

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