Wedding in the Rain

Weather is one thing you absolutely cannot control on your wedding day.  That, and the number of sherries Aunty Marg has before hitting the dance floor.  So the question every bride needs to consider is what to do when you wake up and it becomes apparent that your perfectly planned outdoor summer wedding might have to be at the mercy of a downpour that makes the Indian Monsoon look like a gentle British drizzle.  The answer is: embrace it!  Be so prepared for bad weather that you actually hope for it at some point. 

These top 5 tips are sure to help create unique memories of your day.  And your guests will appreciate how thoughtful you’ve been…

Confetti

Rain + confetti = messy!

For a bit of fun, set up a couple of bubble machines at the exit of your ceremony.  Make sure the consistency is not too soapy or it may resemble a foam party!

Remember your Wellies

If you want to match your dress, you can get some great wedding Wellies now days – with heals!

A quick phone around to your bridal party (and your guests if you have time) to remind them to bring their Wellies may be an idea.  It’ll make a great photo!

You won’t want your guests lugging their boots to their seats.  For a quirky Wellie check, set a table at the entrance, perhaps covered with a décor matching oil cloth and a pot of plant labels with a silver or gold pen.  Guests can write their names on a plant label and pop it into their Wellies.  It’ll make life easier for any tipsy guests trying to find their boots in a sea of Hunters.

Umbrellas

Lace, bejeweled Balinese fabric, hand-made paper with petal inlays, rice paper, even personalized ones.  Parasols are so in and are great functional props for wedding photos.

It may be wise to have a more sturdy back-up close by just incase!

Have a few extra brollies for guests and again, they will be so happy to find a bowl of little bands attached to name tags for them to label theirs before popping them in the umbrella stands at the entrance.

Towels

Baskets hanging at the entrance with rolled up face towels for a quick pat dry might be handy – especially if you’re worried guests may get caught unaware in a sudden downpour.

Remember to have a little bin for the used towels.

Coat Check

There’s nothing like a big baggy raincoat to spoil the look of a beautifully covered chair at a reception.  If you’ve gone to the trouble of arranging certain chairs to tie in with your décor, don’t let them be lost.  Have a few coat racks at the entrance if space allows.  Or better yet, have a manned coat check facility if you can stretch the budget.

Taking your Wedding Dress Abroad

The final fitting is done, your dress is perfect in every way, and while waiting for its big moment is being safely stored as if it were an antique document!  Speaking from personal experience as a travelling bride, I know the last thing most brides want is to see their carefully packaged wedding dress snatched swiftly away by an airport conveyor belt - through the tatty plastic curtain that is the door way to the dark depths of airport baggage handling.

The good news is, if you can handle 12 hours of flying with no more than a handbag’s worth of in flight essentials, then you might not have to part with life’s most important dress during your journey.

After a morning on the phone to some of the bigger airlines, it would appear that most of them roughly follow the same guidelines: 1 item of hand luggage weighing around 7kg and 115cm in size (generally 56cm x 36cm x 23cm) plus another small handbag or laptop bag as well.

It would seem that the best way to transport your dress is to pack it carefully into the correct size bag and take it on board with you. 

Having it in a large garment bag seems less appealing for all the potential hassle.  If you’re lucky enough on the day to be on a relatively quiet flight, the air staff are usually very happy to share in your excitement and treat your dress with a little extra TLC by hanging it up in the Business Class wardrobe. The down side is your dress may be the victim of scrunching and shoving into the tiny waist high wardrobe designed more to hold business suits.

Another thing to keep in mind is smaller aircraft that fly the domestic routes don’t always have the space for hanging garments.

My pristine dress survived 2 long haul flights between Auckland and Jo’Burg hanging carefully in Business Class only to be forced into an overhead compartment by the flight attendant on the Jo’Burg to Durban flight!

Your mind will no doubt be racing the entire flight with your ever increasing to do list which you plan to start tackling the moment you set foot on the ground.  Having your dress neatly and carefully packed away for easy maneuvering and connecting flights will mean one less thing to worry about.

Happy flying!