When extreme snow turns your Plan B into Plan A!
This post isn't to prepare you for Plan B, because after all what Bride really plans for unexpected extreme weather. Rather, this post is to give you guidance on what to do once extreme weather has become a reality. So if you're reading this and you have a winter wedding coming up, make sure to hit the save button or bookmark it for later.
Years ago, my husband and I chose our dream wedding venue; a modern style barn in the mountains of North Georgia. (If you look closely, you can see the snow capped Yonah Mountain behind us.) We had been eyeing this venue for almost a year and a January day seemed perfect, not because we wanted a winter wedding but because we liked the idea of the MLK 3 day weekend. On top of that, it never snows in Georgia so why not?!
Imagine our shock...and growing frustration when we realized that a rare severe snowstorm was heading to North Ga on the exact day of our wedding. A part of us thought it would go away. It didn't!
So here's how we coped:
1. We got our priorities straight!
In the midst of all the design changes, layout changes, and guests cancelling because they didn't feel comfortable driving in the snow (and rightfully so), we came to the realization that we were focusing too much on the wedding and not the union.
Naturally, it's devastating to watch all your hard work go to waste. And it's even more devastating when it dawns on you that the wedding vision you've had in your head for years won't come to fruition.
But at the end of the day, all we needed was each other and our officiant (and of course our close family). Everything else was desirable but not the main priority. Once we focused back on our main priority, all of the other pieces fell into place.
2. We leaned on our vendors
Investing in passionate and committed vendors was the best thing we could have done. Our vendors really stepped up to the occasion with all the last minute changes and adjustments. Our bartender even borrowed her neighbors brand new truck (Thank you, Kim's Kocktails) to make it there.
Our Wedding Planner asked our comedian (who we had hired for a "Comedy and Cocktail Hour") to stay throughout the wedding and emcee after our DJ cancelled on us the night before. And it worked out amazingly with a $100 purchase from Walmart for a microphone and speaker.
Invest in great vendors and lean on them. That's what you hired them for!
3. We threw the timeline away (within reason)
Naturally, extreme weather creates all sorts of delays. From vendors getting stuck and running behind to guests barely driving the speed limit to make it there safely to venue owners having to shovel snow.
These were all things outside of our control that threw our timeline all out of whack. Once we realized, the timeline wasn't built for extreme weather, we tossed it to the side and allowed the wedding to naturally flow and had the best time!! It really allowed us to not focus on being late or sticking to specific times and to just enjoy the day.
4. We embraced the snow
And it was beautiful! Our wedding day felt so chaotic, but looking back at the pictures, we couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day. It was nothing short of a fairytale wedding. And because we embraced the snow....we were able to get some of the most incredible photos.
5. Save this blog! (That's it....just save this blog)
If you're having a winter wedding (December-February) in a location where you wouldn't naturally expect snow, save this post and embrace what comes-clear sunny skies or beautiful snow.