We are a planning and design team in New Bern, NC. We plan a lot of outside weddings and there is a constant worry of rain or thunderstorms. Even worse in Eastern North Carolina, a hurricane. We find that if we discuss a rain plan before the big day, it makes it a far easier decision the day of. You must have some sort of plan. We usually ask our clients to look at weather and the day before the wedding, we ask our clients to make the call. We feel like the wedding will look more put together if we can give our vendors a 24 hour notice of all the changes that are being made.
If a 100% of your wedding is outside, you have a couple of options:
Have a tent for your reception and be willing to move the ceremony under the tent as well as the reception. Have a look at the long term weather forecast and decide if you will need tent sides and/or heaters or fans.
Have a tent on standby which means in most cases you will have to make a deposit and if you end up not using the tent, most likely you will loose your deposit
Roll the dice and decide that come rain or shine that you are going through with it, no matter what (not our most favorite choice)
Have a backup roofed location, if possible.
Sometimes a timeline shift is an option. These days it is easy to pull up radars on our phones and see when a dry moment might be. There may be a chance that you can wait ten minutes and everything clears off. Make sure you have plenty of towels to wipe off the chairs and rain gear for your guest in case it is still a little drizzly. Of course if you have a wedding planner, it will make life much easier for you at this moment. We are used to making these decisions and know the tricks of the trade to help move your guest gracefully and still make your timeline work without seeming too unruly.
The Most important thing is to not let it ruin your day
You can do everything in your power to prepare for the rain, but the best piece of advice we can give, is to embrace it. You’re allowed time to mourn the wedding you envisioned, but don’t let these emotions rule your day. At the end of the day, the most important thing is that you’re marrying the love of your life. Plus, rain makes for great wedding stories and even better photos!