ARE YOU PLANNING A BEACH WEDDING AND ASKING WHAT HAPPENS IF IT RAINS?
The team at Sunny Beach Weddings has helped over a thousand couples tie the knot. What is the one question that every bride and groom will ask? Of course, “What happens if it rains?” We like to tell them three things.
1. We advise couples planning a beach wedding, is to prepare themselves with a backup plan. In 2021, Sunny Beach Weddings only had to move one wedding ceremony indoors due to inclement weather. It was a large storm that was scheduled to pour down rain the entire day. Fortunately, the couple had arranged a backup plan with their wedding reception venue. Sunny Beach Weddings set up the chairs, music, and altar indoors and the ceremony went on as scheduled. About an hour after the ceremony, there was a quick break in the rain and the photographer took the couple outdoors for a few romantic shots. Many brides value their photographs more than anything else. For most church weddings we do here, the bridal party will head straight to the beach after to get some amazing wedding portraits. It is funny how they almost always say, “Hey we should have just had the ceremony here as well.” It also gives out-of-town guests a great opportunity to get a nice family portrait on the beach. Some of your guests may not have been to the beach in years and they will love the opportunity to take a quick trip to Ocean City, Maryland, or Bethany Beach, Delaware. After taking a few minutes to collect their thoughts and feelings, they decided to continue and have the wedding. The bride was disappointed her best friend was not there by her side. Fortunately, there was a significant break between the ceremony and the reception. The injured matron of honor joined them in a wheelchair at the reception and delivered a wonderful wedding toast that brought the entire room to tears. Of course, she was tremendously missed at the ceremony but she more than made up for it with her amazing toast at the wedding. I spoke with the bride five years after her wedding. Knowing what the answer would probably be, I asked her what was most memorable about her wedding. First of all, how people quickly ran to the aid of her matron of honor, and second how the toast her matron of honor gave was so special. They are still great friends today.s today.
2. If you are planning an outdoor wedding you must be honest with yourself. Are you going to be able to enjoy your day if things don’t go on exactly as planned? What happens if it rains? Let me tell you being involved in the wedding business for so many years we have seen it all. There are so many variables involved in a wedding that something is sure to not go exactly as planned. We are not trying to scare you away from planning a wedding, we are just trying to encourage you to be able to enjoy your day if something goes a little wrong. You can dot every I and cross every T in your planning, but there are so many things that you will not be able to control. Try not to stress out about these things, remember the things that don’t go quite right might end up being the favorite story you tell twenty years from now. If you still have the attitude that nothing could possibly go wrong on your day, let us quickly tell you a few stories of things we have seen go wrong at weddings.
It was a beautiful June evening and we were all set up in Bethany Beach to have a wonderful ceremony on the beach.
There were 150 guests attending sitting in white beach chairs. The five groomsmen were lined up by the bamboo altar standing next to the minister. Light music was playing while the bride and bridesmaids were waiting to walk down the beach and join the ceremony. Overcast skies and a cool breeze painted the perfect setting for this profession of love. Everything was perfect until the mother of the bride realized that her mother had not arrived. The bride’s grandmother was such an important part of their family they were unwilling to begin without her. Unable to reach her on the cell phone everyone anxiously waited and hoped that grandmother would arrive soon. 6 pm turned into 7 pm and the anxiety was rising and rising. Some guests were beginning to leave the beach to use the restroom. The father of the bride was becoming more and more restless knowing they only have the reception hall from 7 pm to 11 pm. At 7:50 pm a yellow cab raced up to Bethany Beach, thankfully the missing grandmother was inside. Everyone let out an enormous sigh of relief as grandmother quickly told the story of her blown tire driving from Annapolis. She had left her cell phone at home and did not know anyone’s number to relay her situation to them. Thankfully it was June and there was still plenty of daylight. We were amazed by how everyone remained remarkably calm and still enjoyed their slightly abbreviated wedding day.
It was a cool and damp day in Dover, DE.
We were out of our usual element as we had set up a beautiful in a historical park. Light rain was falling but the bride had provided a simple white umbrella for her 200 guests. The groomsmen looked tall and handsome in their sharp black tuxedos standing in front of the congregation. The bridesmaids were stunning in their sage green dresses and 5-inch tan heels. Every bridal party is beautiful, but this one was fit for the cover of any bridal magazine. The ceremony was set at the bottom of a small hill. An old-fashioned cobblestone path leads the way to the wedding. A quartet of violins began playing as the bridesmaids slowly processed into the ceremony. I turned to take a photograph of the tear rolling down the cheek of the mother of the bride. I was interrupted by the sound of a massive scream, I turned to see several people sprinting to the aid of someone. It turns out the high heel of the matron of honor got stuck in the cobblestone path, causing her to painfully fall and causing her to break her ankle. Her husband scooped her up and raced the two of them to the hospital. Everyone was dazed by what had just happened. After taking a few minutes to collect their thoughts and feelings, they decided to continue and have the wedding. The bride was disappointed her best friend was not there by her side. Fortunately, there was a significant break between the ceremony and the reception. The injured matron of honor joined them in a wheelchair at the reception and delivered a wonderful wedding toast that brought the entire room to tears. Of course, she was tremendously missed at the ceremony but she more than made up for it with her amazing toast at the wedding. I spoke with the bride five years after her wedding. Knowing what the answer would probably be, I asked her what was most memorable about her wedding. First of all, how people quickly ran to the aid of her matron of honor, and second how the toast her matron of honor gave was so special. They are still great friends today.
We could ramble on for hours sharing more and more stories like these. A story of a ceiling panel falling and destroying the wedding cake. A story of a DJ who suddenly had to leave as his wife was going into labor. Or a story of a wedding reception where the venue lost power for the evening.
We tell these stories to illustrate that a lot of things can go against the plan on the day of your wedding. By having an outdoor wedding at a beach or a park you are creating extra variables with the weather that could go wrong. Just prepare yourself to have a beautiful wedding day no matter what happens.
We are happy to connect you with a wedding reception venue that will offer you a backup plan like this. Many venues will offer this to you free of charge included with a wedding reception package.
If you are having a smaller wedding ceremony and are not planning a big reception what can you do? What happens if it rains? You can use your rental as a backup plan. If you are renting a house, there will most likely be a large room where we can have the ceremony. We will happily move the beach set up and chairs into this space. If you are staying in a hotel, contact the hotel beforehand to see if they would have an available space for you to use in case of rain.
Rain and weather of course if completely unpredictable. However, some times of the year typically will give you a better chance of having better weather. May is an especially good month of the year to have a beach wedding. We typically have fewer rainy days. The beaches are also usually emptier and the temperatures are usually in an ideal range. June is another great month as far as the weather is concerned. The beaches will have more people and the lifeguards will be working seven days a week. In the summer months, we must schedule beach weddings in the mornings or the evenings. We cannot plan a beach while the lifeguards are in their stands.
The months of July, August, and September are both the rainiest and the hottest months. If you are planning during one of these three months it is very important to have a backup plan. If it is a very hot day, we urge you and your guests to adequately hydrate themselves the day before the wedding. On very hot days, Sunny Beach Weddings provides complimentary ice-cold water bottles for all guests and participants of the wedding. It is also important to keep an eye on older guests on very hot days. Being that we only have morning and evening weddings in the summer months we can avoid the most intense heat.
So, we have rambled on for a few pages about things that could go wrong at weddings due to weather and other circumstances. Remember we are mostly speaking of precautionary measures. But we can’t sit here and tell you there is no threat of bad weather. There is a low-risk high reward system in planning an outdoor beach wedding. Almost all our beach weddings go on as planned. The beach is such a beautiful setting to plan for a wedding. The sand tickles your toes. The waves of the ocean roll behind you. The gentle breeze blows through your hair. The evening skies provide beautiful colors and spectacular photographs. Many brides value their photographs more than anything else. Most church weddings we do here, the bridal party will head straight to the beach after to get some amazing wedding portraits. It is funny how they almost always say, “Hey we should have just had the ceremony here as well.” It also gives out-of-town guests a great opportunity to get a nice family portrait on the beach. Some of your guests may not have been to the beach in years and they will love the opportunity to take a quick trip to Ocean City, Maryland or Bethany Beach, Delaware.
Please don’t let the threat of rain and bad weather deter you from having the dream beach wedding of your dreams. Remember most likely your wedding will go on as planned and it will be absolutely spectacular. Second, you should remain open-minded that something could be affected that is not in your plans due to an outdoor wedding. It is important to stay relaxed on your wedding day as the list of variables is endless. Enjoy your wedding day no matter what happens, and cherish the stories and memories you will share with your new partner for a lifetime. Finally, have a backup plan. As long as you have a backup plan there really is nothing to worry about. If you have any questions about our wedding packages, please contact us.
Beach weddings are becoming one of the most popular settings for weddings in 20202 and 2023. There are so many wonderful advantages in planning a wedding at the beach. Please contact Andy or Viktor with Sunny Beach Weddings and we will start planning your beach wedding today. Dates are filling quickly but we are able to provide beach weddings seven days a week morning or night. We will help you find the date and location that is best for you. Congratulations on your engagement and upcoming wedding. We look forward to hearing from you!
