Weddingbee Blog

I’m not too worried about most of our wedding. I think it’s because no matter what, at the end of the day, Mr. EB and I will get married in front of our friends and families, and we’ll throw a kickass party with some amazing food and wine. And if anything happens with any of the details? It’s OK—this is the beginning of our lives together, and new beginnings always have some kinks that need to get worked out.

But the one thing I am worried about? The weather. Specifically I’m really worried about snow. We can deal with any other weather, but snow jacks up everything in the Northwest. And if the weather goes in two-year cycles, then this winter we just might be screwed.

Last winter it only snowed once in Portland, and I think all Seattle got was a few flurries. Of course, that one day came out of nowhere the week after Christmas and turned my normally 25-minute commute into more than six hours (including my having to put on chains in nice work slacks and heels—it was awesome, let me tell you). But the year before that both cities got snowed in for over a week, and everything shut down. Oh, and did I mention it was the week before Christmas? Mr. EB was snowed in for three days before he could get out of the city and drive to his parents’ house, and I didn’t even chance driving to my parents’ house in my car. My dad made the drive from Seattle to come get me so I wouldn’t be stranded by myself for Christmas.

Growing up on the East Coast I saw how things are supposed to work in snowy areas. People know how to drive in snow. And cities plow the roads regularly. The problem in the Northwest is that snow for us is still a pretty rare occurrence. Couple that with inexperienced drivers, cities with practically no snowplows, and an effing ton of hills, and you get scenes like this:

And this:

And this, which happened right before Thanksgiving:

So why am I sharing my worries about snow now? We had our first snow day right before Thanksgiving. Or as people on twitter were calling it, #snomg 2010. And according to weather forecasters, we’re facing a La Niña winter, which generally means wetter, colder, and snowier weather in the Northwest.

Awesome.

I’m really hoping the weather gods gets this out of their system before our wedding. Snow in the Northwest in February is pretty rare, but I’m also worried about the rest of the country, since we’ll have people flying in from all over. I would hate for anyone to be stuck somewhere and not be able to make it out. But I also know that this is one of those things I have absolutely no control over. We knew that it could be a possible issue when we signed up for a winter wedding. But given that the snow is now falling, my worrying is definitely going to increase.

Taken out our front door. It’s so pretty! Also icy.

Anyone have tips for dealing with weather-related stress?