Most weddings happen in the summer months. June is the most popular month for weddings. People fight over getting the perfect wedding day.
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| Image via Gazillion Movies |
We have avoided this issue by choosing to get married in February. Mr. Kettle and I have been very happy with our selection of wedding date. But there is one possible hitch to our happy wedding: winter Illinois weather.
There was a terrible storm this past winter. In Chicago, a little snow doesn’t bother us. But when this storm was on its way, people went to the grocery store and then went home. They didn’t come back out for at least a couple days. There were no cops or buses on the street; who would drive a vehicle through a few feet of snow? There was no one out except Walgreens employees.
I didn’t think too much about that happening to our wedding. I figured that through sheer will, the weather would be nothing but a bit of sunshine and light snow. I’d stand there in my pretty dress with the matching veil and perhaps a lovely fur coat taking in a few snow flakes and hopefully some wintry sunshine. Kind of like this:
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| Personal cartoon. Yeah, you all will be subjected to my cartoons now… I mostly put on the coat so Mr. Kettle won’t see the part of the dress he doesn’t know about. |
But when a hurricane/tropical storm sidelined a few weddings, I started thinking about the real possibility that something could happen to keep our wedding from occurring on the day or at the location we’re planning on. At our tasting next month, I will bring up the issue with our venue to see if they have any contingency plans they go with for winter events.
That is not enough for me, though. I looked online and found wedding insurance. My best internet friend Google brought up four sites that I took a look at.
After looking at all the options, it’s really best that I consult with our venue to see which one of these would be best for us. I’m not sure how much coverage we need and what our backup wedding plan is. Also, I don’t know if we should be getting coverage just for postponing the event. Perhaps we should add photographer coverage, deposit coverage? And what in the world is professional counseling coverage?
I’m thinking worst case scenario, we can get over to my church which is right across the street from my parents’ house and next door to my pastor’s house. We could get married there even in a blizzard; we’d just have to figure out a party to celebrate with family and friends later. There’s a lot to figure out, but we’ve got a couple of months to sort it out.
Are you getting wedding insurance? Are you worried about Mother Nature altering your carefully laid plans?
I feel you! I always wanted a winter wonderland wedding but Mr. P was like “err no.” We settled on March b/c we like cool weather and it’s close to our dating anniversary. But, alas, East Coast March weather is cah-razy and a freak snowstorm has happened before and is possible. Mr. P’s dad took out wedding insurance just because he’s a cautious guy like that. My whole thing is, yes the insurance will save on lost $$, but this show has GOT to go on. Somehow, somewhere. Even if only 2 people make it. The wedding must go on!! Doesn’t hurt to have it though. I’ll be praying to those wedding gods for you.
And by wedding gods I mean WEATHER gods. Ha. But, those wedding gods too 
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OMG, I know what you mean! Our wedding is next September 9th. That would be nine days after Hurricane Irene smacked New England this year. Oh, and did I mention our ocean-front venue? Yeah. Just a little bit nervous about it. I too will be praying to the Wedding AND Weather Gods!
Getting married January 2013 in Pennsylvania…considering the past 2 winters, weather is a concern! lol I think the best thing to do is to grab some insurance that covers the cost of the reception if the weather ruins it. Then, you can still get married and just have a reception later on. Worst case scenario, you would still have amazing snowy (blizzard) pictures and would get to wear your gown twice! I will also be taking insurance to cover photographers since they live near the venue and basically told me they have NEVER missed an event, so they will be there no matter what. I would definitely lose my money on them if they could make it but no one else could.
I am getting married in May so I’m not too concerned about weather, other than a spring rainstorm, but having had emergency gall bladder surgery last year which caused me to miss a long-planned trip to Germany, I am getting insurance! You just never know what health things could pop up! I chose WedSafe and feel it’s worth the peace of mind.
We’re getting married outside in June in NC (start of hurricane season). Our venue makes a weather decision the day before, so we have a back-up plan. If the weather is bad, we’re doing everything inside where our reception will be.
Everybody thought our August wedding is going to be super hot and sweaty. Well, our ceremony is in a church and our reception is indoors so I don’t really understand what some of the people are saying. They will only be outside to go to their car and back to the venues. Anyway, our wedding ended up during hurricane Irene! I thought I would be panicky but somehow I wasn’t . I could count in my hands how many people didn’t make it. The reception venue also offered that we can come in early to finish early but we stuck with what the guest knew cause there would be a lot of phone calls to make. Needless to say, we had a great time on our wedding. About 90% of the people that responded made it even from out of town. We are so blessed to have guests that truly cares for us. Even though we weren’t able to do outdoor shots post ceremony, our wedding was very memorable!
I kinda agree with Miss Porcupine, It’s good to get insurance but I’m sure there will be guests at your wedding and the show must go on. Will be praying for a nice wedding weather for you!=)
I’m getting married in California in April so I’m not worried about the wedding, what I am worried about is a storm on the east coast where I live preventing me from getting out west. Not for the wedding, since most snow storms are done by March but I’m supposed to be going our for my shower in Feb and two years in a row my Feb trips have been cancelled because of a snow storm. I’m hoping for a mild winter this year…
As a fellow Chicagoian I feel for you. We’re planning a late April wedding as we figured since we live in Chicago, his family lives on the east coast and we have plenty of close friends in Indianapolis that it was just a trifecta against a winter wedding date.
I don’t think that it would hurt you to have it if it gives you peace of mind.
I’m so incredibly grateful for living in southern California where we don’t get blizzards after reading this post. I’m also in love with your cartoon and I hope to see many more in the future.
Wedding insurance? really?? I’ve never heard of something like that before. You americans don’t take any chances do you?
I went to a wedding two weekends ago in Paso Robles, California. The ceremony and reception were supposed to be outside. The ceremoney, however, was colder than expected and very windy. With clouds quickly moving in, the reception was moved inside to an amazing room. Good thing since it did, in fact, start raining. I think it is best to have a back up plan. Luckily, my January wedding will be entirely indoors with the option of having an outdoor cocktail hour is the wedding permits. Fingers crossed!
good luck with the weather! My fear of driving in snow is one of the many reasons I absolutely would not want to get married in December-March! (But a friend of mine got married in December, and has some gorgeous snowflake-falling pictures!)
I wasn’t worried about our date till recently – October is the tail end of hurricane season, but I’d forgotten how hit-or-miss it is! Florida is so finicky for wedding dates – and with an almost entirely outdoors wedding, I’m definitely looking into insurance!
@Rach: Yeah, Chicago will do a number on wedding and winter plans.
@Miss Ticket: I’m glad you like it. The next ones will be more like a comic strip!
@Coffee cup: Yeah, if there’s a way to safeguard one person while making potentially more money for another, Americans will figure out how, lol.
I’m a winter girl myself… good choice, Kettle!
Definitely smart having a back up – and just think of all the cute winter goodies you can stock up on for the ‘just in case’ moments!
Mrs. Kettle, Chicago, IL Age and Occupation: 26, Non-Profit Donor Resource Coordinator Fiance's Age and Occupation: 27, Musician & Teacher Engagement Date: May 29, 2011 Wedding Date: February 2012 Venue: Patrick C. Haley Mansion, Joliet, IL About Me: I'm a city girl who loves a good escape, so I'm planning a Chicago wedding outside of the city. I've been described as a quirky yet down-to-earth drama queen who loves fiercely. I used to be a scientist, but now I'm learning to navigate the world of non-profit organizations. I love cooking, blogging, shopping, and music, and movies (Hans Zimmer is my favorite movie composer). Mr. Kettle and I had a short courtship and now we have a happy home with our cat-who-thinks-she's-people, Belle. We spend our days and nights with good food, live music, video games, family, and friends. Our wedding has become this wonderful excuse to bring together hundreds of people we can't bear to be without.
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