Every outdoor wedding needs to have a rain backup plan. This helps to create ease of mind and less stress for you on your wedding day. When making rain backup plans for our clients, the goal is to ensure the logistics remain as smooth as possible, as if there was no rain. 

What is a weather call?

When wedding planning, it is always advised to have a rain backup plan, no matter the season. But when do you know if you should implement this plan or not? This is when a weather call comes into place!

Your wedding planner, venue, and vendors will check the weather forecast for several days leading up to your wedding. Each party involved will evaluate the risk of rain to your event and how it will affect your overall vision and logistics. Depending on the complexity of your event, your weather call may occur several days before or even on the morning of your wedding. At this time, your planner will work with you to decide how to proceed on your wedding day.

During the wedding planning process, a rain backup plan is always created in advance to avoid any confusion or

 disappointment. With the large number of vendors and staff involved in making your dream wedding possible, there are several essential things to consider when creating a rain contingency plan for your outdoor wedding. Here are some of the top things to consider below.

Venue

When booking your venue, we recommend checking to see if indoor options exist and how you can reserve that space as a rain backup plan. If you are in a venue that is all outdoors, work with a local rental company to see what tent options are available. When considering a tent, you want to ensure it will work for your space and will protect you and your guests from the elements. Depending on your venue, you may be unable to stake into the ground or have a limited footprint. That’s where the expertise of your rental company and wedding planner is beneficial. We will provide guidance to ensure smooth execution of the tent, should it be needed.

Layout

When working with our full-service wedding planning clients, we always advise having an alternate floor plan that aligns with the rain backup plan. Your wedding planner will work with you to see where adjustments may be required to the layout. For example, sometimes the table numbers might not flow, or your cake table may be re-located. At this point, it is best to be flexible and roll with the changes. Your guests will not know any better, and everyone will be happy to be out of the rain.

Decor

To tie in with your alternate rain floorplan, we recommend evaluating your decor and how it can be adjusted to your rain backup plan. Should you move your reception location, consider all the decor you have and how it can be adjusted to a new location. For example, if you have cafe string lights in the original space, is there a place to utilize and hang them in your new space? 

Timing

With all of our clients, we sit down and select a time when all final decisions need to be made. This timing can look different depending on your venue and the weather forecast. Suppose you have a venue with an alternative space on the property. In that case, your weather call can typically be made the morning before setting up. If you require a tent, your rental company will set parameters around what day installation needs to occur, thus when the latest a weather call can occur. The decision with a tent typically has to be made a few days in advance as there are several moving parts involved with tent setups. However, if you say yes to the tent, but the weather is nice, you can always decide not to have the tent installed. You will, however, still be obligated to pay your final tent invoice.

Does the idea of creating a rain backup plan for your wedding overwhelm you? When working with our full-service wedding planning clients, we ensure that they are excited about both plan A and plan B. So, reach out to learn more about our wedding planning services and how we can help you ensure you have a rain backup plan that you love!