Wedding Day Rain - Don't let it get you down! Plan B!
With rising temperatures, flowers blooming, and tee times a week or more in advance, it’s spring time in Arizona. Winter always seems so short in the desert!
Spring time provokes the sweet aroma of orange blossoms, depending upon where in the valley one lives (sorry allergy sufferers). If fortunate enough to live among Arizona’s great forests, there is no mistaking the natural rich scent of pine trees in the spring.
Spring in the green Arizona desert means the temperature hasn’t achieved the century mark, yet. No wonder couples host their weddings at The Desert Botanical Gardens, The Four Seasons at Troon North, or North Scottsdale’s Chapel Bellavista. They are all located in natural desert locations that are most appreciated in the Spring.
Expect to see desert wild life if your spring wedding is held at Ristorante Sassi, The Boulders, or Troon North Golf Club. Javalina, coyote, and bob cats live among the giant saguaros, canes of brilliant ocotillos, and mounds of colorful prickly pear. Anywhere in Arizona is a beautiful setting for a spring wedding.
Another feature of a spring wedding is water. River beds and washes that are usually dry throughout the year have a good chance of running in the spring.
Not to worry where that water comes from! In spring, the snow that has accumulated in the mountains of Northern Arizona slowly melts and makes it way all the way to the valley floor.
The chambers of commerce around Arizona boast over 300 days of sun shine. Great odds! However, for 2008, that means there could be 66 days of rain (it’s a leap year!). No one wants rain on their wedding day, but it is possible that it will. Most of Arizona is praying for it.
One April, an outdoor ceremony was being performed on the beautiful front lawn of The Wigwam Resort, when the sky completely opened. The black-tie wedding was being doused with buckets of unwanted rain. Not two minutes into the ceremony, the pastor asked the couple what they wanted him to do. The bride shrieked, “Just pronounce us!”
Reality check. It does rain in Arizona! No one wants to hear it, but it must be told. There will be at least 66 days of rain this year and one of them might be your wedding day.
What can be done about it? Plenty! Plan!
Be certain to make a Plan B for an outdoor wedding. If the dreaded rain comes, move the ceremony indoors, stand close under safe cover (not trees), provide umbrellas, or rent a tent with a 72-hour notice of cancellation clause (and stay glued to The Weather Channel).
Make sure the officiant, musicians or DJ, know the details of your Plan B. The ceremony may be abbreviated or some music eliminated. Every part of a great Plan B can be discussed and decided well in advance of the ceremony. Your wedding planner will be helpful!
When planning an outdoor wedding, expect airplanes, traffic noise, birds, wild animals (if hosted on the metropolitan periphery), and perhaps even rain.
Appreciate the drama rain creates. Plan to use the clouds and the beautiful sunset they create for photography. Enjoy the aroma of creosote, that only comes when it rains in the desert.
Rain doesn’t necessarily ruin a wedding day. Not planning ruins it. Life needs a little rain, even if it falls on a wedding day.
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