Friday, September 23, 2011

rain rain go away

In my mind our wedding day is on a warm summers evening where we can utilise the outdoor space that abounds us and have the photos I've been dreaming of in the paddocks of Brindabella and at our shearing shed. Guests will play bocce on the lawn and sip on champagne, my Golden Delights will run about under the gum trees and the two clear walls of the marquee will be flung open to have a dancefloor almost under the stars.


In reality, I am very aware that we live in Gippsland. The weather could be anything on December 10th (for the record last year I noted that it was overcast and about 20 degrees which I would be more than happy with!) But it could rain, and it is the one thing I have been dreading, but is also the one thing I can't do a thing about. Unless I employ the Chinese government to do some cloud seeing the week before the wedding...don't tempt me. As much as I am a control freak with my spreadsheets and endless to-do lists for every aspect of this wedding - the weather is one thing I have no control over. And it's kind of driving me nutty.


No matter - I am telling myself the key is to prepare, prepare, prepare. Our ceremony is already being held in the local church as I was fearful of rain if we had the ceremony outdoors on the farm. Our guests will move to Brindabella after the ceremony for our pre-dinner drinks and canapes hour/s whilst we are photographed. This part is all outdoors and in the open - if it rains I'm screwed! So I promptly upped the size of the marquee we ordered to accomodate our guests mingling inside in the event it does happen to rain and everyone would have to down pre-dinner drinks and eats in the big tent.


Photos would have to be...creative. There are loads of cool gumboots and umbrellas I looked at, just in case we needed them (everything is crossed that we don't though!) I thought about fun and quirky umbrellas, clear umbrellas, rainbow colours but kept coming back to the big classic black tall umbrellas with a crook handle. We are trying to create a wedding that is fairly classic and timeless, still with homemade touches and personality thrown in, but we don't want to look at our wedding photos in 10, 20, 30 years time and scratch our heads! What were we thinking?!


After scouring ebay I found some great options - some white ones, some black ones, even this one which I thought would be nice. Then I was in the local $2 shop the other day and saw these for $7.95...and promptly grabbed three!


I am thinking about going back and getting another two - then the bride and groom has one plus bridesmaid/groomsmen duo as well...or actually looking at that coffee-coloured one on ebay perhaps we could have that one and the bridesmaids/groomsmen could have black? Undecided!


The Bureau of Meterology website has also become my new best friend. I have learnt that last year on December 10th in west Gippsland there was 3.8mm of rain, it was 18.4 degrees, one of the coldest days in December and overcast. Hmmm...not really telling me much about how this year's December 10 will play out but now I know how to read big long meterology reports. Handy. Oh and this December there is 60-70% chance of it being wetter than average apparently. Awesome (not!) 

Did it rain on your wedding day? Did you have a wet weather plan or any fun splashing in puddles?  Is it really good luck or do they just tell you that so you won't cry?!

Images found via my pins and by Emma Durkin for Cinderella at Brindabella

8 comments:

Amanda said...

Emma, I'm feeling your weather anxiety! I was also the same when i got married 4 years ago. It was also in the middle of a roaring drought, so my mother kept telling me that everyone would be so pleased if it rained they would be out dancing in it!! (for the record, it didn't rain) and I always remember someone saying to me that it is good luck if it rains on your wedding day as "you can't untie a wet knot"...
You sound very organised. I'm sure you'll figure it out. In the meantime, don't stress about it!!

Angela said...

Emma, I just got goose bumps reading your post and looking at all those gorgeous images! We didn't have a wet weather plan and thankfully it was a bright sunny day - the fact that the wind was so strong it nearly lifted my dress above my head is beside the point! Truly, it doesn't matter at all what the weather does because your day will be exactly as it should be, filled with love and promise and magic.

Love Ang x

Giulia Doyle said...

It was 38C on our wedding day- hot hot hot! Then we had a 20 min downpour, guests ran for the tent. Some paper lanterns got destroyed and then we had a steamy lawn...everyone had fun, rain or not- just embrace it.

Anna said...

We got married at the end of November in Brisbane and had a marquee reception at my mum and dads. I figured the worse that would happen is a tropical storm in the afternoon, which is a bit of rain (and our pre-dinner drinks and canapes were being served on my mum's veranda) and then it normally dries up pretty quickly.

It poured for the entire week before and mum and dad's back yard was a mudslide. we had to move the location of the marquee to a drier part of their land, get a floor at the last minute (the tables were going to be on grass) and my uncle was in the marquee at 5am on the morning of our wedding vacuuming it out with a big wet vacuum cleaner.

But it didn't rain on the day, everyone got a little muddy getting to the marquee and walking around mum and dads. High heels were taken off and long pants rolled up. It was heaps of fun in the end, and everyone had a laugh about it, still talk about it. In some ways I think it made the day more memorable then if everything had been perfect.

Mind you, I was totally stressed the week before the wedding :)

Penny's Portraits said...

We had an overcast sky and a fair bit of wind on our wedding day but the sun came out too so it was all good. I think it rained during the night before , but not on the day as far as I remember. My bridesmaids all got cold but I didn't feel it as I was running on adrenalin.
Hope you have a beautiful sun shiney day :)

AmeliaMW said...

We were very lucky on our wedding day and had perfect weather. But I didn't worry a single bit about the weather leading up to the big day which I think helped (or that's what I tell myself!). It's the one thing you can't control, so as long as you have a back up plan, you'll be fine. If anything it'll make it memorable, and after all - how good is kissing in the rain!? :)
Stay positive (and if all else fails do a rain dance). :) xx

Amy said...

You'll get exactly what you are meant to have - and I think you're a smart cookie for getting those simple brollys. Well done you!

Either way you have it it's going to be superb.

We had rain for 5 weeks straight before our wedding. Opened up the curtains on our wedding day - warm, sunny shine. It was perfect.

xx

Jessie said...

My sister was married in South Australia on December 10th last year - and it was very cold and windy... therefore it will be very different this year (fingers crossed for you)!

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