Okay, "ruin" is a strong word but the fact remains that I'm getting married at Pawleys Island this weekend and a two week rain/thunderstorm pattern begins on Thursday. Rain, thunder, lightning, and wind. Needless to say, we're pretty discouraged. A little rain here or there we could have handled but the forecast is just an absolute total bust. We couldn't have picked a worse weekend if we had tried. While we can manage a back up plan for the ceremony, cocktail hour, and reception (all originally planned for outside), we planned outdoor activities for the whole weekend to keep everyone entertained.

Short of drinking ourselves into oblivion and playing board games all weekend, does anyone have any bright ideas for some fun things to do? Anyone else have their wedding day thoroughly SHAT upon by mother nature? Share your experiences here.

9/21/2015 9:29:42 AM

I think you are over exaggerating on the forecast a bit. I dunno what you look to as a source, but the latest GFS model run for the MB area doesn't look as bad as you make it out to be, TBH. It really depends on if the area of low pressure off the coast decides to strengthen and move inland.

It certainly doesn't hurt to have that backup plan though.

9/21/2015 10:30:34 AM

sign from God...cancel wedding

9/21/2015 11:05:58 AM

That sucks ours is the following weekend so still a bit out from knowing what the weather will be like. On the bright side maybe by wednesday or thursday you will know a bit better on the forecast as this far out is still pretty unreliable.

9/21/2015 11:15:04 AM

I'm not exaggerating anything. The forecast may be wrong but that's what they're predicting. What else am I supposed to go off of?

9/21/2015 11:57:35 AM

I don't follow two-week patterns, but after living on the SC coast for 10+ years, it's pretty much scattered thunderstorms every day from May until the end of October.

Regardless...just make sure everyone is fed and has enough to drink and everything will work out.

9/21/2015 12:35:10 PM

Thanks man. How accurate is a forecast that is only 6 days out (wedding is the 27th)? I just know it says the rain starts this Thursday and doesn't end for long after the wedding is over. So I was logically thinking that even if the pattern shifts forward or backward a few days we're still getting wet.

9/21/2015 12:47:04 PM

Quote :

"The forecast may be wrong but that's what they're predicting"

Who is "they"? Local TV meteorologists? Weather Channel? Phone app? Other online source? Perhaps you may not be, but your source might be. It's not like there's gonna be continuous storm and/or hurricane-like conditions the whole time unless the area of low pressure currently offshore decides to strengthen.

Upon further examination, there appears to be a cut-off upper low forming over the SE-US this week. So that should pump in some Atlantic/GOMEX moisture into the area & provide support for some rain showers and isolated thunderstorms during your given time period (probably going to feel somewhat humid & tropical-like, especially if the sun breaks out). With that said, it might be periodic, so you might get breaks in shower activity and have at least some of your events outdoors.

But ^^^^ is right, the forecast models may be a bit more reliable as you get closer.

[Edited on September 21, 2015 at 12:50 PM. Reason : ]

9/21/2015 12:49:42 PM

oh noes, how will we ever survive a rainy weekend?

9/21/2015 9:33:23 PM

That's what you get for having your wedding during football season

9/21/2015 10:35:57 PM

^^how exactly is your post constructive at all? I posted this in the lounge for a reason but thanks for the negative post. We will survive, but is it at all unreasonable for me to be discouraged? You're married right? So you should be able to fucking imagine what it might be like to have plans you've invested thousands of dollars into be potentially ruined.

I thought it would be fun to see if any of you had any creative ideas beyond the obvious or could share similar experiences. At least the others have given well informed and appreciated advice on the weather (although it wasn't the original intent of the thread). But I'm glad I could give you a forum to make a snide comment and feel like you got a chance to burn someone on the Internet. Asshole

^i know, I vowed to never do this but priorities change I guess. At least it's an away game at against a crappy team

9/21/2015 11:34:58 PM

I don't want to wear a suit or tux in the summer so I get it. But bottom line is all your family and guests will understand. They know the weather is unpredictable.

9/21/2015 11:36:45 PM

You'll have to do like my friend did...plan indoorsy stuff and lots of it

Basically you're going to switch the parties out and divide into guys and girls somehow...if kids are involved, you're screwed.

Although you are right, apparently there a sub tropic system forming, although it may be over by the weekend.

(we did bowling one night as a group outing, as well as a huge cookout type thing but indoors. Potluck type thing.)

[Edited on September 22, 2015 at 1:50 AM. Reason : s]

9/22/2015 1:49:50 AM

Thanks, that sounds a lot like the way our weekend is going to go. Moving the cookout indoors, so it will just be a little more cozy, but that's okay. Never even thought of anything along the lines of bowling. Good idea though

9/22/2015 8:37:19 AM

how many people are we talking about here?

9/22/2015 8:46:49 AM

Mine will be during the Louisville game at the arboretum so now parking will be a pain. Sure hoping it doesnt rain as well but I have plans for that. I also said I would never do it during football season and my hope was the schedule would be kind and give us an away game or crappy team, but the football gods have smited me for this choice lol.

9/22/2015 8:48:28 AM

Sounds pretty ironic

9/22/2015 10:56:57 AM

Went to a wedding a few weeks ago. Outside wedding. It was raining. Zero fucks were given (by the planners). They didn't even have a tent up or anything over the ceremony. They had seats and stuff set up with water that had collected from the rain. I only had one umbrella (for use going to/from car) expecting some kind of contingency plan. Looks like everyone else had the same though as me. Got as much of the water off the seats as possible and let me wife use the umbrella since she had make up and girl hair and stuff. Unfortunately that meant that all the drippings from the umbrella went on me.

The rain wasn't a torrential downpour by any means but enough that me and just about anyone without a raincoat or umbrella was soaked. Lots of girls with running make up and messed up hair. Fortunately the reception was in a covered pavilion but I was damp and sticky all night. This was about a month ago so it was still very warm. Not fun.

Sorry. I'm sure that isn't what you wanted to hear, but better to be prepared.

9/22/2015 12:32:44 PM

I was in a wedding a few years ago that had an outdoor ceremony (uncovered) and a reception under a large tent. The original plan was for the ceremony to take place and for the guests to enjoy the outdoor grounds with croquet, horseshoes, and other games while the wedding party took pictures. However it ended up raining all afternoon. Instead of panicking the bride and groom shifted gears and opened up the reception tent for a pre-ceremony cocktail hour and we all took pictures inside the historic home on the grounds. By the time the rain let up enough to have the ceremony both the wedding party and guests had all had a few drinks which really took the edge off and made it a light-hearted affair. The reception ended up being a drunken dance off that we still talk about today.

9/22/2015 2:41:48 PM

I'm not the slightest bit worried about the ceremony, cocktail hour, or reception since we have backups for all of that. Sure, the cocktail hour won't go according to plan since it involved a good number of yard games but it can still be moved inside if need be. The ceremony and reception can both potentially be tented and we even have the option to use a really nice church as a backup for the ceremony.

The bummer is the rest of the weekend and how my 120 out of town guests are going to entertain themselves. We have the cookout, which will be moved inside. We're expecting around 60 people for that so it's going to be packed, even in the huge house we have rented. Friday and Saturday were going to consist of a lot of beach time with bocce, cornhole, and so on. It's not the end of the world but I was really looking forward to some beach time since I haven't had a vacation in what feels like forever. The good news is that the weather for Sunday (day of ceremony) is already looking so much better, we may not need a backup plan after all.

9/22/2015 2:56:26 PM

MARIO KART MOTHERFUCKER!

bring the WIIU

but yeah I got nothing

9/22/2015 3:25:55 PM

I'm in a wedding this weekend and was just informed by the groom that they're having to switch venues at the last minute due to weather.

9/22/2015 5:04:44 PM

^^ I'm telling you, rent out the bowling alley nearby. Or skate rink.

[Edited on September 23, 2015 at 12:14 AM. Reason : f]

9/23/2015 12:14:23 AM

We had a ceremony on the beach planned, with the only backup to move it across the street to the tented reception location. Woke up the day of and it was pouring down rain with occasional thunder. But the rain tapered off during the day and by the time 5 PM rolled around, it was still overcast, but no more rain. Ceremony on the beach worked just fine.

So basically I wouldn't trust the forecast to be 100% solid. As to the activities for the rest of the weekend...that's a bit of a quandary. At night you can hang out at the house and drink, but during the day, people just might have to be bored. That or day drink.

^Bowling actually isn't a bad idea at all.

9/23/2015 12:19:33 AM

Looking soggy, sorry dude

Maybe go buy some tarp/plastic and do a slip n slide?

9/23/2015 12:58:29 PM

My turn to start watching forecasts now. Watching area in gulf hoping no storms spin up down there that could be an issue next weekend.

9/23/2015 2:53:25 PM

That's actually another good idea! Thanks!

So, the weather is officially toying with us. We had to make the decision on the tent today. To be safe, we paid the $1600 (which is admittedly cheap for a 30' x 75' tent) for the tent and within a couple hours the forecast changed from 40% chance of rain to 4% and partly cloudy. lol

9/23/2015 2:53:31 PM

Yikes for 1600 bucks I would have risked it haha

9/23/2015 3:02:50 PM

^^Brother all of us getting married this fall just should've eloped

9/23/2015 3:06:17 PM

^it's not too late for you, man. save yourselves!

9/23/2015 4:20:19 PM

^we're already too far in cashwise, believe me I considered it

9/23/2015 5:05:22 PM

Yikes did you buy that tent? Can you return it?

9/23/2015 7:03:54 PM

The tent is a rental but we are beyond the point where we can return it or recoup any money. That $1600 is gone. Sucks but we had to make the decision. At least I know we have it if we need it.

The resort was offering to tent the patio for $3500, so at least we found a better deal through an outside vendor.

[Edited on September 24, 2015 at 8:47 AM. Reason : ]

9/24/2015 8:46:37 AM

9/24/2015 5:32:48 PM

I got married in a tropical storm. It's good luck.

9/24/2015 7:58:00 PM

How did it work out? Looks like mine next weekend is in jeopardy of being screwed as well. Hooray for a week and a half of shitty cloudy rainy weather in what is usually one of the best times for weather in this area.

9/28/2015 8:14:51 AM

^ I attended ncwolfpack's wedding and everything worked out just fine. Wedding was on a Sunday and by the time it started the rain stopped. It was a little humid but everyone had a great time and danced a ton. A good DJ, bartender, and crowd in attendance will overcome just about any weather scenario.

9/28/2015 2:52:57 PM

the wedding I went to this weekend actually turned out great. they moved the location to this old Southern house that had a nice pond and they put up a big tent beside it. When it was all lit up at night with the light rain, it looked really cool.

9/28/2015 2:55:33 PM

Looks like I am pretty much screwed this weekend I am already operating under the assumption of going to backup plan. Unfortunately, my fiance has told me she wants to know nothing about the weather until Wed evening so I am wrestling with whether to respect that wish or for planning purposes just tell her that we need to go ahead and start planning the backup wedding while we have an extra day or two.

9/29/2015 9:12:54 AM

Everything went well, but we had great peace of mind using the backup plan. The weather was pretty rainy most of the weekend but it broke right before the ceremony and was quite beautiful. It was very humid but what do I care? We had a blast!

^My fiancée (now wife) had the same policy, but I basically told her we had to face it and that keeping our heads in the sand will only make it more stressful trying to come up with a backup plan on a short timeline. We had to have our decision made by Tuesday before the wedding so I hope it works out for you waiting until Wednesday night (which is basically Thursday when it comes to planning). Any updates?

9/30/2015 5:54:51 PM

We have both mentally conceded on the wedding and are assuming it will be moved indoors now. The bigger concern now is the timing on this hurricane affecting or cancelling our flights out of RDU or Philly on Sunday. Models keep going back and forth on time frame but we are looking into possibly changing our flight to earlier at least to Philly in hopes we get out before it arrives or if it is delayed there is still a chance we make it to Philly in time for the flight out to Athens.

Still holding out hope with the latest model shifts east with the storm and the fact the rain percentage on Saturday has come down from 100% to 80%. Watching today and in the morning will have to make a call by tomorrow evening.

10/1/2015 8:04:30 AM

Latest NWS update for Raleigh says it may be dry during the day Saturday now even some sun is possible at least there is hope!

10/1/2015 2:35:58 PM