The unthinkable

Published On: April 13, 2009

Hurricane season officially descends with the wedding season on June 1, building momentum through the ensuing months. Spring brides have always contended with the possibility of spring showers, considered good luck on wedding day. But whatever they hope for—spring sun, summer heat or crisp harvest weather—the wisest prepare to be flexible.  

Veteran wedding planner Shelley Holland urges her brides to plan for inclement weather. “Brides have so many other things to worry about, they don’t want to think about Mother Nature. But when planning anything outdoors, the weather needs to be a primary concern,” Shelley says.  

Of course, storms can ruin indoor weddings as well, the most devastating example being the recent Hurricane Katrina. Its effects hit home for many Nashvillians who watched helplessly as the city all but washed away. City Paper editors Danny Solomon and Dominic Bonvissuto had been planning their dream wedding in New Orleans for almost a year.  The city was full of special memories for them and would have been a great site for a destination wedding.  As Danny said “You’ve got to try really hard not to have fun there.” Danny and Dominic were both in shock when the hurricane hit.  They had just finalized everything in New Orleans the week before, and now their wedding was just six short weeks away.

“Dominic had said, ‘We’ll wait until they rebuild,’ but I didn’t want to be the bride-to-be for years to come,” Danny says.

Shelley Holland stepped in to help. “It was Danny’s mom who first called me,” she says. “They’d lost most of their deposits and had to almost start from scratch here in Nashville.” Even their invitations had to be reprinted.

 Shelley has overseen numerous events at the Parthenon and was able to secure Danny and Dominic’s Oct. 15 wedding date there.  Thankfully, Danny’s dress was safe in Nashville and her New Orleans-based photographer was able to fly north for the wedding. Out-of-town guests re-routed plane tickets, and the wedding did go on, though not quite as planned.  

As if Danny and Dominic haven’t already earned a lifetime of good karma, Oct. 15 was also Vanderbilt’s Homecoming. University of Georgia fans descended on Nashville en masse. Besides hosting Danny’s wedding with its roughly 250 guests, Centennial Park became home for more than 5,000 screaming tailgaters.

“Our videographer came up to us later in the night,” Danny laughs, “asking serious, ponderous questions. In the background are all these Georgia fans whooping it up, saved for posterity on our wedding DVD.” After so many disappointments and challenges, Danny can now tell the story with a sense of humor. “In the end, I’m just as married,” she says, “and I’ve still got a great guy.”

That same weekend, a New Orleans couple who had fled the hurricane married here in Nashville. The couple became separated when the hurricane hit. For more than two and a half weeks, neither knew where the other was.  The groom, Kenneth Jackson, was finally able to return to his flooded apartment and track down his mother-in-law’s phone number. Soon after, he traced his bride, Danielle Wilson, to Nashville.

After a joyful reunion in Nashville, the couple still wanted to get married on Oct. 16.  A friend of the couple contacted Elaine Parker of Weddings with Elan, who suggested that the friend call Lisa Spiller, the president of Tennessee Wedding and Event Specialist Association (TWESA). With the TWESA board of director’s approval, Lisa rallied dozens of planners and venues to help this couple put together a stellar wedding in record time. More than 52 people generously donated goods or services from gowns, tuxes and jewelry to flowers, catering, location and cake. Even the invitations and a surprise honeymoon were donated.  That’s Nashville hospitality for you.

Sometimes bad weather can create a comedy of errors. Los Angeles native and New Orleans resident Jessica Osaki is planning to marry Nashvillian and Tulane Law student Houston Howell in L.A. on Dec. 17.  The couple fled the storm taking up temporary residence in Nashville while Houston enrolled at Vandy Law for the fall semester.  As they rushed to relocate, Jessica learned that her wedding gown had been shipped from New York to New Orleans—directly into the heart of the hurricane. Her dress then bounced around the country, though DHL was never able to plot its exact location. Finally, the gown returned to the designer in New York, who promptly re-shipped it to New Orleans.

Incredibly, Jessica’s bridal atelier in New Orleans had been spared the worst of the hurricane and eventually received her dress. “Houston could then pick up my dress when he went down to check on our house,” Jessica says. Rather, Houston picked up what he hoped was her dress.  Amid the chaos, the bridal shop wasn’t totally sure which dress was Jessica’s, and Houston wasn’t about to look at it.  As luck would have it, it was her gown, and her New Orleans atelier had measured her so well that she needed no alterations. Edith Cox at b. Hughes added a bustle, and Jessica was ready for the happy ending of a gorgeous California wedding.

How to make peace with—or at least be ready for—Mother Nature:

Always have a Plan B. Both Helen Morissette, who coordinated my outdoor wedding, and Shelley Holland believe it’s better to pay a deposit on a tent or a back-up venue that doesn’t get used than to be caught unprepared. Storms drove two of Helen’s outdoor weddings to Plan B this summer. Further complications sent yet another wedding to Plan C.

Be flexible. Shelley recalls an early September wedding at Cheekwood from several years ago.  A huge storm came through just before the ceremony and the electricity went out throughout the city. “We moved the entire wedding into Botanic Hall and lit hundreds of candles.  The bride didn’t get the outdoor shots she wanted that day, but her ceremony was very magical and romantic.  And, the storm actually cleared up in time for the reception,” Shelley says. Be flexible about your wedding day hair and make-up as well. Be sure that your stylists can prepare your wedding look to stay fresh in wind or high humidity.

Be practical. Keep your outdoor wedding affordable, as back-up plans usually mean extra costs. Florists, caterers, bands, lighting technicians and other vendors may charge fees for last minute location changes. “Keep in mind that some wedding photographers, musicians and even ministers schedule more than one wedding per day,” Helen advises, “They may not be available to wait out a storm for two hours.”

Get event insurance and get cancellation policies in writing with each vendor.  As important as travel insurance, event insurance guards against weather, illness or other catastrophes. Note that it probably won’t cover natural disasters to the degree of Hurricane Katrina. Cancellation policies can also cover postponements, whether for two hours or two months.

Call in back-up. Experienced wedding planners can’t change the weather, but they can help you prepare for the worst. Hurricane Ivan the Terrible was slated to tear through my completely outdoor September ’04 wedding. Prepared for a deluge, Helen talked me into tenting the ceremony space and holding a tent for the pool-side cocktail area. She had sandbags and flooring put on hold, so our tent would stay put and guests’ shoes would stay clean.  Though I was much against it, she arranged for an emergency indoor venue and shuttles to ferry guests out of the storm. By some blessing or stroke of dumb luck, Ivan turned north just before my rehearsal dinner, and the sun actually shone on my wedding day. It was incredible. Call me superstitious, but I’m convinced that our wedding would have been awash had we not our bases completely covered.