Most people who live in this area believe the hype about how wonderful the weather is here. We are blessed with consistently sunny skies and t-shirt temperatures, right? Possibly so, unless you are trying to plan an outdoor event. Then you get weather like we've had over the past few weeks. A sort of Zeusian temper tantrum of wind and rain and sun and heat. It makes no sense. Which is why the popularity of the late April wedding is so confounding.It would appear many people want to get hitched in fields of freshly bloomed flowers. It's a beautiful image until you take into consideration that A) allergy sufferers will be crying from the start of the ceremony to the end (not happy tears either) and B) the only thing in bloom could be the brightly colored canopies of umbrellas.
Suddenly, in preparation, the groom becomes a scholar of meteorology and the bride is pouring over historical weather data to see the ratio between sun to rain on the chosen day. Both can't sleep from a reoccurring dream involving a freak storm flooding the marriage meadow. Rafts are rented... just in case. They begin to record the Weather Channel on their DVR and only speak in 10 day forecasts. It gets grim. All this odd behavior ultimately leads to friends referring to the couple behind their backs as a "high pressure system."
You may be able to plan every other minute detail of the big day, but the clouds might choose to come whether they are on the guest list or not. They are just inconsiderate that way (kind of like that crazy uncle who always brings a sketchy friend to family gatherings). So over the next two weeks as I go to a number of weddings, I will cross my fingers, bring the sunscreen and the scarf, and hope my fan will function as a paddle... just in case.
posted by jw
