Last spring was very busy with beautiful weddings, & therefore, a whole lotta editing. This, in turn, meant that I watched (listened to) a whole lotta tv.

I tackled The Walking Dead, & it quickly jumped up to one of my favorite shows. While I'm really enjoying it, I admit I get so frustrated. Their little group of survivors has been attacked by other various groups many times, & they've been split up...many times. They've been wandering around trying to figure out what to do next, & fully expecting to never see each other again.

All I could think was: You guys should have this figured out by now! You should have a back up plan! It's great to think you're safe in your current situation, but sooner or later you're going to be attacked & separated again because of the world you're now living in. Come up with a plan!! Your back up plan can't JUST be "don't get split up!" Designate a meeting place for WHEN you get split up!!

But this is a TV show & there's always going to be drama. This is why I don't write for TV.

Ok, how does this tie back into wedding planning?

Last spring brought a lot of rain on Texas. So much rain that Lake Travis here in Austin went from roughly 20% to 70% capacity (over 50 feet) in a matter of weeks before hitting 100% last April. While I am grateful for the rain, it can spell disaster if you are planning an outdoor wedding.

Of my five weddings last April & May, two had to be moved, not only indoors, but to completely new locations, & while one was already going to be indoors, it was raining so hard we were forced to stay inside for everything. Two escaped rain entirely, but the storms following one left me stranded in Houston much longer than planned. One coordinator I worked was stranded at the wedding venue for 3 days because waters had risen so much.

You've heard it before: have a backup plan

But I want to take that one step further & add this:

Have a backup plan, & spend at least 5 minutes planning your backup plan

…so that if you DO have to move everything, you have a general idea of how & where everything will go & you're not running around like a crazy person.

Most of the time, I hear, "If we have to move it indoors, we'll just move everything inside to the reception." Ok. That's great. But:

What is your new ceremony backdrop?

Where is the bridal party entering the ceremony? Is there a new aisle?

Where will you, the bride & groom stand? Where will the bridal party stand?

How will your guests sit in the new space? Is there space to bring all of the chairs into rows? Or will everyone need to sit at the tables?

Where will your beautiful giant floral arrangements be moved to? The gift table?

Where will all of the portraits take place?

Will you have the reception tables set up & pushed against the wall to be pulled out later? Or will you have to flip the entire room from ceremony to reception?

If you're flipping the room, where will your guests go to wait, especially if it's raining?

When I was planning my wedding, I refused to accept the fact that it could rain. I was convinced it wasn't. While I was slightly naive & stubborn, my mom kept raining on my parade (pun!), "But, it could rain!!" Finally I snapped & said, If it rains, we'll move the ceremony into the ballroom (where the reception was to be held), the new "aisle" will be from this door snaking through these tables, Jake & I will stand in front of the fireplace & head table, & the guests will just sit at the reception tables. Photos will be in the foyer & other parts of the country club. Guests won't ever have to leave the ballroom.

Boom. I had my 5 minute backup plan.

Thankfully we got married at a large enough country club so most things like the gift & cake table weren't going to be in the way.

Take a moment & really think about the logistics of your rain plan. Everything from the sign-in table to the cake table needs to be accessed if you currently have it out in the open & not under a roof.

This is not meant to overwhelm you, & yes, you already have a billion & one things on your mind. But this will save you some stress on wedding day if you do have to move everything.

I'm happy to say that it did not rain on my wedding day.