It’s pretty common that wedding planners and couples have to create a rain plan, in fact most venues require it. Rain plans range from moving everything indoors, renting a tent, or even embracing it and grabbing umbrellas (or lack there of). While rain plans vary depending on the couple and the options the venue has, there is one thing we don’t often take time to think about, even on a rain free day…WIND!
Wind can make or break the design you have planned for the outdoor pieces of your big day. Between ceremony, cocktail hour, and reception something is likely to be outdoors and if all of the main events are indoors then you may still have a welcome sign or something outdoors to let guests know they are in the right place. It’s important to consider the “what-ifs”. What if a hurricane is going on at the coast and we have high wind speeds because of it. What if we didn’t realize that our venue is between two mountains so the wind is constantly coming through. Or what if a random gust of wind makes an appearance. Maybe we should make a wedding day wind plan.
What is a wedding day wind plan? What are some ideas to consider to avoid tragedy? To avoid picture frames getting blown over and shattering. To avoid centerpieces flying off the table. To avoid Polaroid prints from blowing through the wind.
Well after handling it more times than I can count, here’s some ideas…tried and succeeded. But disclaimer, I am not saying that this is a guarantee.
Preliminary ideas to jump start your wedding day wind plan:
Choose centerpieces that are bottom heavy and not too tall. The shorter the better, unless you truly have something sturdy! The current trendy centerpieces tend to be tall 3 dimensional rectangular structures with flowers on top. While this is stunning in photos, and allows guests to still see each other across the table through the structure, they are very top heavy and very subtle to tipping with a strong wind gust. If your mind is set on these and you are planning on having them outdoors, think of a way to add some weight to the bottom. And no, using artificial flowers to lower the weight doesn’t help. You have to have a heavy base.
Make sure your signage is strong. Choose thick wooden signs over cardboard or Styrofoam. Sturdy mirrors and windows are also excellent ideas! Consider what you are displaying the signage on. If using some sort of frame, is it possible to secure it to an easel or other display. With picture frames and wall mirrors, they normally have supports on the back that would typically be used for the wall and nails. Many times, I have taken fishing line or zip ties through those support hooks and attached them to easels. This has prevented many mishaps! If your chosen sign has standup capabilities, be sure to test their strength. Is it strong enough to be walked past and maybe bumped into and still stand? If uncertain, consider adding weighted sand bags, or equivalent, to the back of the supports. BOTTOM HEAVY!
The closer to the ground, the less height to fall. Let’s do an experiment, grab two sheets of paper. Put one on a table and one on the ground. Now take a fan and put it on the strongest setting facing both sheets of paper. Which one lasted the longest? The one on the ground right? I am not a scientist but just from standing outside, you can notice that you feel wind more on the upper part of your body rather than the lower part. I think the wind may bounce off the ground and up creating an heightened sense of breeze. But again, I am no scientist. Items on the ground of closer to the ground versus items on high cocktail tables, pedestals, and dinner tables tend to be less likely to tipping with the wind. And even if the wind does take it, it’s less likely to crack and it’s likely just tipping over rather than falling 3-4 feet down.
Putting current plans into action:
Okay so you have already decided your centerpieces for your outdoor wedding ceremony, outdoor wedding cocktail hour, and outdoor wedding reception. If your mind is made up, or if you’ve already bought/rented your decorations; do not fret. There are solutions.
The best case scenario would be that it is a nice cool day with a small breeze. Unfortunately, the weather doesn’t care what we want and we have zero say. What we do have a say about is how we are going to prepare for it rather than let it ruin our happy time.
Step 1: secure your linens! If you have cocktail tables with linens, add a ribbon or sash around the poll to tighten the linen. If planning to do this in advance, you want to make sure that you order a size larger than necessary for your cocktail tables. This will give you extra cloth so that when you tie the middle, it doesn’t end up showing the ugly tables legs. For sitting tables, plan on using real plates as place settings. This secures the entire table’s linen by having weight all the way around. The chairs will also be on the sides to block the wind from lifting the linen. If you are not planning on having place settings, or you are wanting to use plastic, prop your chairs on the sides of the tables. The inward angle allows a little more weight to the top of the table to prevent the wind from getting all the way under and ripping it off the table. For non-seated tables and ones with no way to tie, try to get some tablecloth weights! These would just clip on to the end of the linens on all sides and provide weight to prevent the wind from picking up the linen.
Step 2: secure your signs. I mentioned earlier that zip ties and fishing line can and will be your best friend with larger signs, but you might be wondering about smaller signs; like table numbers and menus. My solution for this is going to carry on into the next step; double sided mounting tape. This is a thicker stretchy double sided tape that is almost perfect for anything. You can cut the size that is needed from the roll, peal off the backing, and stick it between the sign and the table/linen. Another option is again adding weight. If your sign is a frame and it has a bottom lip that it sits on, add some weight on the back of it to make sure it doesn’t fall over.
Step 3: secure your centerpieces. If you did step 1, then step 3 should be pretty successful. For smaller items, like bud vases, you can use the double sided mounting tape technique! This really works, tried and true! Another option is making your vases heavy. Whether it is water in the bottom half, or stones and pebbles, giving them weight is so so important! Now the only way I can think of to keep your real or artificial florals in the vase is to hot glue them to the bottom of the vase or make the wire bent in such a way that it cannot easily come out of the vase.
Another item to add is if you are planning on doing an aisle runner, you have to make a plan on securing it to the ground. If it’s on grass, tent stakes are the best solution. You can push them straight through the runner and into the grass. Just be sure not to pull it too tight or it will rip as soon as the first person steps on it. If the runner is on some sort of hard ground; like concrete or bricks, go back to the double sided mounting tape! I told you that stuff can secure everything! When securing a runner, make sure to spread out the supports on both sides. Speaking from experience, you do not want to use too much double sided mounting tape on hot bricks on a warm summer day. It’s almost as bad as scrapping up gum!
If you follow this guide you shouldn’t have any worries about the wind messing up your perfect wedding day. And well your hair… now that’s something you’d have to talk to your stylist about!