Even the best wedding planner can’t control the weather. But we can control how we prepare and react. While we hope for sunshine and light breezes, sometimes we don’t get what we order. That’s why a bad weather plan is so important.

This point was vividly obvious, recently, when Hurricane Irene came to town. And my client had a wedding planned—on the day Irene was scheduled to hit the New York area.

Two days before the wedding, as the weather reports made it obvious of impending hurricane force winds, flooding and transportation shut downs, we knew the day, as planned, would not be possible. If we tried to go ahead with the wedding, it was clear that most guests wouldn’t have made it.

We decided to move the entire event to the following day.

I didn’t want my bride to be stressed. I sent her to get her nails done while I handled these details:

• Speaking with guests to help them change flight reservations
• Mapping alternate driving routes for guests based on road closures
• Getting extra hotels, changing hotel reservations
• Calling all vendors, working with venue, coordinating a reschedule
• Adjusted deliveries, appointments
• Being the main contact person amidst the weather-induced chaos

People hire a wedding planner for the little, and big emergencies you can’t foresee.

My bride’s job is to keep celebrating while I handle the sticky stuff. I know that most brides don’t want to be calling their lost Uncle Charlie when he can’t find the church, finding the missing flowers, collecting the bowtie that got left behind, or keeping her drunk brother-in-law from toppling the cake over.

Tip: Sometimes a venue has a “bridal attendant” to assist the bride. They’ll tell you that you don’t need an outside wedding planner. But, a lot of the planning and support happens before the venue! Your venue’s “bridal attendant” won’t be around when the limo doesn’t show up and you’re running late for the church.

P.S. The wedding turned out perfectly.

I was delighted that even Hurricane Irene didn’t keep my bride and groom from having the beautiful wedding day they had waited for. When Irene was approaching, they were overwhelmed and ready to cancel the whole thing. By having me there, as a calm, focused voice-of-reason, they had the day they planned – with just one day’s difference!

Until next time…