grumpy...wedding date woes

[Tybee]

Okay,

so things could be worse, but right now I''m feeling grumpy--and thought I''d grumble here. Thanks in advance for just letting me share. The world''s not coming to an end or anything...I''m just cranky.

So, FI and I decided on a date way back when for several reasons, one is that July 17th is close to my mother''s birthday, the other is that July is right in the middle of my summer, being that I''m a teacher that gives me plenty of time to do last minute things PLUS hit the gym extra hard the month before, plenty of time to relax and be happy afterwards etc etc...

Well, as we are trying to lock things down, my daddy expresses concern that July is hurricane season (we are getting married in the islands) he is just worried that the weather might be a mess. Well, that''s a pretty ligitimate concern, so now we are looking for different dates. June is out, because my big brother will be out of the country, but also because my best friend is getting married in June and hasn''t picked a date yet. I know that I don''t want to tread on her planning. August is out, because it is hurricane season as well (darn you mother nature!)

As a teacher I only have a few options. I really can''t take a couple of weeks off when I want to--...but luckily I have spring break in April. I like April, it''s a nice month...people will still come, etc...but FI''s brother (who will marry us) now cannot make it in April.

I don''t have many options left! ugh...that''s all really...just sad. I''d love to lock down a date and REALLy get to work, but...blech...so annoyed.

That''s it, no great trouble...just frustrated.
Thanks girls.
Tybee

 

[Tacori E-ring]

are you dead set on getting married in the islands? I heard that the islands off of New Zealand do not have hurricane season. Those are farther but will solve the weather dilema!.

 

[Minny]

I agree -- it sounds like July would work best for everyone...have you looked into other locations that might have what you are looking for, but without the threat of hurricanes? Europe? California? (uh....does California have hurricanes??)

 

[drkewl]

I have been studying weather stuff since 4th grade. I personally think if u had your wedding before late july on the islands you should be fine. People are jittery bc of the record number of hurricanes this year in july, but most formed near the gulf of mexico bc that part is the only place favorable for hurricane development: the atlantic waters are still too cool (<80 degrees is too cold for rapid hurricane formation). The hurricanes that DO form normally curve away out to see well before they can get too far west due to the prevailing wind patters over the atlantic pre mid August. The atlantic hurricane season norrmally hits its peak Late August - early october when the wind patterns and water temperatures line up to allow hurricanes to potentially develope and move pretty far westward.

(Random tidbit cuz i'm such a nerd: it takes a long time for water to heat up, thats why even though July is the hottest summer month in the US, the water temp lags behind and only peaks a few months later which happens to coincide with peak hurricane frequency. )

I would do more research on hurricanes patterns in July before completely waving off that possibility. I think you will be pleasantly surprised. Anything could happen of course (mother nature is unpredicatable) but the fact of the matter is that it is rare for a hurricane to hit any one place period, ESPECIALLY before August.

best of luck!!

 

[drkewl]

this graphy shows monthly occurences of hurricanes in the atlantic. You are basically no more likely to be hit by a hurricane in july than in june. Mid August to Mid September are the potentially trouble months.

I believe someone having a wedding ANYWHERE in the SE USA would be far more likely to have a thunderstorm / downpour during their wedding in July than a hurricane hitting the islands at that time.

 

[Blue824]

Ok, growing up our Caribbean vacations with the entire family were typically in July/August because my siblings and I were all in different schools, we''d be shipped off to camp the first half of the summer, and so July/Aug was the only time we were all able to go. I have to say, we have only had one trip, that I remember, ruined by a hurricane after years and years of doing this. I wouldn''t hesitate to go down there in July, there are some great deals to be had, but with a wedding, I''d definitely invest in travel insurance. Another time our plans changed, we were on a cruise and they had to change course to navigate around the storm, which maybe that''d be a good option because of the flexibility the ship has? I''d avoid spring break time unless you want it to feel like a frat party and higher prices. If the prices aren''t much of a concern, you can find resorts or islands that arent as frequented by the spring breka crowd. The weather is gorgeous in the summer when it isn''t a hurricane, I guess its pretty much the same year round though. I guess I''ve also gotten used to it not being as crowded, which is nice!

With the other options mentioned...I believe with the hemispheres, New Zealand will be experiencing winter in July, so that doesn''t sound like fun to me for a beach wedding! But you can find great deals out to that area over our summer....because it is winter there though. We almost went last summer and then it hit us as to why we were finding such awesome deals haha. Europe will be "high season" pricing, which is expensive!! Just as an example, I''m going to Italy for two weeks next summer and if I chose May, airfare would be $600, but we need to go in June when my cousins are out of school which brings airfare up to $1800/person. The summer will bring you great deals in the Caribbean on both airfare and hotels or a cruise. California or Hawaii might be good bets too though.

Lots of luck in your planning, and just remember, even if it wasn''t a destination wedding weather could disrupt plans anyway, so I''d just do what you want. Just my opinion though

 

[Tybee]

Oh Thanks everyone---

especially drkewl-- how handy to get a response from a weather nerd!
Long story, but we want to get married in St. John for sentimental reasons. FI just picked up the latest National Geographic which is all about how how we will be slammed with hurricanes for the next 30 years.
30 YEARs of FURY I believe is the delightful title.

Yes, weather could affect us anywhere--I agree, and insurance might be the key. I just don''t want guests to buy plane tickets, etc. only to get washed away...

I''m looking forward to showing drkewl''s graph to my FI! he he!

 

[Tybee]

oops, I replied twice--time for coffee this morning.
I do feel better, though--getting married is a roll of the dice anyhow, right?

 

[MelissaSue]

I agree with others. Do it in July! The chance of a hurricane hitting right where you are going to be is probably really pretty low! Honestly, I don''t know anything about weather or hurricanes.. but it just seems like that might be a risk you have to take! My sisters kids get a week off in like January or February now.. do you get that? How is the weather there then?

 

[JessesGrl]

January/feb. would be a really safe bet...hurricanes come when they want to come...we booked mexico in early october (hurricane season) and the hurricane ended up wiping out our resort July 18th...go figure

 

[Tacori E-ring]

The islands I was referring to are in the south pactific:
Fiji, Tahiti, Bora-Bora, and Moorea.
For research sake I looked up the weather in Bora-Bora During the week of July 15, 2005 and it had a mean temp of 78 degrees. with 0 inches of precipitation. Plus it would be so exotic to have you wedding in one of the above islands IMOH. Good Luck.

 

[Tybee]

oooh Tacori,
Bora Bora is one of my dream destinations---maybe on a tenth anniversary!
Too expensive right now, though, but it would be such a dreamy exotic wedding, wouldnl''t it?

 

[elephant]

Do you think there''s maybe a farmer''s almanac for that? Long shot, I know since it isn''t really in the US, but I looked up the weather for MY date? And they have been shown to be fairly accurate?

 

[Tacori E-ring]

It would be awesome! I saw an article in "modern birdes" ? maybe? something like that and they suggested those islands for honeymoons b/c they don''t have hurricane season. I don''t know what it costs to get married there but some resorts offer "free" weddings if x number of people stay there. It is worth investigating. Maybe this will be my new project.....find tybee a destination wedding for reasonable about of funds....

 

[Tybee]

Tacori,

You are sweet,
but it costs about 3000 just to get to those locations! Someday I will go.

We want to get married in St. John because it has sentimental significance to my family.
It was my mother''s favorite place in the world, and my brothers and I have a strong connection to it because of that.
Because my mother has passed on and cannot be here to help me plan etc, I wanted to have it there. That way my family can all be together there one more time for a happy occasion, and the spirit of my mom can be there too.

As far as January, or some other month. I''m sure that would be great. The frustrating thing for me is that I''m a teacher. I can''t really take off time whenever I want to. All of my holidays are the same as EVERYONE else''s, and inevitably the most expensive time to travel---except July!

The hurricane season is supposed to start August 1, but each year it get''s earlier and earlier. Supposedly they are cyclical (maybe drkewl could tell me more.) Supposedly the seasons are building up, and next year is supposed to be worse than this year, etc. My FI and I went to visit last month (so lovely!) and OUR weather was perfect, but the whole week before we got there the weather report was listed at SQUALLS. There were a few news stories this year about weddings that were "washed out" by storms.

Aprill would be perfect, too bad FI''s brother can''t do it then.
I wonder how accurate the Farmers Almanac turns out to be? That''s an interesting idea.

Thanks for your imput eveyone!

 

[abradabra]

Tybee,

I think you should consider going in July. Perhaps a July 4th weekend extravaganza (to make it as close to pre-hurricane season as possible) would work a bit better than mid-July if hurricanes are a big concern.

A few things to consider... How important is beautiful weather on your actual wedding day? What if you go down there and there are a few glorious days before or after the wedding, but the actual day is marred by rain? Will you just be happy to be on a fabulous Caribbean island getting married or do you need cloudless skies? If it''s the former, July is a risk worth taking. If it''s the latter, could you wait another year and get married in April to have all your family attend?

If weather is super-important to you, but you don''t want to wait until April 2007, I might consider winter break... I have been invited to three destination weddings--all in December (two during the week between Christmas and New Year''s, one in mid-December). The week between Christmas and NYE is usually pretty convenient for guests because people aren''t busy with work and would love to go somewhere tropical. You probably wouldn''t get to take your honeymoon right away--but you could always go back for it in April!

Another thing to think about is that even if you don''t have it during hurricane season, you may still have problems. It might rain something fierce in April. Sure, there is a greater chance of that happening in hurricane season, but you can''t prevent it entirely. I think you have enough strong reasons (assuming weather isn''t super-important to you, a la the previous paragraph) to get married there then that outweigh the risks. Trying to commerate your mother is a really touching gesture and the risk of hurricanes isn''t that great.

 

[drkewl]

the farmer''s almanac is about as accurate as the groundhog in predicting weather... kinda like looking at the stars to predict future events... complete garbage... but fun to do

I mean i could right now predict ''no rainy days in 2006!'' and be right about 60-70% of the time

hmm, speaking about hurricane season, looks like we got a new tropical storm forming right over the islands... but because its late august that shouldn''t surprise us now bc we''re approaching the peak of the graph!!!!

to be 100% honest, the most RELIABLE weather predicters have been animals... and my girlfriend lol. She always gets a headache a few hours before a thunderstorm (must somehow detect changes in pressure like a barometer... i''ve heard of that!) My mom has always been fond of the ''wooly'' catipiller for predicting the winter... she has been dead on for 8 years in a row by just looking at these little creatures... if they are really wooly come october or november, its going to be very cold and snow... if its going to be a mild winter, they are much thinner... some things in nature are fascinating and may never be explained...

 

[Tybee]

Out of my grumpy stage!
You all are simply the best. Thanks all who responded. What is life worth if you don''t take some risks?
July is should be--and we''ll just take out some insurance.
Thanks again all---
Now I''ve got to find some wooley catepillars to predict the winter!

 

[drkewl]

Date: 8/24/2005 6:36:25 AM
Author: Tybee
The hurricane season is supposed to start August 1, but each year it get's earlier and earlier. Supposedly they are cyclical (maybe drkewl could tell me more.) Supposedly the seasons are building up, and next year is supposed to be worse than this year, etc. My FI and I went to visit last month (so lovely!) and OUR weather was perfect, but the whole week before we got there the weather report was listed at SQUALLS. There were a few news stories this year about weddings that were 'washed out' by storms.

It is TRUE that hurricanes are cyclical... the combination of global warming and the fact that we are closing in on the 'peak' of the current cycle is making this potentially really bad. Still, that doesn't change the fact that Pre-late july u should be almost gauranteed to be hurricane free.

Now, as for 'squalls', thats a wholeeeeee different ball game. No one can predict random thunderstorms or small low pressure systems a year in advance, or even a week or even a day in the case for thunderstorms. I'm sure everyone has been caught in a thunderstorm when there was only a "10% chance" or see hardly a drop off rain when there was an "80% chance of it happening." I would say there would be a
I just looked it up. In the last >>182 yearsHURRICANE
My view on this Tybee: life isn't a safe bet. You WANT to get married in St. Johns and u WANT to do it in mid july.. so do it! I find no solid reasons not to... better to go for it then have it somewhere else and always wonder what it would be like if u did have it there (imagine, on you wedding day at location X, u look up the forcast at St. Johns: Sunny, 84 degrees, light winds. How would you feel then?)

Are you going to tell guests not to fly in to your wedding because their plane might crash? I didn't think so. Wonder what the odds are of any one plane carrying any of your guests crashing... probably somewhere around 17685 to 1

 

[Tacori E-ring]

I think since it is so important for you to get married there you will be fine. Even if the weather turns bad it will be a great story to tell! Besides its about you and your Fi celebrated your love with those who are most important in your life. I''ll keep my fingers crossed for sun!