Planning For Inclement Weather

Most weddings happen in the summer months. June is the most popular month for weddings. People fight over getting the perfect wedding day.

Image via Gazillion Movies

I have avoided this issue by choosing to get married in February. Mr. Kettle and I have been very happy with our selection of wedding date. But there is one possible hitch to our happy wedding: winter Illinois weather.

There was a terrible storm this past winter. In Chicago, a little snow doesn't bother us. But when this storm was on it's way, people went to the grocery store and then went home. They didn't come back out for at least a couple days. There were no cops or buses on the street; who would drive a vehicle through a few feet of snow? There was no one out except Walgreens employees.

I didn't think too much about that happening to our wedding. I figured that through sheer will, the weather would be nothing but a bit of sunshine and light snow. I'd stand there in my pretty dress with the matching veil and perhaps a lovely fur coat taking in a few snow flakes and hopefully some wintry sunshine. Kind of like this.

Personal cartoon. Yeah, you all will be subjected to my cartoons now... I mostly put on the coat so Mr. Kettle won't see the part of the dress he doesn't know about.

But when Hurricane/Tropical Storm sidelined a few weddings, I started thinking about the real possibility that something could happen to keep my wedding from occurring on the day or at the location we're planning on. At our tasting next month, I will bring up the issue with our venue to see if they have any contingency plans they go with for winter events.

That is not enough for me though. I looked online and found wedding insurance. My best internet friend Google brought up four sites that I took a look at.

They are: Wedding Protector Plan, WedSure, WedSafe, and The Event Helper.

After looking at all the options, it's really best that I consult with our venue to see which one of these would be best for us. I'm not sure how much coverage we need and what our backup wedding plan is. Also, I don't know if we should be getting coverage just for postponing the event. Perhaps we should add photographer coverage, deposit coverage? And what in the world is professional counseling coverage?

I'm thinking worst case scenario, we can get over to my church which is right across the street from my parents' house and next door to my pastor's house. We could get married there even in a blizzard, we'd just have to figure out a party to celebrate with family and friends later. There's a lot to figure out, but I've got a couple of months to sort it out.

Are you getting wedding insurance? Are you worried about Mother Nature altering your carefully laid plans?

Figuring Out Flowers - My Inspiration

Our first meeting with a possible photographer is tomorrow afternoon, so I thought now would be a good time to share with the hive my inspiration for flowers. At just under 5 months (151 days to be exact), I feel like we're moving a bit slow on the florist front.

I felt a bit paralyzed and unable to start one major vendor search until a previous one was completed. But as soon as we made our decision on photographer/videographer, it was time to make appointments for photographers. I will tell you which three photographers I hope to meet with and choose from eventually, but first, my inspiration!!

Momma Kettle and I talked about at least as much as anything else we discussed about the wedding when it was still a vague concept in our minds. I knew I wanted lovely rose bouquets for me and the girls, and lovely rose bouts for the guys and corsages for the other important ladies. Luckily, Mima Kettle had this idea too. I love it when we're all on the same page!

I also knew I wanted flowers as the main focus of the table centerpieces. I wasn't sure how I wanted it to look until Momma Kettle mentioned the words "flower box." As soon as she said it, the words have stuck with me. I imagined a lovely fancy wedding version of the full flower boxes you see outside the windows of beautifully decorated houses and apartments. She didn't like this image at all, but I was stuck there and wasn't budging. I began scouring for images that could put together what I imaged. My idea evolved to not be a wooden or plastic box with dirt showing to something more like a bouquet in a box to a bouquet in a glass box.

I don't remember exactly where, but one of the bees linked to a website that showed a ton of pictures that were exactly what I had been seeing in my head. So many options, all in one place. I finally had the perfect inspiration to show my mother and our potential florists. I had visions of dead-on quotes from florists and my mother happily acquiescing to my vision with no complaints. Would you like to see what my inspiration/vision is hive? Of course you do!

All images below via Flower Girls of TulsaSouth Loop Floral Gallery. We found them when we were searching for an engagement party venue. This florist had within their shop the only arches I've ever seen that I didn't dislike on site.



I don't know if the glass is colored or there is purple water in here, but I love the color. My mother hates that you can see the stems, I love that you can see the stems.



I like the random arrangement of stems in the bottom, plus all the greenery on top. I really want wintry greenery incorporated into my flower arrangements.



White roses! I'm in heaven. Throw in some sort of berry and we're there!



I know I love this idea because I even like it with so much pink!



Various glass shapes and rose colors. Hadn't considered that, but I am now!



Various boxes that aren't just glass... Hmmm, maybe.

Who are the photographers I'll be presenting with these pictures? I'll tell you as we actually schedule the meetings. First up is the

And what do they have on the very front of their main webpage?

Image via South Loop Floral Gallery

This is a good sign. A very good sign.

I'm going to this meeting with Momma Kettle, Mima Kettle, and Grandmother Kettle. Between the four of us, we're sure to overwhelm whoever takes that meeting, but I know we'll walk out with a clear idea of if they can give us what we want in the price range we'd prefer.