We planned our outside winter wedding in anticipation of the weather being winter-y. We had outside heaters, we passed along wise words to dress warm, and my mom even bought 30 fleece blankets at After-Christmas sales. What we didn't plan on was unusually warm weather. By January 10th, Durango had not even a flake of snow since the first week in December, and the highs were nearing the mid-50's. When trees are dormant and all that remains from the last snow storm is brown ice and brown dirt, the landscape is far from pretty.
On January 11th, the day our 10-day forecast was available, it predicted sun, sun and more sun all the way through our wedding day. What is the problem you may wonder, with all the sunny predictions? Both Mr. Honey and I just wanted one damn snow storm. We wanted a fluffy white ground, a frozen lake, snow-tipped trees. Keeping in mind that a Colorado blue-bird day would not be that awful and that we cannot as brides control the weather, I tried my damndest to just accept it. I honestly did. But I prayed to Ullr anyway and requested everyone I know do the same to help this winter bride out. In case you aren't familiar with Ullr, he his believed by many mountain towns to be the God of Snow and he his summoned when the winter is looking rather bleak. I have no idea the authenticity of the legend, but I do know I had nothing to loose by requesting a little precipitation.
On January 16th, the Monday of our wedding week, we got snow. Whether it was Ullr or just a change in the forecast, the once brown ground was finally covered with the white stuff! We even got enough snow for our flower girls to build this giant snowman:
We got our one snow storm, and I'll admit half of me was content with whatever the weather presented come Saturday. The other half of me? I got greedy, I wanted more snow. Throughout the year and a half of us planning, the possibility of a snow storm was there but I didn't realize just how much I wanted that snow storm until the reality of it not being there was in front of me. Deep down I wanted a snow storm on our wedding day. There I said it. Call us crazy, it's okay, I realize how few people would actually say those words.
As the week wore on, the chance of snow on our Saturday grew more and more. It started with something like 10% chance after 10 pm and by Friday the chances were up around 60 or 70%. I didn't believe it though...Friday was a beautiful day with clear skies and warm weather. Saturday morning I woke up to pretty thin clouds, not typical snow clouds. The forecast had something else in mind though. 100% chance of snow accumulation of up to 10 inches. The flakes started falling around 10 am and did.not.stop. We had the most perfect Colorado snow storm: fluffy snowflakes, a mild temperature, no wind and a serenity that is only felt when a storm like that is happening.
My girls rocked their short dresses. Our photographer did have to run around with a pink fleece over his camera. Sure guests got a little wet. And yes it did cause a little bit of chaos. BUT it was the way our wedding weather turned out and it was amazing. We keep saying that if we could have in fact had control of the weather, a snow storm would have been our number one choice.
What started out as a less-than desired weather forecast turned into our weather wish. While no one can tell a bride to avoid looking at the forecast, it is safe to say that no matter how many times we do look at it, there's no telling how quickly that forecast will change. Whether it's my case of hoping for sun to change to snow or the normal situation of rain to shine, I hope you all have your version of perfect wedding weather. I'll leave you with this one last teaser picture of the Honeys happily walking around in the perfect snow storm:
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| Photo by Zak Fleming Photography |
Did anyone else have crazy weather on their wedding day? Any other brides hoping for something other than a sunny day?
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