Welcome to The Future Mrs. C!

Sarah & Sean
Photograph by Christine Tremoulet. Not the real Future Mrs. C.

Wholly Matrimony! is thrilled to have a Bride-to-Be joining us here, blogging about her own wedding planning process! Tomorrow The Future Mrs. C will be sharing the first of first of her “Confessions of a Bride-To-Be” posts.

The Future Mrs. C is planning a spring 2009 destination wedding over 2000 miles away from home, which you can imagine is quite a challenging feat. She is a writer by day, and in her spare time she enjoys spending time with Mr. C and their dog, belly dancing and taking beautiful photos. Sometimes she paints and writes just for fun. When she’s happy, she sings. When she’s sad, she likes to watch babies laughing on YouTube (does the trick every time).

July 17, 2008 | Filed Under Confessions of a Bride-to-Be | 1 Comment 

Don’t Let a Hurricane Ruin Your Plans!

Planning a destination wedding? Don’t forget to keep hurricane season in mind!

Hurricane season can be a rather tricky time for summer weddings. The official hurricane season in the Atlantic begins June 1 and extends until November 30, encompassing the entire summer season in the Caribbean. The Pacific season starts officially on May 15. If you’re planning a Caribbean cruise from June through November, it pays to be aware of the possibilities.

A lot of travelers second guess their wedding plans, thinking that having their wedding on cruise ships is a bad idea. Of course, hurricane season and cruise liners do not go together well at all, but somehow the cruising industry has managed to stay above the hurricane season at least most of the time, making the summer one of the best times ever to take a cruise to the Caribbean. From August to December, the prices of cruises and everything that goes along with it (dining, ship lodging, activities and such) are at an all time low.

You might be thinking, is it even safe enough to take cruise during the middle of hurricane season? You might never find out. That’s because cruise line main strategy is to avoid the storms not fight them. Cruise lines have been operating in the Caribbean for years and have, by virtue of experience, specific hurricane/tropical storm emergency response plans in effect. These cover everything from designating a bridge officer as the weather monitor during the season to outfitting ships with state-of-the-art satellites to backing up onboard efforts with expanded staff at headquarters.

Hurricane season can be a real bummer, and especially for those of you who have had your hearts set on a summer wedding on a cruise line. Being displaced by a pesky hurricane or have had your long-awaited wedding planned and everyone flown in, be cancelled due to inclement weather know exactly how it feels. The good thing in all this is that the capabilities of the cruise liners and the liner companies themselves, have the technology to get through the storms. This means that shipping companies and weather services go to extra measures to insure that there are no mishaps.

Of course, this means that nothing is promised. Do not take any cruise reservations to be final ones, because any slight inkling or joke of a storm will cause the shipping company to pull their ship and their passengers off of the ocean in a heart beat, for everyones safety. Some might advise that it is smart not to finalize anything! Don’t pay any hefty deposits for anything having to do with your cruise during the summer months, the peak of the hurricane season. If this isn’t an option, look into insurance to cover your wedding plans. There are policies available specifically for this type of need.

Also, hurricane season means rainy season. Expect more showers to pop up during humid afternoons than you’d find during drier winter months. During hurricane season in Florida on the west coast you can set your clock by the afternoon storms that they have during hurricane season.

Bottom line is that should you chance a honeymoon or romantic getaway to the Caribbean, Mexico, or southern U.S. during the season, when lower hotel rates make such a trip more affordable? If the answer is yes, acquaint yourself with places that offer a hurricane guarantee, read the fine print in any hurricane guarantee… well before the rain has a chance to wash it away.

You can keep an eye on hurricane season and other weather related information at the NOAA website.

Original article by Heather.

July 17, 2008 | Filed Under Destination Weddings | 1 Comment