Tyler Jones and Kayla McDonald both grew up camping, so when it came time to plan their wedding, they wanted to be outside to celebrate with friends and family in nature.
They also wanted a late summer wedding. That meant choosing a venue that could move the event inside at the last minute if the weather in the Cincinnati area didn't cooperate.
“It could be a hundred degrees, you know, with humidity,” Jones said. When their big weekend forecast came up a mere 84 degrees (about 29 Celsius), they breathed a sigh of relief.
Stickier, hotter, longer summers driven by human-caused climate change are changing another time of year: wedding season. Many couples who pick the summer to get hitched now face hitches that range from melting makeup to uncomfortable guests. Some are choosing venues better able to handle the heat, or shifting to dates earlier or later in the year.
“More and more, we kind of get the feedback of, ‘I don’t want to be hot during my wedding,’” said Christina Elsass, co-owner and venue manager of Mojave East, where Jones and McDonald wed in August.
Venues recognizing the shift
Six years ago, Elsass and her husband — who used to be a wedding photographer — opened Mojave East, a play on the Mojave Desert, to honor her roots and their West Coast love story. Since they started the business, she said they've seen a shift to more demand in October and November and less in May, June and September, which are traditionally big wedding months.
“We have noticed that the weather has gotten a bit hotter during those, like during September, I would say, most specifically, and even into October,” she said.
Some venues are now even advertising the changing trend on their websites. Westmount Country Club in New Jersey writes that fall is becoming the “it” season for weddings, citing milder weather. The Beaumont Inn in Pennsylvania says that a spring wedding means guests won't have to bundle up in layers, but it also won't be “unbearably hot.”
Some summer lovebirds have to adapt
But other factors still play into the decision. Some religious sects advise against wedding during certain months of the year; for instance, some Christian denominations limit weddings on certain days of Advent and Lent, in winter and early spring, respectively. Other couples still want a summer wedding because it's more convenient for their visiting guests, or because a particular date is important to them.
In the name of love, for an event that is often costly and a significant challenge to organize, many couples don't want to back out even if the weather poses a challenge. One couple in the Philippines walked down a flooded aisle this July after Typhoon Wipha intensified monsoon rains.
Rylee Kennedy, who got married last June in Pennsylvania during a heat wave, had to pivot in the hours leading up to the ceremony. She didn't walk down the aisle surrounded by blooming flowers and trees, as she had envisioned. Due to the heat and concern for guests' safety, everything moved to their backup indoor space where they held the reception.
“With weather just being so unpredictable now, you really have to make sure that if you do have to switch gears, you’re not going to have a wedding that isn’t part of your vision or didn’t align with what you wanted it to be," Kennedy said.
For those who choose to stay the course with summer nuptials, some wedding experts are adding to the planning list. Brides, the nearly century-old bridal magazine, last year advised readers to communicate with their wedding planners and caterers about the heat, consider extra hair trials or an updo and look into switching to shorter dress lengths for bridesmaids. It also urged them to come up with a heat plan for guests.
Options for keeping cool are key
McDonald and Jones liked Mojave East for the extra heat-combating elements it will provide: fans, misters, water stations and the opportunity to duck inside for fresh air if needed.
Elsass didn't want Mojave East's indoors space to feel like an inferior backup plan, so she worked to keep the aesthetics and light bright and appealing.
“Because we’ve been intentional about how we run the indoor ceremony, it doesn’t feel like an afterthought,” Elsass said.
Grace Mattingly, a wedding planner in Richmond, Kentucky, said she talks with couples right when planning starts about how to keep guests safe in heat, whether it's using tents or umbrellas to create shade or moving indoors. She said it's a conversation that doesn't happen enough across the business of wedding planning.
On their wedding day, McDonald and Jones were able to keep the ceremony outdoors, but their “first look” photographs were moved into a shaded area to avoid the afternoon sun. When some guests arrived early, many of them waited indoors, cups of water in hand.
During the ceremony, guests used fans to keep cool and shade themselves as the sun began to set. And once the knot was tied, almost every guest went inside for the cocktail hour to cool off in the air conditioning. Misters ran outside for anyone who wanted some fresh air.
All those options meant that no matter the weather, Jones and McDonald would have a day that stayed true to their vision, even if some things had to change last-minute.
“I think we’re both believers in what happens, you make the best of it,” Jones said.
Picture Courtesy: AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel
