Regardless of when a couple chooses to say their ‘I dos,’ the date never comes with a weather guarantee. A special date is often decided on more than a year in advance and regardless of how good the meteorologist is, it’s a guessing game. There are statistics showing the probability of rain for any given date - based on 30 years of data. I often get calls from brides-to-be looking for the “lowest probability” date for rain. Still, there are no guarantees.
Grandma might not agree – she believed that if you hung your prayer beads on the clothesline the night before your wedding, the rain would stay away. I can’t tell you how many people I have shared this with and while they didn’t all believe it would work, most did it anyway. It can’t hurt!
I’m not sure if Grandma believed this would work but she convinced many nervous brides and allowed them to get some sleep the night before their big day.
As well as being a wonderful prognosticator, Grandma was an eternal optimist. If the beads on the line trick didn’t keep the rain away, she was quick to remind the bridal party that, “If it rains on your wedding day, there would be money in your future.”
I’m off to a wedding this Saturday. Two of my favourite people - Laurel Bennett and David Garrison - will say their ‘I dos’ in an intimate garden wedding in Halifax. Grandma didn’t know Laurel, but would certainly suggest that she snip a few marigolds from the garden and tuck them in her bouquet for everlasting love.
If you’re planning a wedding, I wish you blue skies, sunshine and long-lasting love.
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Cindy Day is the chief meteorologist for SaltWire Network
