Day #14: Do You Have a Back Up Plan?

From Erik Michaels and June Hoffman of Megasound

Having backup plans for your wedding ceremony and reception are very important. Even the best-laid and most comprehensive planning cannot preclude unforeseen problems. Most of the time, these problems are small and insignificant and most people won't notice anyway. However, there ARE things which have a possibility of happening that your guests may not just notice, but actually drive them away from your special day. Having backup plans is important because last minute changes don't usually turn out as well as changes which have already been planned beforehand.

Ceremony location - It is important to choose a location that reflects your vision and ideas. If your ceremony is located outside, it is advisable to have a backup location for your ceremony. This could be inside a tent or inside a building of some sort. If the weather doesn't cooperate, at least then you will have laid the foundation for the ceremony to go on as planned without incident.

Ceremony traditions - With some traditions such as the lighting of the unity candle, doing so depends once again on the weather cooperating if you are having an outside ceremony. A windy day will make lighting a unity candle almost impossible, so choosing a different tradition or having a backup tradition such as the blending of the sands will allow for your ceremony to flow smoothly without much trouble.

Ceremony music - Once again, for outside weddings, one needs to consider the type of music which will be played. On a breezy day, classical music may be difficult to hear on soft parts of songs. With all of the difficulties presented with doing an outside ceremony, one might think an outside ceremony just too risky to plan. However, most outside weddings go without incident and the beauty and aura of an outside wedding is difficult to beat. Simply by having alternate plans, you can plan an outside ceremony easily; and as long as you have the proper backups in place in case problems pop up, you won't have to experience the pitfall of not having a plan at the last minute when you need one!

Electricity - This is an absolute necessity for almost every wedding. Without electricity, there will not be air conditioning (or heat if it is cold), lights, amplification of sound (music), and on and on. Having a backup plan such as a generator or power inverter is very well-advised. *Here at Megasound, we actually have a package called Power Failure Insurance which provides either a generator or power inverter for our sound systems and lightshows during ceremonies and/or receptions. Most receptions nowadays are a very expensive part of a wedding. Having backup power ready can mean a HUGE difference in how your reception goes. Most people can do without hot food and air conditioning, but without music and lighting of some sort, most people will tend to leave fairly early. Not having power at a particular venue is a rare occurrence, but one which has dire consequences.