Rain on event day is the worst! But, you can take steps to plan for the chance of rain at your event. Guests will look to you and your event planning team for shelter and reassurance that festivities will continue. Don’t disappoint by daring to forget to weatherproof your event plan. Be sure to bring the right coverings, secure them properly, plan for moving things indoors, and reference multiple sources when checking weather updates.
Consider the décor, equipment, and other features that are most important to the occasion. For example, if you have a band that uses lots of electricity for their equipment, it’s going to be very important to keep the stage, microphones, and other electric gear dry. You might want to set up everything but electrical equipment if it looks like there will be rain before the band starts.
Don’t assume a tent will keep everything beneath it from the water. Water will run below the tent. If it’s windy, the rain will blow in from the sides and dripping wet tent. For a rain or shine event, create a Plan B that removes the band from the program and replaces it with something else.
Some items that might help provide temporary shelter include:
Whenever possible, most planners encourage an indoor event. Indoor is almost always the better option and eliminates a lot of variables compared to outdoor events. If you must include the outdoors, consider an indoor/outdoor event. Developers build many venues to accommodate a hybrid style of event with people flowing indoors and outdoors. And, if necessary, all guests can fit indoors to wait out any severe rain.
The built-in Weather app on your smartphone is usually acceptable for weather checking. But, when the success of your event is on the line, it’s better to utilize multiple sources for weather updates. One app might say it won’t rain until later that evening, while another informs you there might be rain within the next hour. Also, check out the radar map! Sometimes rain comes in bursts throughout the day. So, you can check if you should expect more rain after it rains once.
Here are our top weather app recommendations:
Still, unexpected rain can lead to beautiful or funny memories (if you don’t have a dry sense of humor)! Contact J. Leigh Events to help create a rain plan for your event.
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