Sometimes weddings do not go according to plan, no matter how much preparation has gone on! Always important to have a ‘Plan B’ discussed for an outdoor ceremony.

The Bride, Jill, had planned to be married outdoors in the adjoining, landscaped forest grove of her dear friend & former flatmate’s home in Cairns, Far North QLD. She had envisioned the atmospheric setting for the photos right there, upon the aptly-named ‘stairway to Nowhere’ for some months prior, with the flattering late-afternoon skies just prior to dusk. Being an intimate event she calculated there’d be sufficient space for the group shots there also.

The preceding days were glorious weather. Picture perfect! The forecast however for Friday included ‘a chance of passing showers’. The homeowners, Jeff & Wilchee are experienced party hosts at this location & Jeff insisted on hiring a small ‘cocktail marquee’ the afternoon before, for the top of the driveway (“Just in case you keep us all waiting Jill, so we can be socialising in style with cocktails until you get here!”)

Friday dawned as another glorious day. Everything was going according to plan at 4:45pm: the ceremony was setup for the top of ‘the stairway to Nowhere’; candles placed on each step; the Registrar table set; the beaming Groom was greeting arriving family and friends to the chosen Elvis soundtrack; guests were being served their 1st cocktail from inside the perfectly-positioned marquee; and the Bride was en route, just 10 minutes away.

Suddenly, a florid gust signaled change. A deep grey cloud appeared from over the rim of the forest canopy, moving rapidly toward us. A phone call from the Bride’s car confirmed heavy rain was upon them as they approached the entrance gate. They’d have to wait until it eased off to even think about stepping out of the vehicle… it was a 300 metre walk from the car to the ceremony.

In this corner of the country, we don’t wait to be washed out. We move! The Groom & I rapidly lifted up the Registrar table, hurriedly walking it down the hillside & re-situating it inside a corner of the cocktail marquee, where the animated guests were sheltering.

The skies opened up just moments later with a heavy downpour! Umbrellas materialised from all directions. After some 8 minutes of resigned joviality amongst us marooned in the marquee under torrential rain, it eased off sufficiently for the Bride, her niece the Bridesmaid, & her sister, the Maid-of-Honour to escape the cocoon of the car & carefully walk up the slippery driveway under large umbrellas to the impromptu setting.

As there was limited space under the marquee, I chose to stand outside under an umbrella, to allow enough space for all the guests to see the couple clearly.

Once we reached the end of the Signing of the Registrar, the rain had almost completely stopped… but by that time, nobody cared any more!

After a celebratory drink, quickly followed by the formal pronouncement, it was time for the commemorative photos!

As the rain had stopped completely, the Bride corralled everybody up the wet hillside & onto ‘the stairway to Nowhere’ for the photos – just as she had imagined. I challenge you to see any visible evidence of the preceding drenching in the group photo?