Volcanoes and weddings. This upcoming bride is really nervous.?
It's past 3 am and I just can't sleep.. I have no idea if there's a solution to my problem, but perhaps someone can offer some advice or words of encouragement to this nervous wreck of a bride-to-be. My fiance and I became a couple 5 years ago. We have lived together for over 4 of those years. On valentine's day he proposed to me and I've really taken the role of the upcoming bride seriously and have bought my dress, sent the invitations, arranged for the church and reception, as well as our honeymoon. Our wedding is to be in August, on the 14. Now the thing is that I grew up in Europe, in Norway to be exact, and my entire family (parents, siblings, cousins, old friends etc who are all still living there whereas I moved to the United States to be with my (now) fiance. Obviously we have his family members and common friends here too. We wanted to have our wedding in my old hometown in Norway and made all the arrangements to do that. The people closest to us here (his parents and remaining grandparents along with his best man) all bought tickets to go to Norway with us for the wedding. After the ceremony and reception there we were going to go for a honeymoon in Europe, then come back here and host a smaller reception for those friends that could not make it to the first ceremony. Two days after I booked the plane tickets to Norway, the first volcano on Iceland erupted. Of course this concerned me for a while, but the ash clouds and air travel didn't seem to be 'that' bad off. Recently that volcano 'dried up' and I once again thought that everything was fine. Then I read in some newspapers online this evening that the much larger and far more dangerous neighbor volcano is now waking up, with an eruption close to being imminent. My nerves are already shot after the first volcano scare, and now I don't know entirely what to do. There's been so much planning and money put into this wedding, and I can't imagine having it without my immediate family there for me. As close as I am to his family, it's very important for me to have mine there as well. Now I'm at a loss for what to do. I'm pondering changing the tickets to a different destination, but our spare time is very limited and ground travel is not the best option. I'm honestly scared.. Those poor people on Iceland as well. :( They have been through so much lately and now this. Thank you guys for the advice. I'm a bit less of a wreck now than I was last night. Hopefully it'll work out. I'm not sure if southern Europe was affected or not. Even if it wasn't, we would be talking about adding another couple of days on the travel if I have to go to Spain or somewhere and take ground transport up north. I wasn't really planning on moving the wedding here. My family is much bigger than his, so that is another reason we set the location in my old home town. You guys all offered good advice so I will have to think a bit before I select a best answer. Thanks again.
Weddings - 4 Answers
Random Answers, Critics, Comments, Opinions :
1 :
if you can, change the tickets. i cant imagine how hard it would be to have family there AND have your wedding planned there. but i think to help lessen your stress, change the tickets to somewhere more solid. yes, it may be a little extra money but if you cant even get to norway on your wedding day, i think it would be worth it. i too hope the people in Iceland are okay as well. its been a rough couple of years for the earth and its people
2 :
Relax. Another large eruption on that exact day is pretty unlikely. That's why the last eruption was such a big story: it was such a rare event. If possible, people could book their tickets for a few days before the wedding, to give some leeway. That's about all you can do. I'm sure it'll be fine. Moving the wedding will solve nothing. If by some chance there is another eruption, it will still be a problem, it would just inconvenience a different set of people - those who want to fly out of Norway, like your parents. EDIT: p.s. Travel insurance might be an option too.
3 :
If I understand the whole volcano thing, southern Europe was unaffected. If I were you, I'd contact your airline and inquire -- explaining that you are to be married in Norway -- what they could possibly do should the airlines stop travel again. Could they get you to Southern Europe where you could then train to Norway? I think Spain & Portugal were open for flights during the prior issues. Certainly this would be your last possible choice, but if you had to do it, could the airline get you there? Air travel can be iffy these days. Be sure you have trip insurance in case anything gets interupted or cancelled and just do your best to have an alternate route to get to Norway if you must.
4 :
First of all, congratulations with the upcoming wedding. :) Secondly, I don't think you should worry so much about the second volcano or change your wedding plans because of it. We've been waiting for it to erupt for decades, as it's long overdue. The previous eruptions in that volcano have usually been linked with eruptions in the volcano that has been erupting lately. However, there can be months or years between those eruptions. It's impossible to tell whether it will erupt this year or not or what effects that would have on air traffic. There are no clear signs about it and scientists have not found any change in its activity lately. I think you should go ahead with your plans. If there will be unexpected problems with air traffic in the days before your wedding, you can always make last minute changes if necessary. With the situation the way it is today, I think you shouldn't be too nervous about it, just enjoy the wedding preparations and if something happens, you'll deal with it later. Unexpected things can happen wherever your wedding will be. It's impossible to tell in such long advance. Oh, and don't worry about us Icelanders. We're doing fine despite the eruptions. Only a small part of the population is severely affected and they are getting plenty of help from other Icelanders, so we're coping well with the situation, given the circumstances. We're used to living with rough, unpredictable nature and we'll get through this. There's no need to feel bad for us, but thank you for your concern.
