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Finalists named in Farmers’ Almanac® Worst Wedding Weather Contest

Back to 2008 Press Releases

For Immediate Release – February 29th, 2008

LEWISTON, Maine – Neither rain nor snow, sleet nor hail, hurricane nor tornado, could keep these couples from joining together in wedded bliss. But boy did Mother Nature try!

Now, 10 couples, each of whose wedding days were ruined by some of the worst weather imaginable, have a chance to transform their nightmare into a dream vacation. The couples, who hail from across the United States, were chosen as finalists for the Farmers’ Almanac Worst Wedding Weather Contest, competing for a chance at a romantic second honeymoon cruise with Royal Caribbean International. To win the prize, though, the couple with the worst wedding day weather will need friends, family, neighbors and as many others as possible to vote for their story on the Farmers’ Almanac Web site—www.farmersalmanac.com.

The Farmers’ Almanac is most famous for its accurate long-range weather predictions.“We get thousands of calls each year from brides and grooms to be, checking for dates when the weather will be best for their weddings,” revealed Farmers’ Almanac Editor Peter Geiger, Philom., “which is why the Farmers’ Almanac is often referred to as a ‘bride’s best friend.’”

But sometimes, no matter how much planning and predicting go into a wedding, Mother Nature still sends her regards in not-so-nice ways, and bad weather makes the day even more memorable, which is why, this year, the editors of the Farmers’ Almanac solicited readers’ worst wedding weather horror stories.

“The weather is so important during a wedding ceremony, that we decided we should try to give the couples that didn’t have the nicest weather a chance at a sunnier second honeymoon,” said Geiger, “thus the idea for our Worst Wedding Weather Contest.”

Over the course of about six months, close to 500 contestants entered Farmers’ Almanac’s official Worst Wedding Weather Contest and shared their soggiest, windiest, most hurricane-hampered and hail-ridden wedding weather sob stories – the more painful the details, the better. On Valentine’s Day, a panel of Farmers’ Almanac judges selected the 10 best – that is, the 10 worst – entries to post on the contest Web page, starting February 29, 2008.

Finalists include two Louisiana couples and a North Carolina couple who had hurricanes crash their wedding parties, a Philadelphia area couple whose wedding day plans were postponed by record snowfall, a Massachusetts couple caught off guard by a freak snowstorm in May, couples in Minnesota, Oklahoma and Texas whose weddings were dampened by heavy rain, a Michigan couple
whose wedding vacation in paradise felt like an episode of Survivor, and an Indiana couple whose reception hall became an infirmary in the wake of a deadly tornado.

How to Vote:
Beginning on February 29 (Leap Day), and continuing through March 17 (St. Patrick’s Day), “America” will have the opportunity to choose the “the best of the worst” from among the 10 finalists via secure online voting at www.farmersalmanac.com/worstweddingweather/. Winners will be announced by March 31 on www.farmersalmanac.com.

The couple with the most votes will win a romantic, seven-night, second honeymoon cruise with Royal Caribbean International, complete with vow renewals, airfare and $1,000 onboard credit.

The couple with the next most votes will receive a $500 LL Bean gift card to spend on protective weather gear, or any other merchandise they choose, and the couple with the third greatest amount of votes will receive a $125 gift card to spend as they wish. All three of the top winners will have their stories printed in the 2009 edition of the Farmers’ Almanac, to be released in August 2008, and also get an official Farmers’ Almanac Weather Survival Kit, which includes a weather stick, ice scraper, and umbrella, along with a leather-bound gift edition of the 2009

About the Farmers' Almanac:
The Farmers' Almanac, which features an orange and green cover, has been published every year since 1818. Available at grocery and bookstores nationwide, it contains useful and interesting articles, as well as long-range weather predictions, gardening advice, recipes and more. Editors Peter Geiger and Sandi Duncan are available for lively and informative interviews, either by phone or in person. Both love to talk about the weather, share useful Almanac trivia and advice, and offer tips on how to "get back to the simple life." Visit on the Web at www.FarmersAlmanac.com.