Rain on your wedding day is supposed to be good luck, but not for the many Calgarians who have had their weddings rained out as a result of the wet and cold weather this year.

Calgary saw record rainfall this past July making it one of the wettest in history.

One of those brides who had her wedding affected was Kiersten Rieberger, who had her wedding changed last minute due to the month’s rain.

“It was chaotic,” said Rieberger.

“A lot of people around trying to figure out how we would make it all work, trying to rearrange furniture, trying to think about where the photographer could be.”

Fortunately, Rieberger had a backup plan in place.

Rieberger had rented a tent big enough for the reception, so they were able to have the ceremony in the tent.

“It’s Alberta. So having a backup plan is always important. At the end of the day, I wasn’t going to let weather ruin my moment,” she said.

Because Rieberger had preplanned the tent, the additional cost of changing her wedding was only around $1,000.

But those costs can reach five figures for some wedding parties who don’t take the weather into their big day preparations.

Rieberger’s wedding planner, owner and lead planner of Evanescents Wedding Planning and Design, Nikki Cook, said that depending on the additions and changes the added costs could be more than $10,000.

Depending on the size, tents alone could cost up to $7,000 of that increase in cost.

Not planning ahead leads to big unexpected costs for weddings

According to Cook, the average cost for weddings in Calgary this year was between $45,000 and $60,000. Rain could push that much closer to six figures.

Three weddings she planned this year had last minute changes because of the rain.

“It hasn’t really felt like summer at all this year. None of them have been cancelled, thankfully,” she said.

“My job as a planner is to is to handle [last minute changes] and make sure everything goes as seamless as possible.”

In the 15 years Cook has been in the business, this was the first year where every wedding she planned had an additional plan to work around the weather.

“It’s certainly made planning a lot more intense for this summer.”

Last year’s weather was warmer and more predictable, making it easier to plan she said.

With July over, Cook said she was still worrying about the upcoming months.

August is typically the busiest month for Cook, and she said that she has five weddings scheduled.

“Three weeks from now, I’m already looking at what we can have as a backup plan,” said Cook.

“[I’m] just praying for the best with those ones.”

It’s not just weddings she said that were being affected.

A forecast thunderstorm has affected a family reunion she is planning at Glenmore Park for the weekend.

“[We’re] still looking for possible venues to move to if the storm’s pretty bad.”