Wanting to avoid rainy ceremony? Expert can help
NEW YORK — Andrew Leavitt can advise couples on where to hold their wedding ceremonies, what hairstyles work best outside or whether to forgo the buttercream frosting on a wedding cake — all based on the weather.
As the founder of Ironic, a meteorology company based in Brooklyn, N.Y., Leavitt, 33, knows how temperatures and atmospheric conditions can sometimes affect weddings.
He once determined, for instance, the time of the day with the most shade for guests to view an outdoor winter ceremony in Jupiter, Fla. — it was 4:56 p.m. Another time, he helped an event planner bypass a snowstorm in the Lake Tahoe area of California. He and his team, who have access to technology used for the financial, construction and entertainment industries, track temperatures and humidity levels, monitor wind patterns and even check the tides — so no one ends up with wet feet at a beach wedding. (Leavitt and his team can predict weather patterns up to two years in advance, with more precise forecasting three to five days in advance.)
“When most people think about the weather, they’re looking at a phone app that gives them an overall sense of the weather in the region,” Leavitt said. “What we do is live-track it to the top of the hillside where you are standing. And we do it months in advance.”
Although Leavitt is not formally trained in meteorology, his interest in the weather began when he was employed, from 2014 to 2018, at the entertainment company AEG Presents. He worked on the safety alliance team for concerts and became fascinated with the concept of mitigating risk through weather detection. The team used meteorological technology to forecast wind, rain, sunshine and other factors that could affect outdoor performances.
“It’s the root of Ironic,” he said of his business, which he started in 2020. (The idea for the company’s name came from the chorus of the Alanis Morissette song “Ironic,” which mentions rain on a wedding day.) Ironic has two meteorologists on staff and access to more from the subscription weather services the company uses.
Leavitt never set out to work in the wedding industry. But in 2019, when storm clouds began rolling in at a friend’s wedding in Newport, R.I., he opened his laptop to check the storm’s trajectory and evolution. He discovered that the storm would last more than 30 minutes, the length of the ceremony, so the couple moved the event inside.
Soon, other friends of Leavitt’s began requesting weather checks for their wedding days, too. Leavitt, who said he has conducted weather advisory for more than 2,400 events, now works as a consultant to wedding planners and venues, with fees starting at $2,500.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
Q Can you predict rain on a wedding day?
A While we can’t predict if there will be rain that day, what we can do is look at the historical weather data. We look at a specific mile in a location around the country over the past 30 years, and analyze the information. Say it has rained three out of seven days, five out of seven days or seven out of seven days — that tells you a lot. If you know it’s going to rain five out of seven days, it’s a good idea to find a venue with an indoor option. If it’s raining once out of seven days, you can plan for an outdoor wedding.
We also look at the amount of rain. Does it rain a 10th of an inch between 3 and 6 a.m. at one time throughout the week, or does it rain every day? If the venue is at the bottom of a hill, we’ll check if it normally floods.
Q Sounds more complicated than the weather report on the evening news. How do you explain what you do?
A We’re tracking every radar possible, every reporting data possible, and creating a clear picture of what the weather will be on a specific day. That’s like turning the floodlights on in your backyard — you have a better idea of what’s actually there. We’ve taken that and written our own code to analyze all that data. We provide that information to wedding planners so they know what to expect, make accommodations and find creative solutions.
Q How do you help couples with hairstyles?
A As meteorologists, we should never ever suggest what people do with their hair. But we can give you all the information on wind, speed, humidity and temperature, so you can take that to a hairdresser. If someone has naturally frizzy hair in a humid climate, or they’re more likely to sweat that leads to oily hair, we can give them the context so they can plan.
I’ve spent multiple hours looking at wind speeds. If we know that there’s going to be large wind gusts above 40 mph, we tell the planner within three to five days to secure safety lines. They can attach magnets to escort cards; they know if there is décor that is hanging. It’s both climatology and forecasting.
Q It seems like you get all sorts of questions. What has been the most unexpected?
A We had a question: At what point a high heel would sink into the ground after how much rain? Of course, we have questions about threatening lightning, thunderstorms, tornadoes and hurricanes, but sometimes it is just a question about the ground quality.
Q How can couples better understand the weather and climate for their weddings?
A It’s the weather — things change. But you should have a general understanding of what the weather is like in your area. Are you in hurricane season? Are you in tornado season in tornado alley? Find out this information, know the risks you are open to and plan around that.
You should have a backup plan. Think about what you can do and where you can move your event, if the weather goes in a different direction.
Q Anything they shouldn’t do?
A Don’t put all of your faith into the weather apps that are out there. You shouldn’t compare multiple weather apps expecting different information.