My brother is getting married on Valentines Day in Alaska on the beach near a place called Sitka. Apparently, that’s in some Alaskan rain forest.
I wonder if a polar bear suit is appropriate wedding attendee attire. I’m mean, I’m excited for my brother and all, but I think I’m going to freeze. Isn’t it going to be wet and cold? On the beach? In Alaska? In the rainforest? In February?
So does anyone know what the weather is really like? Or have any suggestions about what to wear (aside from a polar bear suit)? It better be casual. I’m not trekking onto some frozen beach in a little black dress and heels!
All kidding aside, it should be fun. As you can probably tell, I’ve never been that far north. Is there a lot to see and do? If so, I better get some vacation time planned now.
It’s also supposed to be difficult to get there. My brother is supposed to email me some travel suggestions. That may not happen. My brother isn’t the best at planning ahead.
:eek:Your brother and his intended must be hardcore. A winter wedding on a beach in Alaska sounds like one of my versions of Hell.
Here’s a link to the Farmer’s Almanac summary of Alaska’s various weather experiences. Scroll down to “Southeast Coastal Zone” (middle of the page) to see what Sitka might be like. (Sitka itself isn’t mentioned, but Juneau is, and they’re close to each other, relatively speaking.)
I’ve e-mailed a friend of mine who’s intimately familiar with Sitka, having lived there on and off for several years. She’s up in AK right now, but probably busy with making living arrangements. If she has any advice, I’ll let you know!
I don’t know about Sitka, I’ve only been there in the late summer and early Fall (and it was pretty rainy and cold then), but sometime in January and/or February is when most of the rest of the state experiences its “cold snap”. In the even the normally mild climate in Anchorage, we’ve seen temps as low as 40 below,for 2 -3 weeks straight, down to 90 and 100 below when you add in chill factor.
Alaska+beach+February+wedding? Get thy brother to API hence!!! (api, Alaska Psychiatric Institute :D)
Here is a site I use for Logistics when planning remote site investigations. It contains interesting “stuff” about the community, as well as travel/loding/food etc information.
My brother insisted it wouldn’t be any colder than here in Maryland at the same time. Yeah. foxymoron’s link said 22 below–not a common Maryland temperature. And CanvasShoes40 below? With a 90-100 below wind chill? Egads!
Has your brother mentioned why he wants to do this? Is he known for doing “crazy” or extreme things or does he not realize how miserable this will be? Does he already have a wedding official ready to go out with him? How many guests is he expecting?
It’s actually my brother’s fiance who really wants it that way. Neither of them are big risk takers, so it’s all a big shock.
From what I gather, she’s always wanted to get married on Valentine’s Day and on the beach. Right now, they’re living in Sitka so they want the wedding there. So, rather than doing the smart thing and realize that her present location doesn’t make a beach wedding on VDay all that practical, she’s just going ahead with it.
I got married on Feb 15th. Outside. In the Cascades and standing in the snow. The ceremony itself only took about 15 minutes then we went inside for dinner.
If they’re only planning a quickie ceremony, it shouldn’t be too bad with appropriate clothing. I’m sure it would be beautiful but then I just love Alaska, snow, and rainforests which makes me a minority in this thread.
If there’s a free trip to Alaska involved, I volunteer to be your stand-in!
You say they’re living in Sitka. Have they wintered over there yet? If they’ve never done that they may have no clue what they’re in for. If they’ve been up there 10 years, then they’ll be fine with it, even though anyone from the lower 48 will be dead long before the “I do” part.
Yes, sometimes it does get that low, even in Anchorage. But again, generally it’s just for that short “cold snap” period of 1-3 weeks. Usually between one and two weeks, but I’ve seen it last nearly a month, and turn even long time Alaskans into a whining pile of goo.
I don’t know if Sitka suffers a cold snap. I have been to Juneau during the winter, and it was freaking freezing though. That was in 78.
And my best friend’s brother and his wife got married at McKinley the summer before last. It rained, and the poor bride about froze do death, it got to the low 40s and icy rain was pouring down the front of her dress. They were so happy to have it over with and wished they’d have not had it outside.
Well, take VERY warm clothing. Even if it isn’t below freezing, a person can become hypothermic very quickly in the cold rain. And even if you’re not out there long enough for that, it’s not a pleasant experience.
