He will join fellow goalkeepers Joe Hart from Manchester City and West Ham’s Rob Green.

But what has any of this got to do with weddings or wedding insurance you might ask?

John Ruddy was actually planning a wedding, on June 2nd. Just 17 days away, and 6 days before the start of the tournament! His call-up for the England squad means his forthcoming wedding will possibly need to be postponed.

Wedding Insurance

Both the BBC and The Guardian reported yesterday that Ruddy had taken out a wedding insurance policy, just in case he needed to cancel or rearrange his wedding.

It’s certainly great to see wedding insurance being mentioned in the media, particularly when it’s not in reference to claims as a result of ‘cold feet’ – that’s one of the most significant things that’s not actually covered by wedding insurance in the UK, despite what a lot of people seem to think!

However, it has left me wondering who Ruddy purchased his wedding insurance from? Most standard wedding insurance policies generally don’t cover cancellation or rearrangement as a result of previously agreed leave not being honoured by your employer. The only exceptions tend to be for members of the armed forces or emergency personnel, but only if that posting was unforeseen at the time the policy was purchased.

It’s possible that a bespoke wedding insurance policy was purchased to cover this particular scenario, particularly given that there was a known risk of possible rearrangement.

It’s a good reminder though that anyone thinking about buying wedding insurance should read their policy wording carefully so that they know exactly what is and isn’t covered, particularly if there are any particular circumstances that are a concern.

As it turns out, Ruddy and his soon-to-be wife won’t need to claim on their wedding insurance after all. Although their June 2nd wedding clashes with England’s last friendly before the tournament, against Belgium at Wembley, it has been agreed that he can link up with the rest of the team after his big day.

“It’s all a bit surreal and hasn’t really sunk in,” says the Norwich keeper. “The Norwich lads had a night out and I was feeling a bit worse for wear when I got the call. That’s why it took a while to sink in. I can’t wait to get started. I’m due to get married on 2 June (when England play Belgium). I’ve already had the conversation and they don’t want me to call it off. So I’m still going to get married and then link up with the squad after that.”

For more information about what wedding insurance covers, see our FAQs and see our comparison table for information on a number of UK providers.

But knowing that it’s impossible to predict the weather just a few hours ahead, it seems incredible that so many couples risk a wedding costing thousands of pounds on the off-chance that the day will be warm, dry and pleasant.

Of course, if it’s a little gloomy, then there’s not much anyone can do – but increasingly we’re seeing a greater number of extreme weather conditions, especially flooding, heavy snow and strong winds reaching hurricane speeds.

How would you manage if the venue was flooded, or the florist couldn’t make it because her village was cut off due to the river bursting its banks? How would your wedding be affected if the roof of the venue was partially blown off in strong winds, or the limousine you’d booked was written off after strong winds crushed the vehicle under a tree? What if the majority of guests couldn’t make it because the 10cm of snow that fell the night before made the venue and everything within a 25 mile radius completely inaccessible?

Think it wouldn’t happen to you? So did the hundreds of couples who have already been affected this year alone.

With tens of thousands of homes flooded during the summer months recently, and with a real increase in the damage caused by stronger winds, there seems no time of year when you can guarantee to be safe from unusual weather.

The one thing about unusual weather in the UK is that it is unpredictable. However, you can be guaranteed to predict that if the worst should happen, you’ll lose far more than the cost of a wedding insurance policy.

Northern hemisphere

Cities in the Northern hemisphere can be full of Christmas magic at this time of year, with Christmas markets offering delicious hot mulled wine to take the chill away from the bright winter sunshine.

For something different, consider Sweden’s Ice Hotel, the world’s largest hotel made completely of ice, opening to winter guests at the beginning of December. You can even opt to spend a night in the hotel’s unique ‘cold’ accommodation, where you sleep in your thermals on an ice block and reindeer skin bed. December is a great time to experience the romantic beauty of the Northern Lights.

Southern hemisphere

The southern hemisphere is well into summer in December. The Caribbean islands are enjoying warm, dry weather and are at their busiest in December (you may find the crowds a little quieter at the beginning of the month). Barbados is a lively island soaked in tradition and culture, with a fantastic atmosphere during the festive period. Jamaica offers a host of outdoor activities and you can find a more secluded and peaceful style of resort near any of the three Cayman Islands’ beautiful white beaches and clear seas. Head to Costa Rica to combine cool highlands and cloud forests with beautiful warm beaches.

It is also summertime in Australia and New Zealand, where you can experience spectacular scenery, romantic islands, vibrant cities, mountains, glaciers, rainforests and delicious food and wine.

Mexico is a perfect honeymoon destination for couples who love warm and dry weather. Explore Mayan ruins and pyramids, modern resorts, fantastic beaches and delicious Mexican cuisine.

South East Asia enjoys little rain and a comfortable heat in December, and the monsoon season has cleared by this time of year. Explore the bustling city of Bangkok and sandy beaches in the South of Thailand, or escape the crowds to the less developed beaches of Cambodia.

There is a world of opportunity for romantic honeymoons in December, with plenty of festive fun and Christmas cheer thrown in to the bargain. Tis the season to be jolly!

However, for those who would like to escape the onset of winter, here are a few suggestions:

Short(ish) haul

Morocco is practically guaranteed to be warm in November, and the exotic city of Marakech is less than a 4 hour flight away. Once you’ve taken in the shopping, culture and sunshine of the city, take a trip to the Atlas Mountains, a trip into the Sahara desert or visit the beach at Oualidia or Essaouira.

Heading over to Spain, you can fly to the beautiful Canary islands in 4-5 hours, where the weather is expected to be warm, at around 20-22C in November, and prices low. For the surfers, waves in Lanzarote are at their best in November, and the volcanic reefs and soft sand at Fuerteventura are perfect for beach lovers.

Egypt is still warm and sunny in November but not unbearably hot, and has a flight time of less than five hours from the UK. Visit the Pyramids in Cairo, take a cruise along the Nile, or stay in a luxury hotel on the beautiful beaches of the Red Sea.

Long haul

November in India is perfect, as the monsoon season has finished but the heat has not risen to an unbearable level, and you will avoid the high season crowds of December. Stay in a palace hotel in Rajasthan where you can visit a Camel fair and the famous Taj Mahal, and the weather should be relatively dry and warm with lower humidity.

Similarly, in South-east Asia, the monsoon will have finished and the weather will be hot and dry. Honeymooners in North Vietnam can explore the authentic busy city of Hanoi, take a boat trip on Halong Bay or go trekking in the rice-terraced hills at Sapa.

It is late spring in Argentina, where November sees the start of the glamorous international polo season in Buenos Aires. Spring time in Patagonia offers longer days and warmer temperatures to enjoy the stunning scenery on offer. Make your honeymoon truly memorable by visiting the spectacular Moreno glacier and Mount Fitz Roy, and whale watching at Peninsula Valdés.

Of course, there are many other long haul honeymoon destinations in November, such as Mexico, Tunisia, Oman, Southern Africa, Hawaii, Australia and New Zealand. Where ever you decide to go, you are sure to enjoy your November honeymoon!

We thought that a great way to start this series would be a guest blog post from Claire Ady, a New York wedding planner who can help couples arrange that dream wedding in Central Park, Manhattan!

Many people have seen New York City in film and on TV, and some lucky have visited the city for themselves. Those who have visited New York know that there is a huge choice of restaurants, bars and clubs. The city is an excellent place for a celebration, and what a memorable wedding you could have here. Almost everyone who visits New York has been to Central Park and understands how it allows you to truly get away from it all.

Wed in Central Park is a new organisation set up to help engaged couples get the right the paperwork and make easy photographer choices for their wedding in Central Park. The company was set up at the end of 2011 by Claire, a British woman living in New York City. She has spent the past year or so volunteering as a Greensward Guide in Central Park, and knows the park very well. She and her husband got married there in July 2011. Central Park is a very liberating location to have a wedding. There is no pressure to conform to a traditional wedding format and the couple can be free to get married in whatever way they choose.

Claire had thoroughly investigated the New York officiants available. Raquel had performed a wedding ceremony for a friend of Claire’s and her husband in Shakespeare Garden in Central Park a few years ago, and they had recommended her. Raquel is multi-faith ordained, and speaks Spanish as well as English, so can accommodate many wishes. Claire had wanted a non-religious ceremony, and Raquel helped her and her husband-to-be to write their own vows. One of their New Yorker wedding guests worked in the arts so knew a few local photographers, and Claire met with a couple before choosing the Ande, who has lived and worked in New York for over twenty years, as a wedding and event photographer. Claire and her husband-to-be spent a while walking their dog around the park, taking photos and considering location options within the park.

It took up quite some time to find out the legal paperwork required to get married in New York, and to find all the right people to make the wedding go smoothly. Claire decided she was in a unique position of having those connections in New York, knowing the park so very well as a guide, so she decided to launch Wed in Central Park. They offer a choice of two standard wedding packages, see the website or they can tailor a wedding just for you, to suit your needs, just drop them an email with your ideas! This could be a wedding cake, or any other food you like, makeup, hairdresser, flowers, a musician, childcare for the day or the evening, a fully catered picnic in the park, or anything else you can think of. Claire can also provide advice on venues for a celebratory meal afterwards.

Wed in Central Park can do almost everything you need for your wedding, but the bride and groom must both go in person, with photo ID, to City Hall in downtown Manhattan at least 24 hours before their wedding ceremony, to get their marriage license.

Wed in Central Park offers complete assurance to their couples that their people are very high-quality and that all will run smoothly on the day. Claire highly recommends purchasing both travel and wedding insurance to her couples. This particularly important for large groups travelling over from the UK, the more guests you have the more chance there is that something may go wrong.

Claire is currently planning a wedding for around twenty people from the UK. There are various choices of wedding locations in Central Park. Some offer more privacy than others, some have more space than others. The bigger the wedding, the more limited you are in choices of appropriate spots in Central Park, check the website for wedding location suggestions.

New York tends not to see many rainy days, they don’t have the drizzle so common in the UK, but they do see some big rain storms in that part of the world. In the event of bad rain on the day of your wedding, Claire and her team will work with you to make alternative arrangements, there are some spots in Central Park, which provide shelter, or perhaps move the wedding day to another date.

Increasingly, couples are trying to find new and interesting wedding venues. They want their wedding day to stand out, not just in their memories, but in their guests’ memories. They want fabulous photographs, and a celebration somewhere different and unusual. A Central Park Wedding can fulfil all these desires, and more.

Contact Claire at info@wedincentralpark.com or visit her website at http://www.wedincentralpark.com

UK holidays in October

With children safely back at school, UK rates will have fallen dramatically in October and, if you are lucky, you may enjoy the perfect Indian Summer. However, it is not advisable to bank on this – ochre leaves, misty mornings and autumn showers are more likely. Book a honeymoon in a luxury hotel or resorts and enjoy spa treatments, five star cuisine and lavish surroundings whatever the weather! Alternatively, tuck yourselves away from the world in a luxury lodge in Wales or Scotland and spend quality time together by a roaring log fire.

Short haul from the UK

One of the top romantic honeymoon destinations in October has to be Italy, where it is still warm, but you’ll find it a lot less crowded than in the summer and prices will have headed down too. Choose from any Italian city, such as Rome, Florence, Siena or Venice and soak up the art and architecture. Enjoy spectacular coastlines and medieval towns in Tuscany, or sip champagne whilst travelling in 5 star luxury from London to Venice on the Orient Express.

October is still warm in Morocco, where you can visit the exotic Marakesh, or watch the sun rise over the Atlas mountains from a hot air balloon.

Long haul honeymoons

Safari
Catch the end of the great safari game viewing opportunities in South Africa, where the shortage of water and green vegetation encourages the animals to flock to the water sources. In October, many safari animals are giving birth to young, and the vegetation is in bloom. In Eastern Africa, the wildebeest migration season is just finishing, with the large herds now in Kenya’s Masai Mara. Botswana’s Chobe National Park and the Okavango Delta are hot and dry in October, making it a great month for big game safari honeymoons.

Beach
Combine a honeymoon in Southern Africa with some time spent in Mauritius or the Seychelles, where you can spend warm, romantic days next to the Indian Ocean enjoying the gorgeous weather.

Something different
How about diving in Queensland’s clear waters, followed by exploring the tropical rainforest and a four wheel drive adventure? Get out and about mountain biking, rafting and trekking in Bali, or wonder at the Taj Mahal in India. October is great for a once in a lifetime adventure honeymoon to remember forever!

Fortunately where there’s wedding insurance there’s a way, and it doesn’t matter how many magpies dirty your parade, you won’t end up out of pocket. And you’ll have a great tale to tell the grandchildren. Of course, you might be thinking that it’s pretty unlikely to experience even one disaster, let alone two, but you’d be surprised. Sometimes bad luck really can be that bad. If you need proof check out the You Tube video of a guy being struck by lightning. Twice.

Of course, being struck by lightning on the way to your wedding would be unlucky, and fortunately there aren’t too many instances of this. (Mind you, being struck by a million volts of raw electricity would certainly be a cure for cold feet.) But rooting through the wedding insurance archives there are a surprising number of weddings which had to be postponed and rearranged not just once, but twice.

Venue Disasters

For example, one rather unfortunate (but determined and, thankfully, insured) Bride discovered to her dismay that the wedding venue had been flooded, and that the damage meant that it was no longer fit for use. One quick (but fairly panicky) call to her wedding insurance firm later, and after many phone calls to suppliers, caterers, DJs, florists and such like, as well as calm, rational conversations with her beau, the whole event was moved to an alternative venue not too far away, and at a time of year less likely to witness flooding.

All looked well, until a tree next to the decidedly unflooded venue blew down, smashing the roof in and wrecking the building so badly that, once again, the whole wedding had to be postponed and moved somewhere else (at this point I’d be strongly recommending an underground nuclear bunker.)

Imagine if she hadn’t been covered by a wedding insurance policy? The total amount of money lost, and the additional costs would easily have amounted to several thousand pounds, and could quite possibly have jeopardised the wedding. Fortunately for the price of a few sandbags or a few slate tiles both moves were covered, which at least gave the bride one less thing to worry about.

Note:

This blog post is based on one of the ‘unusual wedding insurance claims‘ that were recently published by WeddingPlan. WeddingPlan is a trading name of UK General Insurance Ltd who is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority.

Northern Hemisphere – Summer into Autumn

European honeymoons in September will be cooler, but still with warm weather perfect for city exploration and beach relaxation alike. Resorts will be much quieter, as the children head back to school after the summer holidays. Investigate honeymoons in Greece, Spain, Italy or the UK for a delightful, interesting and romantic honeymoon break.

Further afield, Thailand in the Far East is an excellent (and cheap) honeymoon in September. Although it is still the rainy season, you will most likely only experience short afternoon showers – which can actually be rather pleasant after a hot day! Explore Bangkok, traditional hill tribes, street markets, local culture, lush mountainous scenery as well as the southern coastal resorts and island with stunning beaches and water sports.

Southern Hemisphere – Winter into Spring

With slightly cooler weather than the Northern Hemisphere, and much of the tropics still in hurricane and monsoon season, the Southern hemisphere is also a beautiful place to honeymoon as the Spring arrives.

Botswana is home to one of the world’s largest inland water systems, the Okavango Delta, and is one of Southern Africa’s top safari destinations. September is right in the middle of the prime times for game viewing in South Africa, and also catches the end of the wildebeest migration in Kenya’s Masai Mara (often described as the 8th wonder of the world) for another fantastic safari honeymoon.

The South Pacific offers honeymooners a heavenly beach honeymoon, with literally hundreds of islands in locations such as Fiji and Tahiti postcard perfect with world class luxury resorts surrounded by palm lined sandy beaches, tropical seas and lush jungle vegetation. Mauritius is a pleasant 18-24C in September, lying in the beautiful Indian Ocean and boasting ample opportunity for romantic and idyllic honeymoons.

Northern Australia, including Queensland and the Northern Territory is perfect in September, with the south of the country also emerging from winter with plenty of opportunities for honeymooners.

Not the Best Time to Visit

Hurricanes may threaten Florida, the Eastern seaboard, the Western Caribbean, and Mexico’s Gulf Coast.

Love might be unchanging, resolute and dependent until the end. Paperwork tends to be a little less reliable, and can sometimes turn bad. It’s when bureaucracy and forms filling turns against you that you’ll be glad you filled in one very short and simple form to purchase wedding insurance.

Perhaps you think that paperwork problems won’t affect you, because you’re far too organised. Well, take the case of a couple recently whose Registrar lost the paperwork relating to their wedding, and couldn’t get duplicate copies sent over in time because the email system was playing up, and the paper file was several miles away. The whole wedding had to be postponed at the very last minute, and restaged three weeks later.

Then there’s the case of the Registrar who failed to transfer the bookings to her computer based calendar correctly, and simply didn’t turn up.

If you still don’t think that paperwork problems could affect you, just remember that even the wedding of Prince Charles and Camilla Parker-Bowles had to be shifted to a completely different venue at the last minute because of a bureaucratic issue which only surfaced at the last minute. It turned out that by having the wedding at Windsor Castle the venue would legally then have to be licensed for any civil wedding for three years, hence its transfer to Windsor Guildhall.

We live in an age of paperwork, computerised documentation, and bureaucracy, and sadly things do go wrong, people do make mistakes, paperwork does go missing, implications and problems only surface at the last minute, and weddings do get cancelled or postponed on a frighteningly regular basis. Yes, a marriage should be based on love and romance, but sadly the on-screen depiction of a fairy tale wedding neatly overlooks the meetings, forms, paperwork, bookings, scheduling, transferring, digitisation and filing which ensures the whole thing is legal.

So basically you have four choices. You can ‘live in sin’ forevermore and forget the idea of a wedding (with all the legal implications and bureaucratic problems the future will have in store for you), you could run off to Las Vegas and get married in a drive through chapel, you could risk everything and just hope that you’ll be one of the lucky ones who doesn’t have to face any kind of problem, or you could buy wedding insurance.

The fact that wedding insurance only costs from about the same as a couple of rounds of drinks, it’s well worth protecting yourself from the risk of a paperwork or bureaucratic problem. After all, £15,000 is a lot of money to gamble on the chance that a nameless faceless bureaucrat in an office somewhere miles away will just happen to file your paperwork 100% correctly.

Note:

This blog post is based on one of the ‘unusual wedding insurance claims‘ recently highlighted by WeddingPlan. WeddingPlan is a trading name of UK General Insurance Ltd who is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority.

Continental Europe, at the peak of its tourist season, can be hot and crowded in August. However if you venture off the beaten track you will still be able to escape the crowds for some peaceful time in beautiful surroundings. For example, Italy offers a huge variety of classic honeymoon experiences, from beach resorts, luxury city hotels, chalets on the edge of lakes and, although there will be no snow, ski resorts that offer ample opportunity to exploring the beautiful romantic mountain scenery.

Also a short flight from the UK you will find the romantic lakes and mountains of Switzerland, or the spa towns of the Black Forest in Germany.

Long haul

Honeymooners in Zanzibar, a stunning island off the coast of Tanzania, can enjoy beautiful blue turquoise sea, scuba diving, or exploring the island’s main town of Stonetown followed by a spice tour through local villages to learn about the island’s culture and history.

Wildlife watching

Active and safari honeymoons are fantastic in August – Botswana’s Chobe National Park is full of giraffes, elephants and safari wildlife in search of natural waterholes, making for incredible honeymoon snaps!

While it is winter in South Africa, August is the height of the whale birthing season. Game viewing in South Africa’s Botswana’s Chobe National Park is ideal in August as the weather is dry, the grass is short and the wildlife converge on the natural water holes, making the animals easy to spot. For a slightly warmer safari, consider Kenya or Tanzania where the wildebeest migration season is in full swing.

Island hopping

August is a perfect time to visit the South Pacific, where it is still the dry season. These paradise islands are sure to provide a truly incredible honeymoon experience, with literally hundreds of islands to choose between, each with gently swaying palm trees lining the beaches, brilliant turquoise lagoons and lush volcanic scenery.

Winter adventures

Although August is mid-winter in the southern hemisphere, if you’re looking for a bit of adventure then it’s a great time to visit. For example, with jaw dropping glaciers, fjords, mountains and islands, winter is a great time to enjoy an adventure honeymoon in New Zealand, where the weather will be cool but the days beautiful and clear.

Festivals

August is festival time in many countries, including Independence day on 17 August in Bali, the start of the three month long ‘Ahola’ dance, music and history festival in Hawaii, the fantastic Edinburgh festival for theatre, comedy and music or the scorching Nevada desert in the USA for the Burning Man festival.

If you can’t take the heat…

Some countries are truly sweltering in August, so unless you enjoy the heat, consider avoiding places such as the Middle East, North Africa, New York and Los Angeles. The Caribbean and Central America are still in the middle of the hurricane and rainy seasons, with much of Asia also experiencing monsoon season.