Zinc dresses and ice creams - how to survive a heatwave wedding

Aimie and Ryan had to make some last minute preparations to deal with this summer's heat on their wedding day

"As soon as I put my dress on, my makeup was just falling off my face."

Aimie Seale is one of hundreds of brides whose weddings landed in the middle of a heatwave this summer.

She had chosen a July weekend in the hope of avoiding any wet weather. Instead, she faced 30C heat with her ceremony in a sweltering West Yorkshire church, predominantly made of glass.

"It was just unbearably hot," says Aimie. "I remember looking at my husband at one point, and he was just dripping with sweat, so everybody kept passing him tissues halfway through the service."

Aimie and her now-husband Ryan had to book an emergency marquee to offer extra shade and an ice-cream van to keep their guests cool.

An additional cost on an already expensive day, with the average wedding in the UK costing more than £20,000., external

But this last-minute battle to cope with the heat is only going to get worse. Half of the years between 2015 and 2024 saw temperatures above 35C - up from one in ten - as climate change increases the risk of heatwaves.

Ice cream vans and fans have been last-minute cost additions to this year's weddings

Zoe Burke, head of brand at wedding planning app, Bridebook, says the behavioural data - what people are talking about online - shows this is an issue couples are increasingly concerned about.

"On platforms, like Reddit, people are discussing what they are going to do to navigate the heatwave," she says.

Searches by brides for fans were up five times last summer compared with what they had been in 2019, she says.

Sourcing some additional fans might feel like a relatively minor cost overall, but for those hosting, catering and supplying weddings, the financial impact of coping with this summer's heatwaves has spiralled.

"It has affected the industry massively. You are talking into the thousands [of pounds] for businesses," says Michelle Miles, board adviser to the UK Wedding Association and founder of the Sustainable Wedding Alliance.

One of the biggest costs wedding venues are facing is the equipment and energy costs of trying to keep a space and food cool, she says.

"[Some] venues are having to bring in air conditioning units; they are at a premium when everyone else is wanting those units to keep their houses cool and businesses."

Guests are also drinking more water - which brings another issue for venues.

"There has been a massive hit on alcohol sales. Venues would quite often rely on these to boost their profits, and people are...not