Ask any new bride. Planning a wedding is stressful enough in good weather. Toss in a potential Category 3 hurricane and it can be downright nerve-wracking.

That's been the latest headache for Myrtle Beach area wedding planners, since Hurricane Irene showed up earlier this week in the South Atlantic, with its bullseye on Myrtle Beach. Though it now appears Irene will miss the Grand Strand, there's been enough uncertainty about the storm's path that local wedding planners were scrambling to change plans for this weekend.

Myrtle Beach Wedding Chapel had eight beach weddings planned for Friday through Sunday and manager Andy Martin called all eight brides earlier this week.

"And just let them know, hey, if you haven't been watching the news, there's a potential hurricane coming our way and we're probably not going to be able to marry you on the beach. With that, they were not very happy," said Martin.

But Martin also gave them options, from moving up their weddings a day or two, to holding their ceremonies in the firm's newly-remodeled chapel, to cancelling the weddings entirely, though he said none have taken that step yet.

The key, Martin said, is to work closely with the brides to work out an indoor or fair-weather alternative.

"If they're going to be here for the following week, we can reschedule them if we're not so busy," Martin said. "It may not have the time or date that they want, but if it's getting married on the beach, most brides are happy to get married on the beach whenever we can fit them in."

Martin's chapel is only a five minute drive from the beach and the typical service is brief - "the actual ceremony only lasts 9 minutes and 38 seconds, I think is what we timed it down to," Martin said - so wedding plans can be flexible enough to change quickly toward the surf if the skies suddenly clear.

"We stay on the go so much we can move at the last minute if we have to."

The owner of Lover's Lane Weddings also offered plan A, B and C alternatives to the 4 couples who had beach weddings planned with her firm for this weekend. With Irene's impact still a question mark, some brides have changed plans more than once and kept their options open.

"So right now, one of the bride's plan B is now plan A and the beach wedding is plan A, if there is this window of opportunity," said owner Linda Gross.

Most brides weren't happy that a beach wedding may not be in their future, but they dealt with the news well, she said. Only one couple has cancelled their beach wedding so far.

As Irene's projected path moved ever eastward this week, Gross kept a close eye on NewsChannel 15 and other weather resources on TV and the web. As with the Martin family's wedding chapel, Gross said the key is to stay flexible and advise the couples to take advantage of every day that Irene doesn't move a step closer to the Grand Strand.

"I've told them today was a planning day, and tomorrow's going to be another planning day, depending on what Ed Piotrowski says," Gross added.