By MICHAEL HAWLEY, www.weddingchannel.com

What Is Wedding Insurance? For many years, insurance companies in England have offered something called "Special Occasion Insurance." In the early 1990s, a variation of this idea took hold in the United States: wedding insurance. These relatively inexpensive policies (starting at around $200) can really help you out of a financial bind should some misfortune befall your wedding celebration.

What’s Covered? If your wedding is unable to take place as planned, wedding insurance policies cover several very important aspects of the event — and a few unexpected things as well. Some of the areas covered in a standard policy include:

· Weather. If the policy is purchased more than 14 days before the event, and bad weather prevents the celebration from taking place, the costs of rescheduling the event are covered

· Key People. If people crucial to the wedding are unable to attend due to illness or injury, the costs of postponement are covered.

· Service Providers. If your caterer doesn’t arrive with the food, or the florist doesn’t show, and the wedding is unable to take place as planned, you’re covered for the cost of rescheduling the entire event.

· Location. Should the ceremony or reception locations go out of business, the policy will cover you for the cost of rescheduling. This coverage extends to the rehearsal dinner location as well.

— the preceding is an excerpt of a feature that can be found on the internet at www.weddingchannel.com.