Rainy Wedding Days
WHAT DO WE DO IF IT RAINS ON OUR WEDDING DAY?
This is one of the most common questions I get asked by my brides, and one of the most common fears when planning a wedding day.
When we got married I was terrified of it raining, mostly because we had planned an outdoor ceremony and had no backup plan. I was pretty confident that it would be okay, we got married in Noosa in October, and at that time of year the weather is pretty reliably sunny. But here in Melbourne? We don’t have any stability when it comes to predicting the weather, other than not being able to predict it!
Having a contingency plan for rain is almost a requirement here in Melbourne, and here’s what I’ve come to learn about coping with rain during weddings.
The rain will only ruin your day if you let it.
We all want those beautiful, sun filled romantic photos that we see on social media, we daydream about it and obsess about the weather forecast in the weeks leading up to the big day.
But here’s the thing. The point of your wedding day is celebrating your love story - not capturing magical sun flares. And you will still have beautiful photos, even if it does rain.
Thankfully, all of my couples are the chilled out kind and are able to roll with whatever is thrown at them, including rain - and we’ve never let a bit of rain stop us from taking photos.
Here are some things to keep in mind.
Rain is fleeting - even if it does rain, it blows over pretty quickly. I’ve never had a wedding where it has rained all day. But almost every wedding has had some kind of combination of sunny blue skies + overcast clouds + light rain. It’s likely the sun will come out at some point, and if I can I’ll whisk you both away for some quick portraits.
Overcast skies are actually technically better for taking photos in, as the clouds soften the light and make the colours much more vibrant! I know that rain isn’t ideal, and no bride would wish for rain on their big day, but if it happens, it happens..... and it’s going to be JUST fine!
Umbrellas make cute props and I always bring a few clear ones with me, just in case.
Let me worry about location scouting + the photos. You’ve got enough to think about, so leave it with me.
Take it one step at a time. Don’t think about your entire day and what will happen if it rains. That will only overwhelm you! Definitely have a rain plan for your venue, but then let your vendors do the work of handling the rest of the day if rain is in the forecast. At the wedding pictured above, my bride insisted on going ahead with her outdoor ceremony, rain or no rain! It sprinkled a few times throughout the ceremony and it was absolutey freezing, but she wanted to be married here in this spot and wasn’t going to let it stop her. And I got some awesome photos of her guests, with and without umbrellas (my favourite one is actually with all the umbrellas, I think it’s so cool that their loved ones stayed and bunkered down under umbrellas instead of rushing to the gazebo).
There are some really cool photos we can take at night time, using flash, to capture the rain drops! I’ve never had a wedding rain at night time (always during the day) but I’m looking forward to one day getting the chance to play around with this!
Do you need a wedding photographer?
If you’re looking for a wedding photographer, and would like some more information on my packages and availbility, hit the button below to send me an email!
