“What if it rains on my wedding day?!?!”

This is one of the #1 questions I get asked by brides. It was the biggest question I asked when I was wedding planning. Those of us who chose to plan weddings in the Pacific Northwest worry about rain. My answer is always…

Embrace it! 

This advice comes not only from a photographer, but from a bride who didn’t embrace the rain. When Marco and I got married 5 years ago it rained. A lot. And I didn’t embrace it as fully as I wish I had. For our outdoor photos, I was so worried about my dress getting wet/dirty I wouldn’t put it down on the ground. So for all those photos, I am holding my train. And I regret it ALLLL the time! My photographer tried so many times to ask me to put it down and I kept saying no.

I wish all the time I had reacted the way a few of my brides had. I am so grateful that all my rainy day brides this year completely embraced it! Not only did they embrace it, some of them welcomed it! And their photos are so much better for it. They enjoyed their day so much better for it.

The main things I remind every couple is to assume it will rain. It you assume it will rain and be dark and grey you will be prepared! Then if it is raining you are already good to go with back up locations, umbrellas for everyone, rain boots for walking to the locations, garbage bags to sit on and an open mind as to how amazing rain can make your photos! One of the silver linings of rainy days is whatever wedding colours you have chosen will POP with a gray background. It also makes the scenery, especially here in BC, more vibrant. The greens seem greener, and there’s nothing more romantic than cuddling on a foggy day :)

The best rainy day locations are obviously bright, open and covered areas. My favourite rainy day locations, are right out in the open! It gives the best lighting, and with an umbrella makes for such romantic photos!! Many times I have had second shooters, or amazingly helpful groomsmen stand just out the photo with the umbrella…we do a count to 3, they run out the umbrella, I snap away and back comes the umbrella!

Other alternatives that provide great lighting, are store overhangs (check out the wedding party photo a few down!), or buildings with overhangs. The front foyers of hotels are also great (with permission of course) as they tend to be wide open with giant windows! Same with Universities or Colleges! (The one below is at a highschool in Cambridge Ontario! Little would anyone know there was a busy soccer game going on right behind me!)

Sports fields with covered seating areas can make for great locations with wedding parties or for family photos. Outdoor auditoriums, or amphitheatres are also fantastic, but are more difficult to find.

(the photo above was taken during the Shushwap Lake flooding weekend…the lake rose almost 5 inches overnight, when it is raining that hard on your day all you can do is laugh and C’est La Vie!)

My biggest rainy day advice is to just breath, and let it go. I had all these sunny photos stuck in my head that I wanted for our wedding day and rather than letting it go and working with the weather we had I got stuck with those images, and didn’t embrace the here and now. I regret it constantly!

You only get ONE wedding day. You only get ONE chance at wedding photos. You have paid your photographer a good amount of money to capture your day, don’t hold yourself back with disappointed feelings about the weather. Embrace the weather, and enjoy your day.

When all is said and done and your wedding day has come and gone. All that you have left is your photos. No one will remember that the bottom of your dress was wet and dirty. No one will remember that your shoes were soaked through and wrecked (mine were! Ballet flats had to be thrown out they were so wrecked!) and no one will remember all the small details that may have to be changed due to non-ideal weather. What they will remember is how happy you two looked together, how romantic the whole day was, and hard they laughed or cried at certain parts of the day.

There is also the option of a “rewear” the dress session. I offer all my rainy day couples theses sessions free of charge if it rains on their wedding day. An opportunity to still be able to get those sunshine photos they were hoping for. A chance to wear their dress again and have fun together! Most often when it’s rainy its also darker and greyer out and there may not be enough time as planned/hoped for photos of the two of you. This is a GREAT way to deal with that. Knowing you have the option to re-do photos on another day with guaranteed good weather is a huge stress reliever! (Dan and Charlene had thunderstorms and severe rain warnings for their wedding (see photo above) so the afternoon after their wedding they got dressed up again, headed back to their venue and got some more photos!)

And last but not least, have a second shooter at your wedding!! They are such a HUGE help and advantage, especially if it rains.

For most rainy day weddings, I have a good old Superstore plastic bag wrapped around my camera (they are the thickest and most waterproof….dont ever use WalMart ones! They rip too easy!) but with a second shooter it’s nice to know someone has my back with umbrella holding either for me or for the couple.

Second shooters are also a huge asset to have with capturing different angles, especially on darker days where photo time may be cut due to poor lighting. It helps to have a second shooter there capturing other angles, other views to give more photo’s during the given photo time.

A HUGE thank you to my amazing hubby Marco who for some reason was fortunate enough to be my second shooter for every single rainy wedding this year!! He really is the best! :)

(If you like this post and want to share it with others simply hit the “LIKE” button below!!! I would also LOVE to hear your comments on rainy weddings!! Was your wedding rainy? How did you deal with it in a unique way? Any regrets? Anything you wish you had done differently?)

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