What If It Rains On Your Wedding Day?

WHAT IF IT RAINS ON YOUR WEDDING DAY?

No matter how much planning you do, you simply cannot control the weather.
I know, newsflash, right?
I remember it being one of the most challenging aspects of planning my own wedding day: making the “indoor or outdoor” decision. I remember considering having our ceremony and/or our reception in my family’s backyard. It would have been beautiful, but no matter how many times we talked about it, the question would always lurk around the corner: what if it rained? The solution was always that tents would have to be rented & set up and suddenly the golden, light, bright vision I have in my head for my wedding day turned dark, cold, with uncomfortably wet feet.

Thankfully, we ultimately decided on an indoor ceremony & reception and I say “thankfully” because it did rain!

But what happens if you plan a gorgeous garden ceremony at a beautiful outdoor venue, plan a lovely open-air reception, and the weather decides to give you all it’s worst? Maybe you plan both an indoor ceremony & reception, but you desperately want your portraits done outdoors – maybe even planning so well that you reserve a time to be in a park or garden alone with your bridal party and the clouds roll in & the rain pours down? What do you do?

I have been so blessed as, up until 2015, I had successfully avoided rain on a wedding day! Even when rain threatened, it simply always held off in the moments that we needed it to. Was it magic? a special rain dance? No, I was just incredibly blessed. My 2015 wedding season was a different story though, as 3 of my wedding days were “redirected” thanks to ridiculous rain [and we aren’t talking just a few sprinkles, but like insane-windy-downpour all-day-long crazy-rain!]

I’ll admit: I had a slight [crazy] panic attack as I watched the weather forecast predicting doom for the first rainy wedding day of my career. Through the whole process though, I truly learned so much! So much, that I went into rainy wedding days number 2 & 3 with much more confidence & ease! I’m proud to be able to say that rain does not scare me at all & it shouldn’t scare you either! Here are my top 3 tips when it comes to thinking about rain on your wedding day!

Have a plan!

Whether you plan an outdoor ceremony, an outdoor reception or both, be sure to talk with your wedding venue about back-up plans! What will they do for you in the unfortunate case of rain? Do they have systems in place to guide you along? Will they work with you up until the day of your wedding in case the forecast changes? If you just have outdoor portraits planned, do you have a back-up location you can go to? Is your photographer willing and able to work with you thru those unfortunate changes? In the case of my first rainy wedding day, I worked very closely with my bride in calling indoor locations to check availability so we would have a solid back-up plan in place. It wasn’t the most fun process, but I was so thankful to be part of it and able to help! The week before a wedding can be so chaotic, I was so happy to be able to help in the planning process!

Embrace it as part of your story!

Rain on your wedding day is never ideal, however, it is part of your wedding day story, so you might as well embrace it! Don’t worry, I have umbrellas! No matter what the forecast, I bring along 12 large white umbrellas to every wedding I shoot. That way, if we want to brave some outdoor photos, your entire bridal party can stand under matching umbrellas and stay [semi] dry! Sunshiney days are amazing, but rain can be equally fun! Big reflective puddles, amazing night shots, and let’s not forget: only rainy days can produce rainbows! See? Maybe you actually wouldn’t mind a little rain after all!

Above all – stay positive!

A positive attitude can change any atmosphere & will go such a long way! I promise! If you stay upbeat and positive, the rain won’t be as cold or as treacherous as it first seemed. On a wedding day, only one thing truly matters: that you are marrying the love of your life and that’s it. No matter the weather, you can still have the most fun if you set your mind to be positive!

Trust me, I understand: rain is no fun, especially if you’ve planned and dreamed of a glorious sunshiney wedding day. They say it’s “good luck”, but that’s seriously just everyone’s way of trying to cheer you up. With just a little bit of re-direction in your thinking though, rain doesn’t have to be the worst thing that could happen on a wedding day, in fact, it could make things just a little more adventurous!