Unlike your engagement session which can be rescheduled if needed when the weather is expected to be poor on your wedding day, that’s not a luxury you are afforded. Too many things are already set in motion and paid for so you have to make do. Plus, living in Indiana means that unfavorable weather on your wedding day could be anything from rain to snow or from strong winds to tornados. It’s unfortunate but also a reality that we deal with and have dealt with many times before. I’m going to be sharing some of our go-to tips and tricks with dealing with unfavorable weather on a wedding day to put you at ease and let you know that no matter what, we will make the best of it and create beautiful portraits on your wedding day rain or shine!
Have a backup plan in place: This is important for you to consider if you are planning on having an outdoor ceremony. You always want to have a backup plan in case of inclement weather that you just can’t control. Some examples would be using your reception hall as the ceremony location, switching to inside the church rather than outside, renting a tent to provide shelter, finding a place with more cover from strong winds or even snow. You can be brave and hope for the weather to disappear but don’t be naive and expect it to. You’ll be in a world of hurt when crunch time comes down and you have to make major changes last minute.
Be open to more indoor portraits: The number one go-to trick is staying inside. You may not have planned for that but we can always find pretty light near a window and work with a small corner of a room. This is when a gorgeous getting ready location will come in handy (if you are lucky enough to have one of those) but that isn’t always the case so we look for our best option and make the most of it.
Wait out the weather: The weather forecast is always changing. It can change the week of your wedding, the day before and even minutes leading up to your ceremony. You just never know! There is always the chance that the clouds will part and the rain will go away. We will monitor the radar as we go along and might even move things around in the timeline to accommodate for that shifting the important portraits for a time that might be better weather. Most of the time there are at least a few minutes of reprieve at some point in the day and we always make sure to take advantage of it if we can.
Opt to take portraits elsewhere: This is where our experience comes in handy. While we wait for the rain to subdue, we can always take portraits inside if your getting ready area is pretty or we can go to an alternate location that still is under cover but allows us to go outside for better lighting. For example, we could go to a historic nearby building with a beautiful porch that allows for portraits to still be taken outside but under the protection of the porch to stay out of the rain. We could also use landscaping such as trees to keep out of the weather if it isn’t raining too bad. In the past, we’ve used both of those as well as pergolas, overhanging roofs, large doors, and many more. You’d be surprised how creative we can get with limited options. Just be open to moving around and trying someplace unexpected.
Have props such as umbrellas or coats handy: I’m not one for using props in photos often but sometimes you just have to. If it’s raining really badly, we can always use clear umbrellas (I bring a pack to each wedding just in case) for some cute styled photos that truly depict your day. If it’s freezing out, consider wearing oversized scarves or fluffy jackets. At the very least have them with you in between photos so you stay warm. Just be creative and think about what weather is expected. We will make the most of it!
