Every bride hopes and prays for the perfect wedding day weather.

Reality however, dictates a slightly different story at times. We have experienced wedding day weather of all extremes: hurricanes, snowstorms, thunder and lightning, and even the 1,000 year flood. While no bride is ever happy to deal with difficult weather on her wedding day, we have seen many brides makes the best of what they have been given and wanted to share some insight from what we have observed. This blog is not to remind you to have a backup ceremony location or even to encourage you to have an indoor photography plan (both of which we do still recommend), but rather how to react in the moment to less than perfect weather or rain on your wedding day.

1. Focus on your fiance
It seems so simple but it can be forgotten so quickly! When you start to feel frustration, sadness, or disappointment from not being able to execute your dream wedding, reroute your thoughts back to the reason you are there in the first place: the person you are going to marry. Life will have ups and downs, similar to weather! You are partnering in life with this other person to be able to face every obstacle together. Let the bad weather on your wedding day be the first situation you face together with determination and gratitude for one another.

2. Be willing to change your plans
This is a basic concept, but still important! The inside of your venue was probably not the location your dreamed of having your portraits, but don’t forget that beautiful images can happen anywhere! Be willing to let go of the ideas you had, the plan you made, and sometimes even some parts of the schedule. When you truly let go of control during that time, you will allow yourself to relax and even enjoy that parts of the day that aren’t going to plan.

3. Realize the unique imagery that can happen because of bad weather
Some of the best images of our career have come about because of happy accidents! Getting lost, running behind schedule, or simply different than usual lighting are only a few of the reasons behind some super cool portraits we have made throughout the years. Unique images arise from necessity and often that necessity arises from less than perfect weather on a wedding day! You can even be excited for what will come from a day that doesn’t go exactly to plan! It will be outside of anything you can imagine!

And finally, maybe the most important point of all when it comes to rain on your wedding day:

4. Make sure you hire a photographer capable of creating something under any circumstance
“Natural light photographers” seem all well and good on the picture perfect days with sunshine and puffy white clouds, but what happens on the day of a hurricane? What happens when the sun is almost completely obscured by heavy clouds? What happens if it’s raining and the only place to shoot is inside your rather modern looking home church? These are the moments when a seasoned professional photographer, armed with an arsenal of lighting equipment options, is the best decision you made for your wedding. A true professional can look at any situation, any location, and any lighting scenario and know how to use it to create a beautiful portrait. This is potentially the most important precaution you can take to ensure you still end up with quality photography on a less than perfect day. Rain on your wedding day is no match for a well rounded and skilled photographer!

We realize that none of the above points will ever make bad weather desirable to a bride on her wedding day, but hopefully it helps to have a mental game plan in place just in case!