I know, I know, no one wants to even think about the possibility of a rainy wedding day. After working over 100 weddings, I will tell you this: don’t stress about the weather forecast for the day of your Vermont wedding until maybe the day before, if that. Vermont weather is wrong so often. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve prepared for a rainy day but we’ve ended up with beautiful partly cloudy skies or vice versa. Stay positive as long as you can, and if you’re certain rain will be an unwelcome guest on your wedding day, this post is for you! If it’s definitely going to rain and you’re still hoping for a gallery of epic images, here are my suggestions:
Embrace the rain.
I know, this seems obvious but I can’t say it enough – natural light photography will ALWAYS look more beautiful outdoors vs. indoors, even with a little drizzle. If there’s a light rain happening during your scheduled ceremony time, I encourage you to continue with an outdoor ceremony and ask guests to stand if seats are damp. I promise you the photos will be worth it. Otherwise, your backup location probably looks a lot like your reception location (or is one in the same), which means the remainder of your wedding images will be taken indoors, too. (Obviously thunder and lightning pose a risk for you and your guests – in those cases, please be safe and go indoors.)
Be flexible.
Often in Vermont, a rainy day consists of on and off and pockets of time where the rain stops or lets up entirely. In order to get you as many gorgeous outdoor photos as they can, your photographer is going to need you to be flexible with your timeline. At one recent rainy wedding we used the 15 minutes of dry weather we had to capture as many couple portraits as possible, and moved their family photos to indoors later during the reception. If you know it will rain ahead of time, reorganize your family photo list in order of priority – this will help your photographer to be as efficient as they can with the outdoor time available.
If there is no break in the rain, your photographer will start looking for porches, awnings, or overhangs that have enough space for you and your wedding party/families to stand for portraits. These options allow you to be outdoors in gorgeous light without getting rained on at all, and often make for beautiful portraits. If these locations aren’t an option, your photographer will suggest the best indoors space available and start setting it up for portraits.
Bring extras.
If you know it’s going to rain on your wedding day but you’re going to be outside as much as you can, bring a few extra things: 1) extra umbrellas, 2) extra towels for you, your guests, & ceremony seating, 3, extra shoes or a pair of rain boots, 4) extra warm layers, and 5) extra makeup and hairspray so that you can touch up anything that starts to wear from rain exposure.
Have fun!
Rain always adds a little bit of a damper (pun intended) to a wedding day, but do your best to accept the weather, trust your photographers suggestions for great imagery, and be as present as you can with your partner. Get out there and laugh together for rainy portraits! I can promise you that the more you go with the flow and laugh your way through it, the more emotive and authentic your final gallery will be.
Worst Case Scenario? Schedule a separate photo session.
Worst case scenario: it’s going to rain 100% of your wedding day with thunder and lightning – what do you do? Hire your photographer for a separate session on another day at your venue! That way you’re free to let loose and embrace your actual wedding day however it unfolds, but you’ll still be able to dress up in your wedding wear and capture outdoor portraits in nicer weather with your photographer on another day. This option takes a little extra work, but will be 100% worth it for not only capturing gorgeous images of you two, but also for relieving some stress on the day of your wedding.
Do you have questions about rainy wedding days?! Leave a comment below!
For a few more tips on rainy day weddings, or Vermont weddings in general, check out my Ultimate Guide to Your Vermont Wedding here. Or, click here to head back over to the blog! Thanks for reading!
