Don’t worry about rain on your wedding day!

What To Do If It Rains On Your Wedding Day? Imagine the scene, your wedding day is almost here. You’ve prepped and planned. You’ve got lists for EVERYTHING and you feel fully prepared.

There’s one little niggle though, a tiny little worry, rain! Now, we all know we can’t control the weather but that doesn’t stop us fretting about it. I’ve been to hundreds of weddings, I’ve photographed ceremonies in snow, rain, high winds, bright sunshine…I’ve seen it all. So, whilst in an ideal world, we’d have perfect cloudy skies and warm temperatures this is Scotland and we’re more likely to have all four seasons in one day than ideal weather. 

If you are planning a wedding in Scotland, regardless of the time of the year, there is probably a 50-50 chance that you will get rain on your wedding day. But don’t panic! That doesn’t have to mean that your day is ruined, or that you have to compromise on the style or volume of your wedding photographs. It just means you and your photographer might have to adjust plans slightly! 

With all of the above in mind I’ve put together my top tips for what to do if it rains on your wedding day. 

How To Stop Worrying About Bad Weather On Your Wedding Day

My first (and most important tip) is choose your photographer wisely! Whilst we can’t stop it raining on your day a good photographer will be able to handle whatever the weather throws at us without breaking a sweat. When you speak to potential photographers for your day then be sure to ask them how they’d handle bad weather.  

I pride myself on being calm and super flexible. If it starts to rain when we’re about to head outside for your couple portraits, I won’t bat an eye. Instead I’ll either take some beautiful photographs of you inside your venue or I’ll send you back to your guests and come and get you as soon as there’s a break in the weather. 

If it looks like the rain has settled in for most of the day then rest assured I’ll have scouted around and found lots of lovely undercover spots for your group photographs and pictures of the two of you.

Stylish Wedding Accessories

I’m not talking about bow ties, beautifully shiny headpieces or sparkly shoes here. I’m talking wet weather accessories! Invest in some cute but stylish wedding umbrellas for the day, just in case. 

Larger, golf style umbrellas are great but you could also have some see-through, clear umbrellas to hand, ones that match your colour scheme or go for some quirky and fun choices. 

Make sure you’ve got some decent wellies to hand as well – that goes for both of you. Even if it’s not been raining on the day itself the ground could still be muddy in places. When it comes to your portraits we can stick on a pair of wellies and head off without worrying about ruining your beautiful shoes. There are all kinds of welly styles to choose from. From chic little ankle boots to white bridal wellies and of course some more traditional Hunters. 

Don’t be afraid to have umbrellas in your wedding photos. I’m there to capture all the memories of your day and umbrellas, rain and wellies are all part of that!  You’ll look back at your photos and smile at how the rain had no negative effect on your day at all. 

Let’s Jump In Muddy Puddles!

I have a three year old so I am well acquainted with the joys of a puddle! 

Now don’t worry, I’m not really going to force you to splash about in puddles – feel free to though if it takes your fancy – but I do want you to enjoy yourselves the weather. Wear those wellies with pride, dance around with your umbrella and jump in all the puddles you like!

Location, Location, Location!

On the lead up to your day I’m pulling all the timings and addresses together and yes, my preparations also include keeping an eye on the weather. On the day itself I always arrive early and have a little scout around the venue. I’m looking for great portrait locations, I’m looking at light and I’m also checking out all the indoor space too. That way if it does rain (or snow!) on your day it’s not going to phase me. I’ll have backup plans and I’ll be able to move everyone under cover and carry on shooting. 

I love it when you embrace the rain with wellie boots and umbrellas. I also know that you don’t want those to appear in all your wedding photographs.

Embrace the rain on your wedding day

And finally, if your wedding is interrupted by bad weather, embrace it! 

Whether your wedding day brings sunshine, rain, wind or snow, make the most of it. You can’t change the weather so make it a part of your day and your wedding photos. 

What will be will be. Embrace that rain, enjoy it and accept it. By doing so you’ll have so much fun. You’ll have a huge smile on your face and your joy will shine through on your wedding photographs. At the end of the day you’ll still be married to the love of your life, you’ll still have had the best time with your family and friends and you’ll have a set of incredible wedding pictures to look back on. 

I hope you found this post useful and it has eased some of your bad weather worries. 

If you are on the hunt for a Scottish wedding photographer then I would love to chat to you about your plans (and I promise I have a bad weather plan already tucked away!)