We live in England and sometimes (well, actually, a lot of the time) it rains. It may not be ideal to have rain on your wedding day, but it’s less ideal if it does rain and you’re totally unprepared. It’s best to devise a plan, even if your wedding is in June.
As an extra layer of reassurance, we have rarely been to a wedding where it has rained all day. Sometimes the heavens can open for five minutes and present glorious sunshine for the rest of the day. Other times the clouds can look threatening and nothing actually happens.
If you’re a big fan of superstitions and traditions, burying a sausage can help warn of bad weather. Yep, you read that correctly and it isn’t a euphemism. We have heard if you bury a sausage in the garden the night before it somehow helps guarantee glorious sunshine. We’re still not sure whether it should be cooked or raw – maybe try both?
Here are our top tips to help you with potential wedding day rain. We’d like to apologise in advance as a lot of this might seem obvious. We actually felt a bit daft writing some of it – telling grown adults they might need an umbrella if it rains. Ha. We guess a good rule of thumb is to ask yourself what would you do on a dog walk. If you’re the sort of person who just wouldn’t go out on a dog walk in the rain, then pay close attention to tip number one.
Check and see if your venue has an ideal indoor space for photos. Your photographer can use this for family group shots. Cleared-out ceremony spaces are usually excellent for this. You’ll just need to check with your venue if they’ll be able to push the chairs up one end of the room out of the way.
Above is an example at Henham Park. It was raining outside so we used this rustic wall as a background. See the full wedding here.
If there isn’t anywhere big enough or “pretty” enough indoors, don’t worry. There will be a pretty good half-and-half option.
Here’s an example of a photo we took on Connie & Callum’s day and what they had to say about it in their review.
“They both stood in the drizzling rain to get group photos in an area they found so the guests could stay dry.”
If your ceremony is scheduled to be outside, have an indoor option. It’s super important you love your indoor option just as much as your outdoor option so you don’t feel hard done by if you have to use it.
2. Let your guests know
State the obvious on your invites or wedding website – tell people to bring something warm and maybe alternate footwear. Especially if you’re going for rustic vibes. Help your people have a nicer day with good advice.
Now we’ve made sure your guests are all wrapped up and warm with dry feet, the same applies to you, too. You’ll need to be sure you can stay warm. Coats, cloaks or furry shrug/bolero can transform a day as can some wedding Converse or cool wellies if that’s more your vibe. Here is Cat who wore epic cowgirl boots.
Alternate times for things like family group shots or your portraits work well. Chat with your photographer to come up with a plan B for timings.
Unfortunately, you won’t be able to move the rest of the day around too much. It might be worth, however, bringing the dancing forward if you can. The sooner people can be dancing and drinking, the less they care about the weather.
Wind can be hard on outdoor structures like tipis and stretch tents. We’ve seen marquees with roofs that become small swimming pools. For this reason, we reckon having these things provided and erected by experts is safer than DIY options. When hiring tips, marquees etc just read reviews for those providing them.
Despite heavy rain, the tipi shown below stayed toasty and dry all day.
Make sure you’ve got umbrellas for at least two. If you can stretch your budget to the bridal party and/or all of the wedding guests then do. Plain white or clear umbrellas work best. We won’t lie, this can work out expensive but there are companies out there who will hire out umbrellas.
If you’re planning on having your hair down with Hollywood waves or similar it might be worth chatting with your hairdresser and seeing if you can switch it to an updo. If you’re set on having it down, then maybe have it down for your ceremony then get your hairdresser to pin it up after?
When you think of weddings you think of prosecco and champagne but honestly, you can’t beat a good cuppa tea. Anthony and Rosalind had a coffee truck at their wedding which went down an absolute storm. Of course, mulled wine is a fantastic option too. If at the last minute, you find the weather looks a bit iffy then reach out to some suppliers or have a chat with your venue to see what they can do. If you’re having a church wedding, put an urn on. These small touches make all the difference and can help keep everyone upbeat.
It helps to hire a photographer you can trust, that goes without saying. You need to be able to trust they can churn our fantastic photos whatever the weather. But you also need to trust they have your best interests at heart. For example, we adore a rain photo but we’re not going to drag you out in torrential rain in the middle of the day (unless you’re up for it because we’re up for anything).
The picture below was taken just before the first dance. Jess and Ollie were more than happy to come out in the rain. It had just stopped pouring down torrentially and it didn’t feel like it was raining at all and the air felt kind of damp. This is how it came out on camera with a bit of lighting magic.
Just remember, the bigger the cloud, the more dramatic the photo. If you’re planning a wedding, we’d love to hear from you 🙂
L&N x
