The British weather. We all know it, we all love it, and we all secretly dread it when a wedding day is approaching. Checking the forecast becomes an obsession. The ten-day outlook looks promising. The five-day outlook looks less so. By the day before, you are refreshing the weather app every twenty minutes and convincing yourself that a single rain cloud means the whole day is ruined.
It is not. I promise you, it absolutely is not.
I have been photographing weddings for many years, and I have photographed more rainy wedding days than I can count. Furthermore, some of my most beautiful, most joyful, and most treasured wedding photographs have been taken on the rainiest of days. You will not see many umbrella photographs in this blog, and that is deliberate. In eight years of wedding photography, I have only had one wedding where I did not manage to get the couple outside for their portraits. Rain rarely lasts all day, and the moment it stops, I will grab you, and we will go. If you are wondering what happens if it rains on your wedding day, you are in exactly the right place.
What Happens if it Rains on My Wedding Day — The Most Important Thing First
Before any practical tips, there is one thing I want you to hear above everything else. Rain does not ruin a wedding day. People do not look back on their wedding and remember the weather. They remember how it felt. They remember the ceremony, the speeches, the dancing, and the love in the room, and they remember the people who were there. I have never once had a couple tell me that rain ruined their day. Not once. Furthermore, some of my couples specifically tell me that the rain made their day feel more intimate, more cosy, and more uniquely theirs.
Hannah and Sindu’s June wedding at Notley Abbey is a perfect example. The weather was not what they had planned for. Their outdoor ceremony moved indoors. And yet it was one of the most genuinely beautiful, warm, and joyful weddings I have ever photographed. The rain was simply part of their story, and their photographs are extraordinary.
1. Step Away from the Weather App
This is the first and most important tip for anyone wondering what happens if it rains on their wedding day. Stop checking the forecast obsessively. I mean it.
Weather forecasts beyond forty-eight hours are notoriously unreliable, and spending the week before your wedding glued to a weather app will only increase your anxiety without giving you any useful information. Furthermore, British weather is famously changeable. A forecast that promises rain on Monday can look completely different by Friday. I have photographed weddings where the forecast looked dire, and the sun shone all day. I have also photographed weddings where the forecast looked perfect, and the heavens opened. Check it once the day before, make your peace with whatever it says, and then put your phone down.
2. Have a Rainy Wedding Day Contingency Plan in Place
This is one of the most practical things you can do well in advance of your wedding day. Speak to your venue about their wet weather contingency plan early in the planning process. Most good wedding venues have thought about this carefully and have beautiful indoor alternatives for every outdoor element of the day.
Furthermore, knowing that a solid plan exists is enormously reassuring on the day itself. If you know that your outdoor ceremony can move indoors seamlessly, the rain stops feeling like a disaster and starts feeling like a minor inconvenience. Talk to your wedding planner or venue coordinator early, agree on the plan, and then trust it completely.
3. Trust Your Wedding Photographer on a Rainy Day
This is so important. A good wedding photographer has photographed rainy days before and knows exactly how to handle them. Trust them completely and let them take the lead.
Rainy day light is actually one of the most beautiful and flattering conditions for wedding photography. Soft, diffused, and completely even, it produces images with no harsh shadows and no squinting into the sun. Furthermore, the lush green grounds of a venue after rain have a luminous quality that is genuinely extraordinary in photographs. Some of the most stunning portraits I have ever taken have been captured in the rain or immediately after it stops.
I will always find the most beautiful light and the most beautiful locations for your portraits, whatever the weather brings. If we can get outside, we will. If we cannot, I know exactly which indoor spaces will produce the most beautiful images at your venue. Leave the photography completely in my hands, and I promise you will be astonished by the results. What happens if it rains on your wedding day, photographically speaking, is often something genuinely magical.
4. Invest in Clear Umbrellas for Rainy Wedding Day Photos
Clear umbrellas are an absolute must for a rainy wedding day. They keep you dry without blocking your face or casting unflattering shadows in your photographs, which means outdoor portraits are still completely possible even in the rain.
Furthermore, a beautiful umbrella can actually enhance your wedding photographs rather than detract from them. The reflection of the rain on the ground, the soft light filtering through a clear canopy, and the natural intimacy of two people sheltering together all create something genuinely romantic and distinctive. I always recommend having a couple of clear umbrellas on standby just in case, regardless of what the forecast says.
5. Keep Some Hair and Makeup Products Handy for Touch-ups
Rather than keeping your hair and makeup artist for longer than planned, which is not always practical or possible, simply ask them before they leave which products to keep handy for touch-ups throughout the day. A little hairspray, a powder compact, and a lipstick go a long way.
Furthermore, speak to your hairstylist in advance about styles that hold well in humidity. An updo or a soft braid tends to be more resilient in wet weather than loose flowing waves, and there are so many beautiful options to choose from. A little preparation here means you can refresh your look quickly and easily whenever you need to throughout the day.
6. Let Go, Embrace the Day, and Enjoy Every Single Moment
Above all, this is the most important piece of advice I can give you about what happens if it rains on your wedding day. Let go of the version of the day you had imagined and embrace the one that is actually unfolding in front of you because it will be beautiful. It will be full of love, laughter, and moments you will treasure for the rest of your lives.
The weather is the one thing about your wedding day that is completely outside your control. Everything else, the people, the love, the celebration, the photographs, is completely within it. Focus on those things, and the rain will not matter in the slightest.
Furthermore, there is something wonderfully intimate and cosy about a room full of people who love each other, gathered together while the rain falls outside. Candles glow a little warmer. The room feels a little closer. Venues like Notley Abbey, the Bodleian Library and Cornwell Manor are extraordinarily beautiful inside, and a rainy day simply means spending more time in those gorgeous spaces. Some of the most atmospheric and beautiful wedding photographs I have ever taken have been captured indoors on rainy days.
I have never once left a rainy wedding day feeling anything other than privileged to have been there. The joy, the warmth, and the genuine happiness of a couple who have chosen to celebrate regardless of the weather are something truly extraordinary. And the photographs are always, always beautiful.
If you would like to chat about your wedding photography and how I handle rainy days, I would love to hear from you. Get in touch and let’s talk about your plans. Please also check out my blog page for real weddings and wedding tips, and check out my portfolio page for more of my recent work
