5 Reasons Not To Cancel Your Photos for Rain
Elizabeth and Tag had their First Look/Formal session scheduled months in advanced! We arrived at the location—and it started to POUR. Not just a tiny drizzle, POURING NOTEBOK-STYLE RAIN! The groom hopped in my car and the bride sat in her own car with the videographer (to keep them from seeing each other pre-maturely) and we decided to just wait it out! The result was incredible!
Photos by: Summer Soelberg | Gown: BHLDN | Florals by: Fleur + Stems | Her Ring: Sierra West Jewelers | Bride’s Shoes: Banana Republic | His Suit: Calvin Clein | His Shoes: Cole Haan| Makeup by: Marisa Rose
Weather can be a major factor in wedding stress- it’s completely unpredictable and completely out of your control! As a photographer I’ve spent many hours watching the weather update minute by minute as the time grows close to an outdoor photo session or wedding event. BUT SOMETIMES RAIN ISN’T THE WORST THING!
In most cases, the actual rain itself is only coming down for a short period of time, so odds are you can wait it out!
*Pro tip: I always tell my clients to have a flexible schedule the day we plan on shooting especially with bridals so we can adjust our timing a little around the weather. As a general rule of thumb, if the forecast says there might be rain—try to shoot a little earlier so you have time to wait out any passing storms, and have enough light to shine through the clouds, and you may even consider having an indoor location option picked out and arranged as a back up plan.
You don’t want to reschedule for weather if you can help it and here’s why.
You have lots of schedules you’re coordinating with
You have at least, your schedule, and your fiancee’s schedule you’ve had to arrange for the shoot, and of course you have the photographer’s schedule as well. You most likely have a makeup artist, probably a florist, a hair artist, a videographer, possibly a location reserved—-that is A LOT of re-coordinating to do. You don’t want to cancel on your vendors because who knows if you’ll even be able to get them all lined up again in the timeframe you need to have photos done within.
Cancelation/Rescheduling/Rush Fees
Your wedding is expensive enough without adding on unnecessary fees! Of course if you are out of light and its been a downpour the entire time and there isn’t an indoor option available to you— then you may just have to bite the bullet and pay those fees. If the skies look cloudy talk to your photographer about your options, but in the end, since its your ultimate decision to cancel or go for it (unless its really so bad the photographer can’t have her gear out in it) I would almost always recommend going for it! Rescheduling is tough with everyone’s schedules (as I mentioned earlier) and postponing your photos may set you back in your timeline for getting announcements sent out, or prints ready for your wedding. To make up for the later shoot date you may end up paying a rush fee to get your photos back soon enough, or a rush fee to have prints delivered earlier, or have to pay for an entirely new bouquet, since the flowers won’t be fresh after the time the florist was expecting them to be photographed.
Flattering Light
A cloudy day does have its downsides, but it also has its good sides! you won’t have to worry about unflattering uneven lighting causing you to squint, or sweat, or limiting you to specific angles and areas of the location for the photographer to light you properly. A little rain and overcast skies makes all the color in the world deeper and richer and photograph beautifully! Clouds can be a bride’s best friend during a photoshoot!
Avoid Crowds
Many photo locations are somewhat crowded, because chances are if you think its a beautiful place for photos, other people do too! Rain scares people away! So if you are willing to brave the storm, you’ll probably get the whole space to yourself!
Do it For the Memories
Honestly if nothing else, maybe you and your lover end up making out in the downpour and have a romantic chic-flick worthy scene, the stress of watching the weather for your photoshoot will fade but you’ll always remember laughing and taking cover under an umbrella or sitting in the car waiting for it to clear!
Tag + Elizabeth were luckily able to shoot! The entire time we were waiting in our cars hoping for the best, Tag kept saying “I’m not even worried, it’s going to let up” and it did! The rain let up, they had gorgeous soft lighting for their whole shoot, and they were even rewarded for waiting out the storm with an incredible RAINBOW that they wouldn’t have been able to see- or have captured in their photos- if they had canceled the shoot at the first sign of inclement weather.
To see more photos from Elizabeth + Tag’s First Look check out this blog post!
