How to deal with rain on your wedding day
When it comes to your wedding day, you can plan, prepare, plan some more and STILL find yourself dealing with the unexpected on the big day. For example, you just can’t predict rain on your wedding day! Or hail for that matter! But you can be prepared 🙂
So, there’s no need to panic! The most important thing to remember is, it’s your wedding day. And all that really matters is that you’re marrying your favourite person.
However, there are a few things you can do to help your day run smoothly, even if your wedding day turns out to be slightly apocalyptic like Angela and Will’s recent wedding.
Hail AND Rain on your wedding day
Remember that crazy storm we had in Brisbane recently? You know the one. There was cyclonic winds, hail, rain, more hail and more rain. Well, that was Angela and Will’s wedding day!
But these guys were totally awesome! Due to COVID, they’d dealt with scheduling hiccups all year. So there was no way a little (or a lot) of rain on their wedding day was going to dampen their happiness (pun intended).
They grabbed some umbrellas, kept their smiles firmly in place and just powered through like true champions.
And while it was challenging photographing in such crazy weather conditions, we had an awesome day. It also helped that their bridal party were a great bunch of people who didn’t let a little rain stress them out.
So no matter what the weather is like on your wedding day, be prepared for the unexpected, keep your cool, keep smiling and have a fabulous day.
Just like Angela and Will did.
And here’s a little of their story…
Tell us about yourselves
Ange is an early childhood educator, and Will is a chemical/metallurgical engineer. We moved to Tasmania a few years ago from Queensland. And we fit in quite well down here as we both love camping and bushwalking. Will is interested in lapidary, wine-making, and is quite the foodie. Ange is interested in whatever creative pursuit she’s currently pursuing (art, photography, music, sewing, etc.)
How did you meet?
Will and I have both been active within the scouting community in Queensland. We met at our first Rover Scout event, which was an annual cruise along the Brisbane River. After that, we did the proper dating experience before deciding this was it, about three weeks later.
Any funny stories about that night?
We were introduced by Will’s ex-girlfriend, who I vaguely knew through other friends. It’s such an interesting situation where we had both been on the very periphery of each other’s social circles but had never met each other. We didn’t even get each other’s phone numbers, despite talking so much… I had to leave early in the night. He ended up hunting me down through our groomsman Ben’s facebook account!
How long have you been together?
We celebrated our seventh anniversary a month or so before we married.
Where did you get engaged?
We got engaged a few days after our sixth anniversary. We were visiting Western Australia and stayed at Rottnest Island for our anniversary (Pre-COVID times!). It’s absolutely beautiful. We hired bikes and spent a day cycling the island. When we reached the West Point, we managed to time it so all the tour buses left and it was just us. We were alone and surrounded by the most beautiful scenery: spring meant that the grass was covered in flowers and we were on a deck looking out to sea surrounded by clear blue water. He suggested a photo together and set up the tripod, setting it to record the proposal. I hadn’t expected it at all and froze for a few seconds… he says waiting for the ‘yes’ was incredibly nerve wracking! (Sorry!)
Why did you choose Alison Cooke Photography to photograph your wedding?
We liked the style, that her photos were more natural and not overly edited or filtered, and that she was reasonably priced.
Can you describe your experience having Alison as your photographer?
It’s good to have a professional photographer who is approachable, knows how to organise people, and knows what moments to capture. Especially given the trying circumstances, she still managed to capture some great photos and moments.
What is one thing you just had to have for your wedding day?
Hail, apparently! (Just kidding.) Will was very keen on a rainforest wedding. He loves being in nature and it was wonderful to be able to have such a gorgeous venue. It was very important to Ange to have everyone on the wedding party dressed well and feeling their best, in particular so they all looked good despite different colouring and builds.
What things about your wedding made it amazing?
Warning: sentimentality ahead.
There’s a lot of things that made our wedding amazing: the food, the venue, the scenery. But what really made our wedding was the people. Since we live interstate, we hadn’t seen the majority of our family and friends for eight months before this, due to COVID. We are so fortunate to have such a wonderful community around us. Everyone was so happy to be there and in a wonderful mood, despite the weather challenges we faced. There were so many moments that Will and I later reminisced on together, thinking about all the people who love us and were there for us throughout this whole experience.
We truly believe that weddings, and by extension relationships, aren’t just about us. It’s about our families, friends, support networks and communities as well, and we tried very hard to reflect that within our wedding. One of the best moments for us was when we were enjoying our first dance as husband and wife, and we invited our family and friends to join us for the second half of the song so we were surrounded by the people we loved. Moments like these throughout our wedding was what made it amazing, in our opinion.
How did you go about planning your wedding and did you have any help?
Living interstate, we had to make a lot of decisions based on other people. We ended up deciding to have our wedding where the majority of the guests were located, so we chose to do a package deal. We’re so glad we did that. While it could’ve been easier and cheaper to source multiple vendors ourselves, the fact that so much was instantly decided for us was very convenient.
This turned out to also be a blessing in disguise with COVID, as we were only needing to communicate with two or three vendors instead of however many we might have ended up with. It would’ve been a nightmare trying to coordinate during COVID, having to juggle differing and ever-changing interstate regulations. As it was, we didn’t even know if the wedding would go ahead until a month out, so we are very thankful all vendors were so accommodating (including Alison!).
We also had a lot of help from family, with both sets of parents going above and beyond to help us out. We hadn’t even seen the venue until a few days before the wedding itself, because Ange’s parents had checked it for us before the borders had closed! Ange’s mum made the wedding cake as well, and Will’s mum had sourced and sorted out the decorations as well as designed the save-the-dates and invitations.
We’re also very grateful for the help and support our bridal party gave us during this stressful time! Thanks for everything you did for us.
What tips or ideas would you pass on to future couples?
- Plan in advance. Have everything planned so you don’t need to rush around too much in the days before your wedding. Have a clear idea of your wedding and what you want it to be.
- Wet weather backup that you are HAPPY with. I was happy with our wet weather backup in a little chapel (a big part of why we chose the venue, always be prepared!), but it would’ve been so upsetting if I’d had to compromise on something I didn’t like when I had no control over the weather.
- Say no from the start. Be willing to make decisions based on what you want, even if you don’t particularly have a preference. Making decisions and sticking to them from the beginning of planning ensures that when you do care about a decision, people are less inclined to try and argue with you about it. People can be VERY opinionated about other people’s weddings.
If a destination wedding, what is your advice to other couples?
Is this a destination wedding? For us, it was. As said earlier, get a package deal for the convenience. Have a strong support network, and be prepared for things to go wrong!
What was something unique about your wedding? rain on wedding day
Well… it has been described as ‘apocalyptic’. Not only did we have a COVID wedding, but it hailed for the second time that day, five minutes before the ceremony. Will absolutely loves storms, so he was obviously thrilled and honestly, I actually loved it too. It rained during the ceremony but cleared up almost straight afterwards, leaving us with a rainbow, moody photos, and a lightshow out to sea later. Everyone has a story to tell about our wedding! It’s definitely memorable and that’s what I wanted. The best things happen when you let go of your expectations.
Do you have any useful advice for future wedding guests?
Bring an umbrella if rain on your wedding day is forecast!
Where did you honeymoon?
We spent a week down at Currumbin, which has been a family holiday spot for years. Since we were already travelling, we didn’t see the point in going somewhere else when we were technically already on holiday. We definitely enjoyed going to the beach every day! And of course, the weather was perfect the whole time.
Vendors
Photographer: Alison Cooke Photography
Venue: Mount Cotton Rainforest Gardens
Hair & Makeup: Perfectly Beautiful
Cake: Ange’s Mum
Flowers: Rainforest garden’s Florist
Decor: Rainforest Gardens Florist and Will’s Mum
Wedding Planner: Us and Rainforest Garden’s Co-ordinator
Suits: Reuben F. Scarfe, Chermside
Bridesmaids Dresses: RenzRags
Wedding Dress: Babushka Ballerina designed by Anna Campbell Bridal in Melbourne
Transport: Father-of-the-bride drove bride and bridesmaids
Celebrant: Kay Franks Life Events
About Alison Cooke Photography
Alison is a Brisbane based wedding photographer with over 22 years’ experience in the wedding industry. Alison Cooke Photography was voted one of the top 10 wedding photographers in Brisbane by the Courier Mail and one of the top 30 wedding photographers by The Wedding Diaries. She is also an experienced portrait and newborn photographer and an award-winning member of the AIPP. Alison has over 22 years’ experience in the wedding, family and newborn portrait industry. So, if you’re looking for a photographer who’s experienced photographing during rain on your wedding, day get in touch here. You can check out wedding photography pricing and wedding information here.
