It rains a lot in Tennessee. Every season. Even on Saturdays. Even on wedding days….
Ashley and Curtis got married anyway. And they LOVED their rainy/misty day. You could tell it on their faces. You could tell that no matter what happened today, they knew they would be husband and wife at the end of it all, and that’s all that mattered to them.
Too often, rainy days are tough to navigate as a wedding photographer, especially given that many venues these days are outdoor botanical gardens or elaborate “wedding barns.” Most often, there is little to no room around these venues to plan for an indoor photography option. The rainy wedding day pushes the venue owners and planners into a frenzy, bustling around trying to make everything water proof in what little space they have to fit the sometimes hundreds of guests.
My job as a wedding photographer morphs a bit on the rainy wedding day. I am to be something extra to my clients, I think. I need to be an encourager. One who can put the radar on the smart phone down, while the bride is getting ready, so that she is not fretting about the weather. I need to be the one who is willing to scout out creative little covered crevices to photograph the couple and their bridal parties and families, so that no one has to worry about the hair and make up and clothes getting ruined.
I can dry a bench with my own pants so that the bride may sit on the beautiful moss covered bench. I can, to some degree, be alright with looking like a wet rat for most of the day, just to get a pose just right, shooting from in the rain while they are in the covered. I can take a few minutes to drop by the store and pick up and handful of cheap umbrellas for the bridal party, and not worry if I ever see them again. I can quietly reorganize our time line to fit into the small parts in the rain clouds. I can, and I will smile genuinely and say, “it’s alright,” even if I am unable to take advantage of the entire venue grounds which I scouted out so joyfully just the day before.
Because it IS alright. Ashley and Curtis are married. We made the most of it today. There were a few spots of sun, and really plenty of overcast sky to assist in battling those horrible midday shadows. Wedding hair didn’t fall, and cake didn’t either. The rings fit, the vows were precious, the food was amazing, and the DJ kept the crowd dancing the whole night.
As Ashley and Curtis left for their honeymoon, amidst the sea of sparklers and UT pom poms, I breathed a tired sigh, and was truly thrilled to have been a small part of this rainy wedding day (and possibly a bit excited at the idea that a coffee shop was still open and very nearby). A day that will be remembered as the happiest day of their lives. Rain or shine. It’s wedding days such as this one, which Ashley and Curtis blessed ME with, that make me want to continue this career. It’s days like today that make me happy to be a wedding photographer. Rain or shine.