You can plan most things for a wedding with a good degree of certainty but in the UK, and especially in Scotland, you can’t know in advance what the weather will do. Providing your wedding ceremony and reception venue are indoors the weather shouldn’t provide that many problems – but indoor photography can be restrictive and not representative of the day. No doubts about it - there are moments during the big day when you would like to be outside.
Natural light and the charm of your surroundings at that very special venue you hired - at great expense - will be important elements of your wedding photographs. If you have hired a venue in a Scottish castle with views out over mountains and sea or at a country house hotel with its beautifully manicured gardens then you will want to capture them in your photographs.
An experienced photographer will have a “Plan A” and a “Plan B” (bad weather). And (s)he’ll be prepared for both plans to go “out of the window”! Your photographer should have researched the location and know which locations to use in any weather.
On what is merely a grey, cloudy day a skilled wedding photographer will know how to make the best of the light. In fact for outdoor portraits this is the best sort of light – beautiful even light that’s kind to any face. Stormy skies add drama and a professional will know how to balance artificial light but retain that drama in the sky (just one more argument against leaving the job to friends and amateurs, but that’s another wedding photography story!) More problems present themselves when the rain starts to fall and the wind starts to blow, and for the bride, problems for her dress and hairdo in particular.
There are several options available to the wedding couple if the weather should turn against them and their wedding photographer’s best efforts.
One obvious strategy to insure against heavy rain and having to be photographed in interiors indistinguishable from a thousand others wedding venues is to choose a venue where exteriors protected by a high roof are available. Think pergolas, bandstands and canopied doorways. Photographers love doorways; the light falls off quickly and that beautiful soft light is back.
Indoors by a window is the next best thing. Window light makes for dramatic images – a large window with a wood panelled or stone wall and all sorts of possibilities open up. Photography is about light and this setting is wonderful.
In the absence of roofed exteriors it may make sense to have large white umbrellas on hand – I always carry several. Apart from protecting against the rain they diffuse the top light and reflect back the bottom light – soft light again! You may even want to bring your own umbrellas in other colours to match the bridesmaid’s dresses. Plenty of clips and pins for holding hair in place and battening down gowns won’t go amiss either. The wind can be used to our advantage too – with a bit of cover that natural wind machine can be useful!
The employment of umbrellas can dovetail nicely with another important strategy for wedding photograph success in inclement weather. That strategy is, in three words, “Go with it!” Embracing the conditions can not merely save the day – it may make the day. You can’t change the weather but you can change your attitude to it. A strong gale, a refreshing shower or even snow will make your wedding day a memorable one and add to the fun. I’ve seen the Bride arrive in “wellies” and it’s a great photograph. Who knows - perhaps that awful weather will forever be associated with happiness?
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