Making the most of your winter wedding

Now that winter is starting to take hold I thought I’d write a blog about winter weddings and give a few tips on how to make sure the weather doesn’t effect your day.

What are you going to do about the rain?

At nearly every wet wedding someone will ask “what are you going to do about the rain?” – well, as I don’t have the ability to do a sun dance and change the weather, my answer is “embrace it”. If it’s raining on your wedding day lets tell that story. This picture is from a wet wedding in September and Kate, the bride, recently told me it was one of her favourite captures from the day. This is telling the story of her arrival at the venue.

And how about if its really cold?

When booking a winter wedding I’m sure this was something you considered. Often brides will invest in a bolero or shawls for themselves and the bridal party to keep warm. If it’s bitterly cold we may need to consider shooting some/all of the group photos indoors as we don’t want the guests to get too cold.

How does cold/wet weather affect our pictures?

So lets break the day down into sections and talk about which parts of the day the weather does actually effect:

Prep/getting ready – This is always done inside so no change there

Ceremony – Again no change here, unless you were planning an outdoor ceremony of course!

Natural shots during the drinks reception – So long as there is enough room for me to move around we can do these shots indoors without any bother.

Group/family photos – These can easily be shot inside providing there is a suitable space. It’s fair to say its quicker to shoot them outside, so if we can go out we should. But its entirely possible to shoot small groups indoors. My suggestion for winter weddings is to have less groups, and smaller ones.

Portraits – Again I can happily shoot a good set indoors although I would encourage you to nip outside for a short time if you can. Again my advise is to embrace it; frost, snow, even a few shots with an umbrella to tell the story of your day.

First dance – Again this is always done inside so no change here either.

So as you can see if we have to spend most of the day indoors it really doesn’t effect your photos that much at all.

If we can go outside we should go outside

This is something I always say. We can get more photos done in less time by shooting outside and natural light is usually more flattering than flash or artificial light indoors. We don’t necessarily need to go on the grass, just a few shots at the front of the venue will be great. Often when people book their wedding venue the grounds are one of the primary reasons they do so, it would be a shame not to incorporate the grounds in the photos at all.

If you’re keen to shoot outside it’s well worth investing in some heel protectors for the bride and bridal party. They are only a couple of quid and will make walking on soft grass much easier. Here are some on Amazon: Heel protectors

Will my dress get wet/mucky?

Chances are your dress is going to get wet/mucky anyway and if we go outside thats definitely going to happen. It’s entirely your call if you would rather concentrate on keeping the dress clean but to quote one of my brides who was up for photos regardless of the weather: “I bought the dress to wear for today, not to look at in the future, thats what I bought the photos for”.

What about the light

Obviously in winter it gets dark much earlier and this can provide some challenges. If you have a choice for your ceremony time I always suggest between 12 – 1 for winter weddings, this will still give us an hour or so of decent light before the sun sets. I’m very comfortable with evening shots so we can always nip out after dark for some creative portraits.

Another consideration is to have whats called First look photography.. this is an American tradition but becoming increasingly popular in the UK. First look is where the bride and groom meet up an hour before the ceremony to see each other for the first time in private. This is a great idea as it gives a chance to spend a few moments alone together before the day kicks off and you get caught in the whirlwind. Ok so it goes against UK tradition, but who cares about all these traditions which force us to follow a certain formula.

If you have first look we could shoot your couples portraits at this time, then we only have the groups to shoot during the drinks reception. Anika and Sophie had a very emotional first look on their wedding at the Ashes, this was a summer wedding but Anika is from America so wanted to follow the tradition.

To summarise

Embrace the weather and let it tell your story
Invest in some heel protectors
Invest in a bolero or shawl to keep you and the bridal party warm
Consider having fewer group photos and ideally less than 8 or 9 people in each group
Your dress is going to get mucky anyway, so enjoy your day without thinking about it
Be prepared to go outside for a short time for your portraits, it’s worth it in the long run
Consider your ceremony time and if it’s a later one maybe go for a “first look” session
Nip out in the evening for some cool night photography
Know that you will have a great day, and the weather can’t change that!

Here is some inspiration and real weddings for you to look through:

Sophie and Greg had rain all day at their wedding at Weston Hall

Sheri and Marcus were lucky enough to have snow at their wedding at Heaton House Farm