This is no doubt a question you will have thought of when planning your wedding: it’s one of the reasons summer is so much more popular than winter for wedding in Europe.
If you want to limit the likelihood of rain, there are always things you can do to improve your chances of a rain-free weekend. For example, if you’re planning a destination wedding on Lake Como (or elsewhere in Northern Italy), April-June typically have the highest chance of rain, so August or September would be a better time of year. By contrast, if you’re planning a wedding at home in England, May, June, July, or August are more likely to be dry.
Of course, heading somewhere like the Maldives for a tropical destination wedding gives you a near zero chance of rain over the English winter, and even if you go in Spring, rain typically passes in a matter of minutes.
Have a wet weather plan
If you’re planning for parts of your wedding to be outside, it’s always worth having an indoor plan in place, just in case it’s needed. If there’s light rain during your outdoor wedding ceremony, umbrellas or canopies are a perfect way to give your guests a little respite whilst continuing as planned. When choosing your wedding venue, it’s always best to check which of their indoor spaces will seat your guests if the rain is too heavy to continue outside.
Alternatively, there are some beautiful marquee option, which are somewhere between moving indoors and being fully outdoors. Sail & Peg offer wonderful sailcloth tents, and glass marquees give near-uninterrupted views from all sides.
It’s worth mentioning, that a little rain doesn’t necessarily mean during to your rain plan – if the rain isn’t too heavy (or even if it is!) and you don’t mind getting wet, there’s absolutely nothing to stop you from continuing with your plans, or adapting them slightly whilst continuing outside. This is exactly what Marta & Harneet did when the rain started on their wedding morning. They had fallen in love with the view’s across Lake Como from Villa Pizzo, and were determined to continue with their outdoor ceremony on the waterfront. They made the decision to move their ceremony to directly in front of the Villa, close to cover if the rain got heavier. Their ceremony was beautifully emotive, and the rain didn’t dampen anybody’s spirits in the slightest.
Some venues, like Villa Pizzo on Lake Como, erect glass marquees for in spring, which give keep the beautiful venues you’ll have fallen in love with without having to worry about the weather.
So many couples opt to have an almost hybrid drinks reception, split between the gardens and interiors of their venue, which means everything is set up to adapt to the weather – if the rain starts (or the sun is a little too strong), there’s already a bar open inside, and once the weather clears, the celebrations can return to the gardens.
Planning your couples portraits
In our final planning meetings, I always speak to my couples about whether there are specific locations in their venue where they would love to capture some of their couples portraits. Invariably, there are locations in the grounds that they love – there’s something very special about portraits in nature on your wedding day, whether it in beautifully maintained gardens or raw, untouched landscapes.
Even if it rains on your wedding day, there’s a high likelihood that there will be at least once break in the rain. If it is raining, I’ll be keeping a close eye on the weather throughout the day, so that when there is a break in the clouds, we can whisk you away for a few minutes to capture some portraits for you.
Of course, I’ll always have other locations planned so we aren’t reliant on the weather; whether this is a grand staircase or an understated window with soft, elegant light streaming in.
Rest-assured that no matter what the weather does on your wedding day, you will have a magical day, and we will capture some exquisite images for you to cherish. When you look back on your wedding in years to come, you’ll remember how you felt and not what happened with the weather.
