When you wake up on the morning of a long-awaited wedding and, no matter how many times you check the forecast begging it to be wrong, it still says....
....it's stressful.
Someone is entrusting the memories of the most important day in their life (so far at least) to you and your camera. They came to you because you promised romance and soft sunshine, beautiful natural light portraits and backlit kisses, but how can you achieve a decent ambience on a grey and soggy April day?
Opportunism is the watchword. The moments BETWEEN downpours, outdoor light in preference to the indoor yellowish shadows, natural light in lieu of flash. Getting the dress outside and the bride close to a window. And umbrellas. In this case, transparent.
It is possible to have fun with photos when situations don't conform the norm, and since I'm no magician, there is only one possible option when it comes to rain, and that is to do the very best I possibly can with the raw materials I am given.
Thankfully for me, a pretty face is a pretty face in any weather, and Charlotte's looked glorious. Her super-slim figure was emphasised by her lace-bodied open-backed gown, with her dark brown hair swept up and back in a semi-formal knot.
Whilst I was busy dishing out my wise advice to the bride: "It's only rain and it won't spoil your day", I realised that I should probably take a spoonful of my own medicine, stop stressing about those things we cannot change and just get on with it.
The sky may have been lacking blue, but the wetness did subside for us temporarily, long enough to take a stroll, capture some him 'n' her portraits and ruin the bride's and her maid of honour's LK Bennetts (but that's another story).
When the damp gets too much, I always prefer to use handy trees as shelter, or a cool doorway, over and above a dash back inside a dark venue, so a nearby leafy church lane provided us with some dry respite for a few minutes.
So, whilst mud and frizz were destined to be more of a part of Simon & Charlotte's amazing day than backlight and romantic sunsets, the location (The Crown Inn, Roecliffe) and situation offered quirk and a good deal of atmosphere of a different kind. And besides, they were bloody happy!
Still feel pretty bad about those shoes, though....Ah well, they'll always have the memories.