As a Vancouver wedding photographer rain is always on the back of my mind. All brides want to be married on a beautiful sunny day, but this city doesn't always work with us when it comes to weather. I guess that is the downside of beautiful trees, green grass and yummy tap water.

This past Saturdays wedding got me a thinking. We all know we can't change the weather so what can you do as a couple to work around possible rain. It sounds simple but the one thing that many couples don't have is a backup plan for photography.

With all of our couples we make sure to have a back-up location just in case we get a torrential Vancouver downpour. If it is really dumping rain we need to have another place to shoot. This is especially important for the family formals. It is always easy to find a great location to shoot the bride and groom, but finding a nice dry spot for 35 people can be a challenge. This is usually no problem in the city but if you are getting married out in the country it is something to think about.

That being said most times we can work with a light sprinkle at the first choice for pictures. We always bring about 10 cute little matching white umbrellas to every wedding just in case. The other thing to make sure your photographer has is back-up gear. Cameras these days are like little computers and they don't work so good wet. We always have a back-up and a back-up for the back-up as well as extra flashes and lenses in the event of water damage.

As a bride you also have to think if you will be willing to withstand a little rain on your wedding day and communicate that to your photographer. We are here to take amazing pictures and make you sure you stay happy doing it on your big day. If you know your hair is going to go crazy and don't want to go in the rain let your photographer know and together you can decide on a different location. If pictures are super important and you don't mind getting your dress a little tiny teeny bit dirty let us know and we'll go the exra mile.

For this last wedding we did the couple was totally cool with a little rain if it made for great pictures. We juggled a few family formals around to a time when the skies were clear and lucked out for the wedding party pictures.