Gildings Barns Wedding | Emma & Dan

Rain on your wedding day? Not something most couples have on their wish list, but it doesn't have to be a negative! Social media has a lot to answer for when it comes to our vision of how a wedding should look.

Occasionally (not often I'm pleased to say!) I'm sent Pinterest boards filled with sun-drenched images of barefoot brides - usually on the California coast and with the only umbrellas in sight being romantic lace parasols. The actual wedding will be miles inland in Britain, in November. Of course, the couple knows that their wedding will not look like this, even if the sun does make an appearance. But I still feel that I need to manage expectations a little.

So here goes! In the interests of true British wedding storytelling, today I'm blogging Emma and Dan's beautiful wedding at Gildings Barns in Surrey:

Sussex and surrey wedding photographer

And what better way to prove my point than with this great feedback from the couple in question:

As soon as we met Jenny at Plumpton Racecourse Wedding Fayre we knew we wanted her to be part of our wedding. We met Jenny once more before our wedding day for our pre-wedding shoot, and it felt like we’d known her for ages. Her photos really captured our personalities and it got us so excited for the wedding day!

The wedding day itself was very different weather-wise to what we’d experienced at the pre-wedding shoot. It rained… All day! This didn’t stop Jenny getting some amazing shots as we braved the weather to go outside. If anything, the rain made the day more special and Jenny captured some beautiful moments that we would never have got had it been a sunny day.

Jenny has an amazing talent and we wouldn’t hesitate to recommend her to anyone. Thank you for making our day truly unique.

Emma and Dan x

So there you have it. It rained, literally the whole day, from morning to night. But Emma and Dan had simply the best day! Why? Because their great British sense of humour and fun personalities wouldn't let a bit of rain stop them from heading outside and indulging their love of the great outdoors. Those happy, rain-drenched photos were far more important to them than worrying about a muddy hemline on Emma's dress. The umbrellas and wellies looked fab with the barn and fields as their backdrop, and the wooden beamed setting was perfect for indoor photos of their bridal party and guests.

While doing their couple photos, Dan kindly volunteered one of his groomsmen to hold a big golf umbrella over me: a little light rain is fine, but this was a full-on downpour, and I didn't want my equipment to be completely at the mercy of the elements, however weather-sealed the cameras are claimed to be. By the evening, the rain had slowed, and I headed out into the barn courtyard to set up off-camera lighting. With Emma and Dan being such great sports, I had a feeling they'd be up for a couple of special umbrella portraits after dark. As expected, they didn't need any persuasion, and they ended up with some truly romantic and unique memories from their day.

So whilst it's completely normal to start the day feeling a little disappointed that you and your guests won't be milling around in the sunshine, please don't think you'll enjoy your wedding any less. Whatever time of year your special day, just buy a big umbrella and some wellies you love ahead of time - get creative with bright colours or match your wedding décor, and you may actually be hoping for the heavens to open!

As you've just seen, Emma and Dan literally didn't stop smiling the whole day! It was a simply perfect day.

Feeling inspired to buy those wellies? Now all you need is an umbrella-loving wedding storyteller! Just click here and tell me a little about your day.

Happy wedding planning!

Jenny x