If rain on wedding day truly brings luck, Heather and Rick have it coming in droves. After their June 2020 wedding plans turned into an elopement (thanks, Covid) they planned a small 2021 wedding reception in Door County to celebrate with their family and friends. The reception was held along Sand Bay in the backyard of Rick’s parents’ Door County home.
Door County Small, Backyard Wedding
The plan was for beachy photos, a big buffet, and a live band for dancing. Unfortunately, just like on their June elopement, their wedding day included a complete torrential downpour. I have never seen a wedding day with as much rain as theirs had and it meant attaching sides to the tent and crowding in the buffet tables, bar, dinner tables, and stage into one small space. Relatives were running to the cars to get old rugs to make low places in the yard safer as they gathered water, hosts were wearing rain ponchos over their reception attire as they ran in and out of the tent getting things set up, and kids were running rampant, sopping wet and loving every minute of it.
Door County Wedding Photographers
At first guests were arriving with a sort of what-will-we-do energy, worrying over how they would all fit, imagining them all crowded into a small tent biding their time. But as the string lights were lit and the delicate little desserts brought out on trays, the energy shifted. This shift happened because that’s the kind of person Heather is. I came in with plans for how we could get them to their photo locations, how we could keep them dry between photos, how we could still bring her original vision to life, but for Heather, that’s not what was important.
Whereas I would have been a bride clinging to my plan, desperately forcing the event to my will, Heather was dancing in the rain, literally and figuratively. She knew the rain changed what had been planned, and she also knew it was beautiful in a new way.
Rainy Wisconsin Wedding
They toasted, they enjoyed dinner, they ducked under the trees for photos with me, and they truly made the most of their rainy wedding day. There were many hugs and so much love in the air. Families were so excited to be together after a long year spent mostly at home. It melted my little type-a-stick-to-the-plan heart as I saw all the real, candid memories being created around me. And I felt the honor of being able to document that as their wedding photographer. As the afternoon turned to evening, the band took to the stage and the party really got going! It was such a special day; truly how it was meant to be. Congratulations, Heather and Rick!
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