A Colourful, Rainy and Very Happy Houghton Lodge Wedding
A Houghton Lodge wedding is always going to be beautiful, but Madelaine and John’s proved that you absolutely do not need sunshine to have a fantastic wedding or lovely photographs. As their Hampshire wedding photographer, I spent the day photographing everything from the preparations at Madelaine’s parents’ home to a very lively reception beside the River Test — with quite a lot of torrential rain in between.
Madelaine is from Stockbridge, and John is from Northern Ireland, and their wedding felt incredibly fun and relaxed right from the beginning. There were lots of guests who had travelled over from Ireland and, despite the weather, there was a phenomenal atmosphere all day.
Getting Ready at Home
I started the morning at Madelaine’s mum and dad’s house, where she was getting ready with her bridesmaids.
It was a wonderfully characterful house, and they were getting ready in a gorgeous red room, which gave me a really interesting backdrop for the photographs.
Madeline wore a beautiful, summery white wedding dress with flowers plaited into her hair. The flowers throughout the wedding were particularly lovely: dahlias, roses, and wildflowers in shades of red and pink.
John wore a white suit with a pink-toned tie, which tied everything together without feeling overly coordinated.
The Ceremony at Houghton Lodge
From there, we headed to Houghton Lodge, near Stockbridge, for the ceremony.
The setting is quintessentially Hampshire, with beautiful gardens and the River Test running alongside the grounds. For a photographer, there are lots of lovely little areas to work with — something that became particularly useful as the weather turned.
And it really did rain.
It rained and rained and rained, with only a few short periods during the entire day when it stopped.
But one of the things I loved about this Houghton Lodge wedding was that nobody allowed the weather to take over. There was no sense that the day was being ruined because the sun wasn't shining. Everyone simply carried on, and I think being thrown together under cover actually added to the atmosphere.
Wedding Photographs in Torrential Rain
Rain obviously changes how I photograph a wedding, but after more than 25 years working as a professional photographer, I'm very used to adapting quickly.
Rather than thinking about all the photographs I couldn't take, I started looking for photographs I perhaps wouldn't normally have taken.
I used doorways, overhanging trees, topiary, and sheltered little areas around the venue. I also had a white umbrella in the boot of my car, which proved extremely useful.
In some ways, the rain forced me to use my pivoting skills and look at the venue differently. Instead of automatically heading towards the obvious locations, I was constantly looking for interesting light, backgrounds, and little pockets of shelter.
And it worked.
I'm really pleased with the photographs. They feel full of the atmosphere of the day rather than looking as though we were desperately trying to pretend it wasn't raining.
That is always important to me. My job isn't to impose a completely different version of a wedding onto the photographs. It's to work with what's happening, keep everyone relaxed, and find ways of creating beautiful images, whatever the day throws at us.
Drinks, a Marquee and the River Test
The drinks reception had to change at the last minute because of the weather, so everyone gathered under cover rather than following the original plan.
Again, it didn't seem to matter.
The marquee was huge and beautifully positioned beside the River Test, and once everyone was inside, the atmosphere was fantastic. With so many guests together, it felt busy, happy, and very sociable.
The red and pink flowers looked particularly striking inside the marquee and brought a wonderful amount of colour to what was otherwise a rather grey day outside.
Speeches and a Brilliant Reception
The speeches were fantastic — funny, lighthearted, and very much in keeping with Madelaine and John and the rest of their day.
This was a large wedding, but it still felt personal. There was a real sense that everyone there absolutely loved the couple and wanted to have a good time with them.
I was recommended to Madelaine and John by Wilds Event Management, who ran the wedding seamlessly.
In the end, the weather became part of the story rather than a problem to overcome. That's probably my biggest takeaway from this Houghton Lodge wedding. You can plan almost everything about a wedding, but you can't plan the British weather. What you can do is have experienced suppliers around you who adapt, keep things moving, and don't make you feel as though anything has gone wrong.
Madeline and John certainly didn't let the rain stop them.
Looking for a wedding photographer for your Hampshire wedding?
If you're planning a wedding in Hampshire and want relaxed, editorial photography with an experienced photographer who is very used to dealing with everything a wedding day can throw at her — including torrential rain — I'd love to hear about your plans.
You can find out more about wedding photography with Abi Chadwick Photography on www.abichadwick.com or message me on Instagram @abichadwickphotography to tell me about your wedding.
