—

 

Hey photographers! One of the best (and sometime worst) parts about living on the east coast of the United States are the seasons ????????????⛄! Here in Virginia especially, we can have summer days that top 100°, and winter days that never get above freezing. And we’ve photographed weddings in just about everything inbetween! Although winter weddings aren’t super common in the mid-Atlantic region, we do still shoot a handful of weddings each year between December and February. And if you’ve got a COLD wedding day coming up, you want to be prepared!

 

5 Pro Tips for How to Photograph a COLD Wedding Day

Before we jump in to this week’s content, in case you missed it, last month we finished up our Post Production Secrets video/blog series! This 6-part series was all about what comes after the wedding day, from downloading the photos to our computer all the way to final gallery delivery! Also, if you aren’t already a member, be sure to join our free Facebook Community: Mastering the Wedding Photography Biz with Hunter and Sarah! Okay, on to the hot wedding day tips!

 

 

1. Set Expectations with Your Couple

At the risk of repeating ourselves (if you saw our blog on rainy wedding days or hot wedding days), most conflict — whether it’s with your spouse, your business partner, or your customers — comes from missed expectations. So having an intentional conversation with your couple can ensure that everyone is on the same page going into a cold wedding day!

 

At minimum, you’ll want to at least gauge your clients’ level of comfort with the cold. After all, there’s a big difference between a day that is calling for 45°, and a day that’s calling for 25°! Thankfully, unlike hot wedding days, cold wedding days are much easier to predict. If a couple is getting married in December, January, or February, they probably know there’s a chance for very cold weather. So the wedding day is already most likely set to be 100% indoors! However, if they were holding out for an outdoor ceremony or a reception underneath a tent, find out if they’re going to be equipping guests with blankets and renting heaters, or moving the day indoors.

 

Additionally, we often employ our “in-and-out” strategy here again, especially if the day is also windy. It’s amazing how warm 35° can feel with a bright shining sun and no wind! On the other hand, we’ve had 45° days that felt bitter cold because of windchill and lack of sun. On days like these, we’ll want to pull our couple (and their maybe wedding party and/or family) outside to briefly take advantage of the natural light, then pull them back inside to warm up! We’ll also be sure to have our assistant holding heavy coats at the ready, so if we walk from one spot to another or pause for a moment between shots, our couples can throw on their heavy coats and retain a little extra body heat ????

 

Now, like we pointed out a couple of weeks ago, the “in-and-out” strategy means we’ll either 1) need to work more efficiently, 2) take fewer photos, or 3) need to add time to the timeline. So when we get on the phone or email our couple ahead of their cold wedding day, we want to know whether they’d prefer to prioritize staying warm, or prioritize getting the most out of their photography.

 

 

2. How to Prepare for a Cold Wedding Day

There are thankfully a couple of things you can do ahead of a freezing wedding day to prepare. In the event that your couple wants to prioritize staying warm, do some research and find out if there are any spots at their venue where you can get great natural light while staying inside. If you can’t find anything online, plan to arrive a little early so you can scope out the venue before your coverage officially starts (although you should probably be doing this no matter what the weather is like). Having one or two indoor options –even if you’re just using it to keep shooting during the indoor warm-up breaks — can help keep your couples more comfortable on their wedding day!

 

Also, if snow is in the forecast for their wedding day or there’s fresh snow on the ground that morning, make sure you plan to arrive EXTRA early, and have a safe way of getting to and from the wedding. This past January, we had a wedding booked at a venue that was ~literally~ at the top of a mountain, up a mile-long, single-lane gravel road, and it snowed several inches the night before their wedding. Luckily, one of our vehicles has 4WD, so we felt comfortable getting to and from the venue. But if that’s not the case for you, make sure you know how you’re going to get to and from the venue safely, and allow for plenty of extra time. For this snowy wedding we had this past January, the venue should’ve been about 30 minutes away from us, but because it snowed the night before their wedding, it took us over an hour to get to the vineyard!

 

 

3. How to Protect Yourself from the Cold on a Freezing Wedding Day

If it’s looking like it’s going to be bitter cold on a wedding day — but your couple is still game for as much outdoor, natural light portraits as they can handle — then prepare to layer up! Since you’ll probably be moving from indoor to outdoor throughout the day, layering is key. You want to have layers that you can easily shed when you go back inside to prevent yourself from sweating, as that can be dangerous if it’s below freezing and you move back outside. And you want to make sure that whatever layers your wearing won’t interfere with whatever camera strap you use.

 

Also, protecting your fingers from the cold without losing your dexterity is obviously really important too! Sarah really needs to feel the buttons on her camera, so she actually shoots with fingerless gloves. On the other hand, I have poor circulation (and am a total baby in the cold), so I use a pair of fleece-lined leather gloves, which stay super toasty.

 

And if snow is in the forecast, make sure that your outermost layer is not only warm, but also waterproof! While a heavy peacoat may look nice, it’ll soon be a soggy, wet mess if snow is falling on it! Along that same line, a pair of warm and waterproof boots is a must in the snow, and warm feet are essential whether it’ll be snowing or not. You could always shoot the first part of the day (where you’re in and out for portraits) with snow boots on, then change into something more comfortable for the reception once you’re done going outside!

 

 

4. How to Protect Your Gear from the Cold on a Freezing Wedding Day

While cold temperatures won’t necessarily hurt your camera equipment, most electronics begin to slow down if they’re out in the cold for too long. So make sure that none of your gear is left out in the cold any longer than it needs to be!

 

And of course, if it’s going to be actively snowing while you shoot outside, refer back to all of the tips from our Rainy Day Wedding blog, because the snow will start to melt as soon as it touches your warm camera, and you don’t want a wet camera!

 

 

5. Be Flexible and Be Ready to Serve Your Couple!

We had to put ALL of these tactics into practice this past January, during Bee and Chris’ snowy mountain-top wedding we mentioned before. Like we said before, we own a 4WD vehicle and are comfortable driving in the snow, so getting to the top of the mountain wasn’t too much of an issue for us. But the majority of the weddings guests and the other vendors weren’t so lucky. So the groom and his best man spent almost 3 hours driving their 4WD vehicles up and down the mountain, most of which overlapped with their photography timeline.

 

So, we pivoted and were flexible and adjusted the timeline as needed. We scrapped the first look, and ending up pushing their ceremony back by almost an hour. Then, when all the guests were finally safely up the mountain and we were ready for the ceremony, we sprang into action and worked as quickly and as efficiently as possible. The high that day was only 28°, just a few degrees shy of freezing, but it got even colder as the sun went down or if you stood in the shade. So we ended up breaking their portraits up into two smaller chunks — one right after the ceremony before they entered their cocktail hour, and one right at the end of cocktail hour before they entered their reception. We even experimented with a few indoor portraits! We had dressed as warmly as we could, and were ready for anything!

 

In the end, Bee and Chris were thrilled with their final image gallery, and left us a raving review online. Despite the crazy conditions and the hectic day, we prepared as well as we could, adjusted as we went, and did everything we could to love and serve them well throughout their wedding day. Now go and do the same for your couples on your next cold wedding day!

 

 

Want More?

 

Click HERE to get your free copy of our eBook: “5 Essential Tips for Turning your Side-Hustle into a Full-Time Photography Business.” You’ll also be subscribed to our newsletter, so our newest content, weekly encouragement, and exclusive offers will be delivered right to your inbox!