Michelle and Bill weren’t going to let a little rain stop them from celebrating their wedding this summer. It had absolutely poured the morning of in Vernon, and it had only just let up when I arrived at their house. Bill was prepared: He set up huge tents in their backyard to accommodate everyone for the reception, and they had a backup plan if they couldn’t get married outside like they’d planned.

Luckily, seats were dried, decorations were hung, and despite some lingering humidity and more possible rain in the forecast, they pushed on.

The ceremony ended up being incredible — friends and family gathered around the family garage as Bill, escorted by his mom and brother, and Michelle, escorted by her oldest son, made their way down the aisle to meet Michelle’s two younger sons, her maid of honor, and their officiant on their home’s front steps.

As the night went on, we did see some more rain and humidity, which made us run into some humid camera lenses, quickly-changing natural light, and mildly wet clothes, but Michelle and Bill couldn’t have been more flexible and understanding. Luckily, the rain did hold off long enough for some of their wedding guests to surprise them with a wonderful fireworks display.

When it was time for cake, we realized that the area set up for desserts didn’t have much light, so we improvised — a few friends and family gathered around the couple and shined their phone flashlights on them and their cake, making for a moment that I’ll truly never forget. Embarrassingly, a piece of my flash went missing sometime before the cake cutting, but we won’t talk about that… ?

Speaking of cake, as if their day wasn’t special enough, Bill also celebrated his birthday that day! I’ll take this opportunity to remind other photographers not to get too close to the cake, especially when there’s a birthday cake being thrown at the birthday boy. It tasted great when I licked it off my arm, though!