Rainy Wedding Days are a Total Vibe
A Vibe. A Sign. An Absolute Mood.
Naturally, many couples have concerns about the weather on their wedding day. Especially when it’s an Auckland wedding and often we actually do get four seasons in one day (they wrote the song for a reason!). So many venues have fantastic options to accommodate a back up plan of having a beautiful wedding ceremony inside if it’s raining.
But here's the thing about rain on your wedding day. From Hindu tradition to Celtic handfasting ceremonies - cultures across the world have long considered it a blessing. And the most perfectly apt explanation comes from the ancient Celts: a wet knot is harder to untie. If that's not the ideal wedding superstition, I don't know what is.
I love The Hunting Lodge for a rainy day wedding … they have a gorgeous under cover area with a backdrop vista of the grapevines … so cleverly, it LOOKS like you’re outside and you get that wonderful depth in your photographs.
Over on Waiheke Island, The Mudbrick Vineyard & Restaurant and Tantalus Estate both have incredible indoor ceremony spaces to accommodate the ever changing weather of Auckland. You don’t lose the atmosphere by moving inside - if anything, the mood becomes even more intimate and dramatic.
Other gorgeous Auckland venues that have a great indoor ceremony option are Kauri Bay Boomrock … I did James and Victoria’s wedding in October 2022 … it was pouring with rain so their wedding was inside and fireside. Gorgeous and cosy. These two aren’t fans of being in the sun anyway, so it was win win!
Kumeu Valley Estate has a fabulous country barn feel to their indoor option, add in fairy lights and candles like they did for Kelly and Peter’s wedding in January and you find yourself in a magical wonderland.
The Boutique Barn at Puhoi also has a variety of cute indoor options also, a country, wildflowers, boho and candles type vibe.
Stables Matakana offers a fantastic fireside option also, a western American country feel if outside is raining and windy. As does The Boat House at The Riverhead … absolutely gorgeous option beside the river.
Tui Hills also offers a stunning indoor option in their award winning glass walled Nikau Pavilion - perfect choice for a winter wedding too - and their sister venue Abel Estate has a gorgeous permanent transparent marquee on site in case of inclement weather!
Then there’s The Glasshouse in Morningside which is a stunning option for an indoor wedding.
The Hotel Britomart is perfect for an indoor cocktail-style wedding in the city. One of my favourite weddings there was a Friday night where the ceremony flowed straight into the party - lots of indoor ceremony spaces to choose from.
An incredible bonus to a rainy day or overcast day for your wedding is that your photos will always be STUNNING. I’m always super excited when it’s overcast … it means that its beautiful, even light – so much easier for your photographer, no one is squinting into the sun, no shadows for them to work around … just gorgeous and consistent which makes for great photos. In my day job as a director – I love this light too – makes filming so much more straightforward!
Check out some of my favourite indoor wedding or rainy day wedding photos. Look at the evenness of the light and the magical, mystical quality that a raining, overcast vibe brings!
Kumeu Valley Estate | Photography by Hollow & Co
Pilkingtons | Photography by Alex Wallace Photography
The Boat House | Photography by Evermore
Kauri Bay Boomrock | Photography by James Watt
Mudbrick Vineyard and Restaurant | Photography by Sacha Stejko
The Hunting Lodge | Photography by Clare Gordon