Amy & Gabe’s Rainy Portsmouth Wedding at Prescott Park

It was supposed to be a nice day.

Like, actually nice. No rain. No weather drama. Just a lovely little wedding day in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

So naturally, when I pulled into Portsmouth for Amy and Gabe’s wedding at Prescott Park, it was absolutely downpouring.

Of course it was.

I had arrived about an hour early, which is pretty typical for me because I like having plenty of time to get there, get parked, scout things out, and generally make sure I’m not running around like an asshole five minutes before a ceremony starts. But this time, I mostly sat in my car watching the rain come down and wondering what the hell we were going to do.

Thankfully, the rain eventually started to peter out. The downpour turned into a drizzle, and that was good enough for me.

So I headed over to the Tredwell Mansion to find everyone getting ready.

And this was one of those weddings where the getting ready part was exactly what I love about small weddings.

It was relaxed. Nobody was freaking out. Nobody was running around asking where Aunt Karen was. Nobody was having a meltdown because the timeline was three minutes behind.

Amy was getting ready with Gabe and her daughter. Gabe was getting dressed in the room with his son, while Amy was doing her own hair and makeup. And considering Amy used to be a hairdresser, she was obviously more than capable of handling her own beauty routine.

Her sister had done her daughter's hair, and everyone was just hanging out and enjoying the morning.

No chaos. No pressure. Just their people.

And they knew the rain was supposed to stop, so we weren't going to let a little weather ruin the day.

And then there were the flowers...

Amy had originally had flowers planned that she wasn't crazy about.

So her sister did what any good sister would do.

She made new ones.

That morning.

All of the bouquets were made by Amy's sister, and they were absolutely incredible. She completely rolled with the change and created these beautiful, unique bouquets for the wedding.

Honestly, I love shit like this.

Not everything has to be perfectly planned six months in advance. Sometimes the best parts of a wedding happen because somebody looks at the situation and says, “Okay, we'll just do this instead.”

And that's exactly what happened.

Walking to Prescott Park

Gabe headed to the park early to get everything set up while Amy finished getting ready.

Then Amy, her sister, and her daughter walked the couple of blocks from Tredwell Mansion down to Prescott Park.

It was still drizzling a little.

Not exactly what we'd ordered.

But everyone just kept going.

By the time they arrived at the park, their guests were already waiting.

The ceremony was officiated by one of Amy's good friends, which made the whole thing feel even more personal. This wasn't some giant production. It was their friends, their family, and the people who mattered most to them.

And then, because apparently the weather wanted to make sure we didn't forget it was there, the rain picked up again toward the end of the ceremony.

So everyone grabbed umbrellas, laughed about it, and carried on.

Because what else are you going to do?

You can spend the whole day being pissed off about the weather, or you can just fucking roll with it.

They chose the second option.

Cupcakes, lemonade & love locks

After the ceremony, we knocked out the family formals quickly and then everyone got to enjoy some seriously fun personal touches.

Amy and Gabe handed out cupcakes and homemade lemonade filled with fresh fruit.

And then they gave each of their guests a lock.

Everyone wrote a little message on their lock before adding it to the fence at Prescott Park, joining all of the other locks already there.

I loved this because it gave their guests something to actually do and be part of instead of just standing around waiting for the next thing to happen.

And then it was time for the fun part.

Just Amy and Gabe.

Exploring Portsmouth for portraits

Once we headed out for their couple portraits, the weather finally decided to get its shit together.

The sun came out.

It warmed up.

And suddenly, the day that started with me sitting in my car watching a monsoon turned into a gorgeous afternoon.

We walked through Portsmouth toward Tredwell Mansion, stopping along the way for portraits.

And Portsmouth is basically a giant playground for a photographer.

Old brick buildings. Historic architecture. Little streets and alleyways. Gorgeous textures everywhere you look.

We just walked.

They held hands, laughed, joked around, and had a genuinely good time together.

And that's really what I want during portraits.

I don't need couples to know how to pose.

I don't need them to suddenly become professional models because I pulled out my camera.

I just need them to be themselves.

And Amy and Gabe were so damn good at that.

They were funny. They were comfortable together. They laughed constantly. They were completely themselves.

Which makes my job ridiculously easy.

Back to Tredwell Mansion

When we made our way back to Tredwell Mansion, we took advantage of the gorgeous light and created a few of my favorite cinematic portraits using off-camera lighting.

Then we headed up to the rooftop to finish their portraits.

The whole day had completely transformed.

What started with a torrential downpour turned into sunshine, warm weather, beautiful light, and two people having an absolute blast together.

And honestly?

That's kind of the perfect wedding day.

Not because everything went exactly according to plan.

Because it didn't.

It rained when it wasn't supposed to rain. The flowers changed the morning of the wedding. Everyone had to grab umbrellas during the ceremony.

And nobody cared.

They just kept moving.

They laughed.

They enjoyed their people.

They ate cupcakes.

They drank homemade lemonade.

They made memories with their guests.

And then they wandered around Portsmouth together, enjoying being married.

That's the stuff I love about small weddings.

And then there's Amy...

I've actually known Amy for a number of years, so being able to photograph her wedding was extra special for me.

She's just one of those genuinely good people.

So getting to be there for this part of her life and then spending the day photographing her and Gabe being completely ridiculous together — was pretty damn awesome.

And yes, I know I say I have the funniest couples all the time.

But seriously.

I have the best couples.

Amy and Gabe were just so much fun to photograph. They trusted me, they rolled with everything, and they made the entire day easy.

And that's really all I could ask for.

A little rain?

Whatever.

We'll figure it out.

Because sometimes the best wedding photos come from the days that don't go exactly according to plan.