I’ll be totally honest with you I spent most of the week before Morgan and Gilbert’s wedding stressing about the weather. The forecast was calling for thunderstorms straight through their ceremony window, and I kept refreshing radar like that was going to help anything. However, this is Vermont and I should have known after photographing dozens of Vermont weddings that I just needed to be patient and see what the day would bring us.
And in fact it didn’t thunderstorm. It was one of the most beautiful days I’ve ever photographed.
If you’re planning a spring wedding in Vermont and the forecast is already making you nervous, I want you to read this story of Morgan & Gilbert’s day.
A Vermont wedding day story
Their day was filled with so many layers of sentiment and meaning. Morgan’s grandmother had passed away before the wedding, and she had her grandmother’s gown carefully restored so she could wear it herself. From the moment I saw her in it, I knew this day was going to be different.
They started a few minutes early, partly because the clouds were still threatening. As the officiant gave his welcome speech, the sky overhead was thick and gray. Then he said the word grandmother, and the clouds broke open. Bright sun started streaming through, the kind that makes everything look almost too vivid to be real. The flowers were in full bloom, the light was warm, and if you’ve ever had a moment where you thought, okay, that cannot be a coincidence. This was one of those.
The toast, the thunder, and the double rainbow
Later, after everyone moved inside, Morgan’s father stood to give his welcome toast. He talked about their love, and then his voice caught when he got to the part about the grandmother, about Morgan wearing her dress. In that exact moment there was a single loud crack of thunder, and when everyone turned toward the windows there was a rainbow outside.
The whole room gasped at the same time. People were laughing and crying, guests were already moving toward the doors, and Morgan and Gilbert and I went right outside and took portraits in front of it while their whole wedding party spilled out behind us, completely unposed, completely real. I got a little emotional driving home that night. The people who aren’t here anymore still find ways to show up.
What made this day feel like them
When I talked with Morgan and Gilbert before the wedding, I asked what they most wanted reflected in their photos. They said they wanted to capture their deep love of the outdoors and the natural world. They wanted candid moments, the two of them just being present with each other, not posed. And they wanted the people around them, their community, captured in that same way.
That’s exactly what we got. The ceremony in open air with light breaking through clouds. Portraits in front of a double rainbow with their guests standing behind them, completely real. The whole day felt like them because they built it that way, and then they actually let themselves be in it. That’s the thing about couples who are drawn to being outside. They’re usually pretty good at being present. They’re not performing. They just show up, and you follow them.
Planning a spring Vermont wedding
Stop fighting the forecast. Vermont is unpredictable and that’s part of what makes it so good. Make a backup plan, talk to your venue about what rain actually looks like for their space, and then let it go. The couples who grip the forecast miss what’s happening in front of them.
Pick a venue with its own character. This is my second wedding at The Barn at Smuggler’s Notch, and both times I’ve left with the same feeling. It’s a property that photographs beautifully in spring, the barn is warm and spacious, and the surrounding land gives you real options for ceremony locations. It feels grounded in Vermont in a way that matters if you chose this place on purpose.
Keep the details personal. Morgan and Gilbert are cat people. They have inside jokes. They have a word, cosmic, that belongs only to them. Those details showed up everywhere, and they’re what made it feel like their wedding and no one else’s. The photos that matter most in thirty years are the ones that couldn’t have been taken at anyone else’s wedding.
Give yourself room to feel it. Weddings are a lot. Having people around you who know how to stay calm, who won’t add to the chaos, who will notice the good moments before they pass, makes a real difference.
How to choose your wedding vendors
Tips for staying present on your wedding day
About me
I’m Marissa, owner of Peaks & Pearls Photography based in Vermont. I’m also a licensed clinical social worker, which means I bring a different kind of attention to a wedding day. I notice when nerves are running high, I understand family dynamics, and I know how to help couples stay grounded when everything is happening at once.
My couples tend to love being outside. They care more about how the day feels than how it looks on paper. They want their wedding to actually feel like them.
If that’s you, I’d love to connect.
