As most of you know – California has been suffering from a serious drought over the last year…

This winter season the drought is officially over. Not only is it over but we have already had a couple of pretty intense (….well intense for Southern California) rain storms.

I watched the weather report for two weeks straight before Matt & Shawna’s wedding at Wedgewood Vellano… and for two weeks straight it was calling for non-stop rain the day of their wedding. I’ll be honest… I was more than a little nervous about the rain. I had never done this before and I had no idea how much rain we could expect… However, the stubborn and determined “Bring it On” side of me was also a little excited for this challenge. I bought some black umbrellas and pocket wizards and had myself ready to take on the rain for the big day.

I woke up on their wedding day to the sound of pouring rain, as anticipated… looked at the hour by hour report and it showed what I had feared… all day, no breaks, rain rain rain. I kept telling myself that no matter what – we’d get amazing storm shots and it would all be great.

Driving in from Tustin to Chino Hills there was literally a line in the sky where the clouds went from gray to almost black right over Chino Hills. As I crossed the city line the rain came down 10 times harder and I thought “…. Shit.” (pardon my language…)

I got to the venue and everything was flooded. There was no way we’d be able to drive Matt & Shawna down to the iconic Wedgewood Vellano bridge that it is known for. I felt bad for them because I knew Shawna really wanted her bridge photo – but it just wasn’t safe. The staff on property and I all agreed we would slide down the hill in those golf carts and no one would be happy.

I glanced out the window again and it was now hailing…. Perfect.

When my second photographer, Lauren, arrived we ran around the property game planning a way to get some new epic wedding photos at Vellano… anything to make our couple as happy as we could with the situation we were in.

Miraculously… the moment Shawna arrived at Vellano the rain completely stopped. Not a single drop fell after she arrived with her bright beautiful smile and her excited energy. She didn’t care about the weather, she was ready to play in the rain with us… all that was on her mind was that she was going to marry her best friend that day. The energy she arrived with changed everything that day and we had an epic stormy day photoshoot! No bridge? No problem… Lauren and I played with some new lighting techniques and had a blast.

At one point… Lauren even took of her rain boots and walked barefoot through the puddles and into the mud so that Shawna wouldn’t have to muddy up her bright red strappy heals… literally – ANYTHING for the bride. That’s our motto.

Take a look at this gorgeous Wedgewood Vellano wedding!

For more information about Wedgewood Wedding photograph please visit us at http://www.ShyHeartStudios.com – and for more information on our other photography services please visit http://www.BriannaCaster.com

With Love & Hope,

Brianna