Brrrrr! Outdoor winter wedding pictures anyone?

Eva-baran

Hello,

I'm getting married on December 31st in Chicago and wanted to take pictures around town.  Has anyone been brave enough to do this?  Did you survive?  How did the pictures turn out?  I'm worried about the obvious: 1. getting sick  2. super red nose 3. frostbite  4. dress getting dirty from the slush!!!

Any advice will help!

Thanks!
-Eva

seventiespop

You might want to page knottie Raeyn, she got married at the end of January of this year and had outdoor pictures done that turned out beautifully!

madibelle

I will be doing the same thing, this is a great post. My wedding is Jan 29th and we also will be doing outside wedding shoots. I was thinking of getting the girls uggs (or fake ones) to wear while we are outside so that they do not get thier shoes dirty or that their toes will not freeze.

Good Luck

Ainslie325

I took them on the coast near Boston (pretty much the same weather patterns and temps).  We were lucky and caught a January day in the 50's, but I'd bought a fur stole just in case. We had friends who took theirs on the Chicago lakefront and Michigan Ave. last November-- all survived unscathed and warmed up in the trolley between locations.

For our wedding, I just watched where I stepped and kept my skirt and train gathered in my arms until we were ready to shoot.  Your train will get a bit dirty (just from being on the ground/street) but it won't be visible as you walk down the aisle (assuming you're taking photos before the ceremony).  My phtog suggested using heat wraps (available at the drug store) and wrapping them around my thighs to help stay warm.  I brought them out east with me, but because it wasn't that cold, I didn't end up using them.

karijohannsen

I was in a wedding that took place in December in Chicago on one of the biggest snow days of the year.  It made for the perfect, picturesque wedding.  We had a bus that took us around for photos and the bride had a white, faux fur stole to keep warm.   We all had our coats and when the bus pulled up we'd all derobe and run out, take the pics within 5 mins and hop back on.  We had a combo of indoor and outdoor pics and they were some of the best wedding photos I've seen!

polichik

We took our engagement pictures on the coldest day in January in Millennium Park. We were miserable by the end, but the photos are so great! They're in my bio if you'd like to see them One is in my sig as well. I think winter photos there look so gorgeous.

Rie028

Life On Prints did our photos between the cermony and the reception downtown last December, and they turned out great!  We had a little bit of snow in the morning, and it was cold, but not freezing. We had a blast!

reneeandscott

Great question!  My fiance and I are getting married the same day and I've been wondering about that too! 

I sent you a PM Eva.

raeyn

I just saw this post 'cause I don't check this board often anymore, but I thought I'd put in my 2 cents since Shadia mentioned my photos. I got married in January on a very cold day. I LOVE how the pictures turned out, and yes -- we did survive. You can see some of my favorites here: http://mrsraeyn.weebly.com/pre-ceremony.html

To address your specific concerns:

1. My understanding is that cold weather doesn't actually make people sick. It may not be very good for you if you're already sick, but you can't catch a cold just from being cold. If you get sick right after the wedding it's more likely from all the stress!

2. I definitely had a super red nose by the end of it, but what doesn't kill you... In most of the photos you can't tell how red my nose was, and in the few that you can it just adds to the memory of the day.

3. Frostbite it certainly a concern, but the key here is just to make your stops as quick as possible. We stopped at two places, and at the second one we literally ran out of the limo to Buckingham Fountain snapped a few quick photos in one pose, and then bolted back into the limo! My girls all had pashmina scarves to wrap around their shoulders, and I had a faux fur wrap. Whenever we weren't taking pictures, I tucked my hands into the wrap and made DH carry my bouquet. Hand warmers would have been a very good investment, as my hands were really the only part of me that was bothered by the cold. My nose and toes mainly just noticed it when we went back inside. It turned out that everyone in the wedding party had a black coat (or, in one case, a huge black fur wrap), that they wore as we walked from place to place in Millennium Park. Some of my favorite photos are of the wedding party walking beside me in their black coats and huddling together in a line as DH and I took a few couple shots.

4. There wasn't much snow on the ground (and it was too cold for slush) so I didn't have to worry about my dress getting slushy. Still, I took all the outdoor pictures with my train bustled to be safe. It got a little dirty, but not so much that anyone would notice.

The one other thing to consider is that tropical flowers will enjoy the Chicago winter climate even less than you and your wedding party. My bouquet did alright, but my husband's orchid boutonniere was toast after an hour outside. Fortunately, my florist was also my DOC and she had a fresh orchid for him just in time for the ceremony.

Have fun and good luck with the weather!