Sonora, CA Wedding Photographer | Rancho Vista Wedding | Christine Dibble Photography

September is usually a pretty dry month in Sonora, but two years in a row now, it has poured buckets on outdoor weddings. On the day of Tawnie and Tony’s  Rancho Vista wedding, I was happy at the prospect of clouds because the diffused light can be awesome for midday wedding photos. And we did have some clouds moving in and out. In fact, for a while, it really looked like the outdoor ceremony would be rained out. But the rain stayed to the left of us, and beautiful golden sunlight poured through the clouds on the right and lit the ceremony and portraits afterwards with beautiful golden light. But during the reception, after only three tables had been excused to get dinner from the amazing Mexican food buffet, the clouds decided they could no longer hold all that water, and guests were soaked within seconds. Everyone huddled under the small space left under the eaves. Eventually, they found their way indoors, and the toasts and first dance took places inside a very crowded entry way. During one toast, a groomsman said he was actually happy that the rain had come and chased everyone inside. He said that meant all the special people in Tawnie and Tony’s lives were forced to be together instead of spread out all over the yard. Such a sweet thought! The rain stopped, and the party moved outside into the cold night to continue with the dancing, cake cutting, and garter and bouquet toss. The rain was not the only mishap that day. Tawnie stepped in red ants during portraits, and she had about twenty people under all the layers of her dress trying to shoo them out. The cake knife snapped as they cut the cake, and the officiant ran off the road on his way home and had to hitch a ride back for help. I didn’t bother to tell Tawnie that one of my lights refused to work in the middle of it all too! For all the things that went wrong that day, the most important thing went right–Tawnie and Tony said “I do” surrounded by friends and family. And now they have to be due for a lifetime of good luck together!

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