Amber & Brayden's Rainy Intimate Wedding in Acadia Nationa Park | Jordan Pond Hike

The most common question I get asked during the planning process is “what do we do if it rains?”. When planning an elopement, you’re choosing to elope in a stunning natural landscape, and with that, comes the possibility of uncertain weather conditions. Amber and Brayden got to find out the answer during their rainy elopement visiting Jordan Pond Acadia National Park! 

The days leading up to Amber and Brayden’s elopement were not looking good, the forecast called for heavy rain which in Acadia is also normally accompanied by extreme fog. The day of, I was worried. Amber and Brayden had chosen to do their ceremony at a location on Cadillac Mountain with their families, but with the rain, I was worried if that was even going to be possible. 

Intimate Wedding on Cadillac Mountain

We met up with Amber at their Airbnb while she was getting ready with her family. Once she was ready to go, we hopped in the cars and headed up to Cadillac Mountain. Thankfully, when we go to their ceremony location, it was barely drizzling. We found the perfect location tucked behind some trees, sheltering everyone from the wind, and Amber and Brayden shared the sweetest ceremony, surrounded by their families, and officiated by their best friend. The rain held off for all of their ceremony and family photos, aside from a slight mist with the wind. 

Amber and Brayden chose to do a champagne pop after their ceremony and as soon as we got to the location to do it, the rain started. It wasn’t awful but it was definitely raining at this point. After champagne, we headed back to the ceremony location they had chosen, to get a few portraits of just Amber and Brayden on the mountain. As soon as we got to the spot and started shooting, the downpour started. When I say downpour, I mean torrential rain, coming at you sideways from the extreme wind. Within seconds all of us were completely soaked. 

We were stunned, to say the least, but then we all immediately started laughing. At that point we were already soaked, there really wasn’t anything else that could affect us! So, we decided to embrace the rain and just keep exploring! 

Jordan Pond Hike in the Rain

We realized that being on top of a mountain really wasn’t helping with the rain, so we made the decision to head down to Jordan Pond. Normally, Jordan Pond is one of the busiest locations inside Acadia National Park, so it’s super common to have to wait 20+ minutes for a parking spot if you go at peak times. Since it was raining out, Amber and Brayden had the park entirely to themselves! By the time we got to Jordan Pond and to a lower elevation, the rain had subsided to a light drizzle. We started exploring the pond, walking part of the loop trail, and checking out some of the viewpoints along the way. On a sunny day, getting the photos that we did would likely be impossible at the time we went, but since we decided to embrace the rain, all of the amazing locations were empty and free for our exploration. 

This was Amber and Brayden’s first time in the park, and Acadia did not disappoint! Instead of an extreme whiteout of fog that is normally accompanied by the rain, the fog only covered part of the mountaintops, creating one of the most beautiful views I’ve had the privilege of seeing. 

After we were done at Jordan Pond, we went to explore the Otter Cliffs. We hiked along the path stopping at all of our favorite viewpoints soaking in the views and absence of crowds. When we explored everything they wanted to see, we headed back to their Airbnb to sign official documents, and to end the night with a champagne toast and cake cutting with their guests before a catered lobster dinner! 

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