A Rainy July Wedding at Bellevue Hall | Bailey + Jacob

It rained on Bailey and Jacob’s wedding day, and I’d put the photos up against any sunny Saturday I’ve shot. Their Bellevue Hall wedding in Wilmington, Delaware last July was a small one, about 75 people, which is the number where a wedding starts to feel like a dinner party where everyone happens to be in a tux. Light blue, white, a little green. Cocktail attire. Jacob in a white dinner jacket, which I’ll always vote for.

As a Delaware wedding photographer, I’ve learned that a forecast tells you almost nothing about how a day is going to feel. This one proved it.

Bailey's lace wedding heels in the bridal suite at Bellevue Hall

Jacob's white dinner jacket and Bailey's gown hanging in the doorways of the Bellevue Hall suites

Before anything else happened, before hair and makeup was even finished, Bailey and Jacob read private vows to each other inside the mansion. Just the two of them and me, as quietly as I could manage. I love when a couple does this. The ceremony vows are for everyone. These were theirs.

Then it was a normal Bellevue morning, which is to say a good one. Bailey and her mom and grandmother in the big upstairs suite with the window light. Her dress had a patch sewn inside it, and a locket was tied to her bouquet, the kind of details you’d miss if you weren’t told to look. Down the hall, Jacob’s dad was working on his cuff links and his mom was straightening his bow tie, and I got the shot of both of them at it, which made me happy.

Jacob's dad helping him with his cuff links in the groom's suite

Jacob's mom fixing his bow tie, and Bailey putting on her earrings by the window

Bailey looking out the tall window of the bridal suite at Bellevue Hall

Bailey with her mom and grandmother in the bridal suite

Bailey in her wedding dress in the window light at Bellevue Hall in Wilmington, DE

Bailey's veil and train from behind as she looks out the window

Bailey saw her dad first, on the front patio. Then she came down the grand staircase on his arm, because by then the rain had made the call for us. The ceremony moved into the front hall of the mansion, with the big fanlight doors behind them and the guests packed into the hall. Father Gayton officiated with a custom cross at the altar. Here’s what I’ll tell anyone worried about rain at Bellevue: that room photographed beautifully. The white walls, the tall windows, Bailey’s train stretched across the floor. If it had been sunny, I’d have fewer favorite frames from this wedding, not more.

Bailey's first look with her dad on the front patio of Bellevue Hall

Jacob in his white dinner jacket by the stone wall, and his boutonniere detail

Jacob with his sisters on the front steps of the mansion

Custom monogram ceremony programs and personalized hand fans

Bailey coming down the grand staircase with her dad for the indoor ceremony

Jacob waiting at the front of the mansion hall with Father Gayton

Guests gathered in the front hall of Bellevue Hall for the rainy day ceremony

Bailey and her dad walking down the aisle inside the mansion

The ceremony in the front hall of Bellevue Hall with the fanlight doors behind the couple

Bailey's train stretched across the hall floor during the ceremony

Bailey and Jacob's recessional down the hall as guests cheer

Right after the recessional the two of them collapsed onto the couch in the hall with a drink each, and that’s one of my favorite pictures of the day. Nobody posed it.

Bailey and Jacob sharing a drink on the couch right after the ceremony

We did family photos on the front steps under the portico, which stays dry, and then the rain let up enough to get the two of them out. The columns first, then the garden path behind the mansion where the hydrangeas were going, then the stone cottage by the tent. If you’ve read my guide to a Bellevue Hall wedding, you know I love that cottage. Bailey twirled her dress in front of it and I think that’s the frame her mom is going to print.

Family formals on the front steps of Bellevue Hall

Bailey's bouquet with the locket tied to the stems

Bailey and Jacob kissing at the base of the columns at Bellevue Hall

Jacob dipping Bailey under the portico, and a kiss under the veil in the garden

Bailey and Jacob walking the garden path behind the mansion

Bailey and Jacob by the hydrangeas on the garden path

Under the veil in the garden, and a quiet moment by the big tree on the grounds

The reception was in the clear top tent, and this is where the rain turned into a feature. Water on the roof, a greenery chandelier overhead, string lights, and the sky going gray and then dark behind all of it. Bailey danced with her dad, Jacob with his mom, and the whole room could see the rain the entire time.

Centerpiece with white hydrangeas and candles in the tent

Engraved cake knife and server on a light blue napkin

Bailey and Jacob entering the clear top tent with rain on the roof and a greenery chandelier overhead

Bailey dancing with her dad in the tent as the rain comes down outside

Jacob dancing with his mom at the reception

By the time dinner was done the sky had cleared enough that we snuck out, first to the stone cottage in the last of the light and then to the lawn, and got the wide open frames we thought we’d lost. There was a cornhole board. There was a custom drink stirrer with their names on it. The dance floor was checkered and it was full.

Bailey and Jacob by the stone cottage next to the tent at Bellevue Hall

Bailey in her gown at the stone cottage, and the two of them on the tree lined path

Bailey twirling her dress in front of the stone cottage

Bailey and Jacob walking away down the tree lined path

Bailey and Jacob on the lawn behind the mansion after the rain cleared

Bailey and Jacob playing on the lawn at Bellevue Hall

Jacob holding Bailey close on the lawn under a clearing sky

Jacob dipping Bailey on the lawn at Bellevue Hall

Jacob and Bailey being themselves on the lawn

The custom cocktail stirrer, and the three tier cake with the cake topper

Bailey and Jacob on the checkered dance floor in the tent

Bailey and Jacob on the lawn at night after dark

Friends singing along on the dance floor

Guests dancing in the tent at Bellevue Hall

The dance floor going late at Bailey and Jacob's reception

Bailey's sisters in law dancing, and a toast on the dance floor

Bailey and her bridesmaid spinning on the dance floor under the tent lights

Bailey and Jacob left for Cancun two days later. I hope it rained there too, a little, for luck.

What Made Bellevue Hall Work for Bailey + Jacob

I wrote a full guide to planning a Bellevue Hall wedding after shooting nine of them, with first look spots, sunset times by month, and the rain plan. For Bailey and Jacob, reading private vows early, before the day got loud, set the tone for everything after.

When the rain came, the front hall turned out to be one of the prettiest rooms in the building, and the portico kept family formals dry. The rain moved through, and we stepped outside for a few minutes once it cleared. Every Bellevue wedding finds its own rhythm, and this was theirs.

Planning a wedding at Bellevue Hall or anywhere around Wilmington and the Brandywine Valley? We’re a Delaware wedding photographer and videographer team with a documentary approach, which is a fancy way of saying your gallery and film will feel like your day, not a photo shoot. Reach out and tell us what you’re dreaming up.