Brides getting married this week are probably clapping their hands and jumping up and down with glee at the glorious sunshine we are having at the moment. Their wedding photographers are probably wringing their hands instead! Brilliant sunshine of the sort we are having at the moment, makes for challenging photography but a good photographer should have plenty of ideas for using the venue to its best while still getting some beautiful outside pictures.
So what is so difficult about taking photographs in bright sunlight? Firstly it's the lighting. Photographers like to be able to control the lighting, but when the sun is blazing down out of a clear blue sky, there is an awful lot of bright light coming from almost directly above. While the sun may be the light source, the whole sky acts like a reflector. If possible, arranging to have at least some of your photos taken early in the day, or just before sunset, would make for some beautiful shots, but that can be difficult if you want to include your guests. Otherwise, any way you can make the light slightly less direct would help. For example, if you the bridal party stands just in the shade of a building, or a tree, and the photographer stands in the sunshine, the light on the bridal party is softened slightly. Some stunning couple shots can be taken through open archways or doorways; either with the photographer standing outside in the sun, so the shot is more gently lit, or a silhouette style shot with the photographer further in the shade looking out at the sun through the couple. Reflectors can also help bounce the sunlight in the right direction.
One of the other problems with bright light is the reflections it causes. Whether it's windows reflecting the light, or one of your guests' glasses, it can spoil the light in the picture, and even if it doesn't, it is much better if you can see your guests eyes! In the case of windows it may just be a case of changing the angle slightly so the light doesn't bounce directly towards the camera. And your guest can always take their glasses off briefly!
Finally, squinting is a big problem with sunlight. The other issues can more easily be resolved by wedding photographers without causing an issue for yourself or your guests, or afterwards with judicious use of photo editing software, but you can't edit out a squint! Choosing the right angle so the light isn't irritating people's eyes can help, but often you will just need to take lots of shots and hopefully there will be a few without anyone squinting at the camera!