Six tips for getting the best photos on your wedding day
Everyone wants great Wedding Photos
Not everyone knows how to get them. Before you begin your wedding planning experience, know a great relationship with your wedding photographer is essential. Working with someone you feel comfortable with makes all the difference!
Tip 1: take 3 min out of your morning to straighten out your getting ready room
Junk can accumulate faster than ANYTHING the morning of a wedding! If you plan in your wedding day timeline to clean up everything before your photographer arrives, I guarantee that priceless moment of you with your girls laughing or the moment you put your dress on won't be interrupted by the empty stray water bottles across the floor or stray food wrappers.
We always tell the couple to have their room cleaned of garbage and food items about 20 min before we arrive!
Take the time to develop a relationship with your wedding photographers. It can make such an impact in the connection you feel with your wedding photos overall.
Tip 2: Tell everyone to be PRESENT on the day
I think we have all been brainwashed by the baby boomer generation that the only great way to look good in a camera is to look directly at it and smile. While this can make for some great photos, this doesn't give you those candid moments that you want to happen on your wedding day. I highly suggest that you tell your friends and family to just focus on being present in the moment of your day, and not worry about engaging with the camera unless your Photographer asks! This way, no one has to worry about anything other than enjoying themselves, and it allows the photographer to capture some uninterrupted moments during the wedding day!
Tip 3: Be honest with what you are going to be feeling during the wedding day
The last thing you want is to feel overwhelmed, and your wedding day can easily get that way if you don't adequately prepare. In fact, one of the worst things you can do is to cross your fingers and hope you don't get stressed or hope you won't get too emotional. I suggest sitting down with your photographer 1:1 over the timeline and ask them what is commonly felt during key moments of the wedding day, and ask yourself, "what am I likely to feel during this time?" Do you anticipate feeling stress due to being late? Frustration over family photos? It is far better to prepare yourself mentally for any negative feelings so you can plan on tactics to avoid, or move past these feelings if/when they occur.
Tip 4: Make Couples formal shots about YOU and not about what you saw on pinteresT
The moments you cultivate between you and your partner are going to be far more meaningful if they are unique to YOUR relationship rather than a rehash of what someone else's day looked like. While there is nothing wrong with gathering inspiration and poses, the photos couples end up loving the most are the ones that represented THEM at their best, and not another couple at their's.
-Are you both funny/goofy together?
-Are you both laid back?
-Are you both Romantic?
-Are you both outgoing and adventurous?
Choose to showcase THOSE things!
Tip 5: Prioritize with your photographer on what photos matter most to you
While a great photographer will aim to capture Everything on your wedding day, giving them a break down of the elements that are key and most important to you can really help to ensure that you are getting MORE of those types of photos in your gallery/album/flash drive.
For example: If getting ready is one of the parts of the day you are most excited about, consider having your photographer come an hour earlier than they normally do to ensure that the day is documented with that as an even greater focal point!
Here is what we recommend. Grab a piece of paper and make two columns. Column A is going to be "Moments" and Column B is going to be Details. For Column A jot down the moments of the day that you are most excited about, from most important to least important, such as "Walking down the aisle together after our first kiss" or "First Look" or "Cocktail hour with our guests". On Column B, do the exact same thing for the details that you are most excited about such as "Engraved rings" "Handwritten Vows in Vow book" "Grandma's Veil" etc.
Tip 6: I said it before, I'll say it again. Take the time to develop a relationship with your wedding photographer
I know this tip is going to be a little controversial within the photography community, because many photographers outline their roles and responsibilities mainly as "showing up and shooting the wedding". While there is nothing wrong with this, I can only share my personal experience when I say that I have gotten the BEST candid photos and the most meaningful imagery when I have taken the time to go out of my way to ask my clients meaningful questions and get to know them BEYOND the basics.
Many people ask why our photos look so natural, and I attribute so much of that to going above and beyond what is expected of me and to get to know them and their families/friends as people. When we show up to a wedding, we want to not only feel a part of the action, but we want to be trusted and we want to feel like we are a part of this incredible experience together with you. We want you to feel comfortable enough with us to cry if you need, to open up with us, or to even just let us guide you and direct you through the formal moments.
Theres more to love...
Check out the couples we have connected with!
Rachel + Michael
Who we are
Somewhere between our obsession with our dog and sarcastic sense of humor we found ourselves falling in love with Weddings. There is nothing quite like seeing people at their happiest, and being able to help them feel like their best selves in front of the camera. This is exactly why we chose to specialize and ONLY do Weddings, so we can take everyone and truly help show them as the best versions of themselves and help them feel comfortable in an experience they are just now experiencing for the first time.