Planning Your Wedding Photography
A good tip to start your planning, make use of your married friends and family and ask them about their experiences from their own weddings. They have been where you are and therefore, they can tell you what they liked or didn’t like, what worked well for them and what didn’t. Ideally you’ll want to have asked them prior to having booked your wedding photographer as they’ll be able to recommend their own if he or she was good.
Before your wedding day you’ll want to communicate with your wedding photographer and arrange any of the important photos that you want from your day. Make sure you have looked through examples of your wedding photographers work prior to booking them. Chances are the majority of the photos you’ll want will just be the standard photos that 99% of wedding photographers take week in week out.
The standard photos usually include the following (depending on which package you have booked with your photographer);
Bridal preparations (Make sure your photographer knows if you have any special/sentimental items – also tr to keep your room tidy for the best photos)
Groom with Best Man/Groomsmen
Ceremony with signing of wedding register
Confetti (Make sure you have plenty of it and discuss when you want to do the photo)
Group Photos (Keep this to a limited amount and make sure your photographer knows what you want at this stage to make it run smoothly)
Bride & Groom
Detail Shots
Speeches
Cake Cut
First Dance and Guests Dancing
To really get the most from your wedding photography you’ll need to allow some time on your wedding day for the photographer to spend some time with you and your spouse. You’ve no doubt paid a lot of money for your wedding photography, so make sure you’re getting your monies worth and allowing your photographer to work to the best of his or her ability. Most photographers worth their money will want to get some “Wow Shots!” for you. Literally photos that will make your friends and family go wow!
Another thing to consider are venue specific shots. By all means look at photos taken by other photographers at your venue and suggest them to your wedding photographer but remember that you have booked your wedding photographer because you like their portfolio. If there are any specific locations at your venue or quirky features, make sure you let your photographer know if you have any ideas.
Finally a lot of good photos are taken on the dancefloor at night. It is always worth asking your photographer to stay a little after the first dance to allow them to get some fun photos of you and your guests letting loose on the dancefloor! Make sure you have planned a playlist that suits you and your guests musical tastes to ensure they’re up on the dancefloor.
Sarah & Joe
