14 Wedding-Day Tips From Your Photographer

We have seen a wedding or two (or 300). We know that you’re bound to get a lot of advice and opinions as you are planning your wedding. We recommend that you always do your due diligence, and so we want to share with you 14 tips that only your photographer knows about.  

Once the day begins, relax and enjoy it!

I know this may sound super obvious, but once the day begins it is time to enjoy the day, regardless of what unplanned events may happen. If something goes wrong, you’re surrounded by people who love you and are willing to help. Your wedding day should not be full of you checking boxes and trying to control things. Your wedding day should be full of beautiful experiences. You will remember this day for the rest of your life. Don’t spend it frantically hustling. If the weather isn’t what you planned, embrace it with a smile. If someone is running behind, greet them with a big hug when they arrive. If your dress gets some dirt on it, that’s okay, today’s the day it gets dirty. If you are stressed, it will show through in the photos. Smile and remember that you’re being photographed more today than you’ve likely ever been photographed before.

Add buffer time to your schedule.

Between all key portions of your wedding day (especially before the ceremony) add extra buffer time. I can’t tell you how many times I have seen hair and makeup go longer than expected. Doing hair and makeup at a salon or during a test run doesn’t take into account how long it will take on the actual wedding day. If you have 8 people getting hair and makeup done, and each person runs 5-10 min behind, that turns into an hour very quickly. Certain elements of your day, such as when food is to be served, can’t be adjusted. And, unfortunately, if the schedule gets off, our on-on-one photography time with you often gets shortened. Creating buffers throughout the day gives us time to catch up if needed.

Keep Your Bridal Suite Tidy.

We can use creative techniques to hide clutter, but if we are photographing you getting ready, keep your bridal suite tidy. An excellent way to do this is to get a suite with multiple rooms, one for getting hair and makeup done and another for getting dressed. If you stayed overnight and partied in the room, plan on having room service arrive before starting the day. I would imagine that the last thing you want in photos of you getting into your dress are yesterday’s clothes, food wrappers, or other miscellaneous clutter lying around the room.

Hang your dress on a nice hanger.

Wedding dresses often come on cheap, plastic hanger. We will likely be photographing your dress before you put it on. A nice custom or wooden hanger will improve the way your dress photographs.

Have one-on-one time with your VIP’s.

The day will come and go in the blink of an eye. Adding time to your schedule to slow down and have memorable moments is important. It’s hard to appreciate the day when it’s all in a rush. Not only do we suggest a first look with your soon to be spouse, but we also suggest a first look or one-on-one moment with your parents and other VIP’s.

Practice getting dressed.

This may sound funny, but you’re likely going to wear clothes that you’re not familiar with. Getting in and out of a wedding dress with freshly done hair and makeup may be more difficult than you think. Buttoning up 32 tiny, silk-covered buttons may take a crochet hook and a significant amount of time. Learning how to bustle or unbustle your dress or how to tie a bowtie for the first time on your wedding day is probably not the best idea.

The guys can get pampered too or least have some fun.

We have all seen the photos of the bride and bridesmaid getting their hair and makeup professionally done while having a good time drinking mimosas and laughing. What are the guys and groomsmen doing during this time? Often they’re just sitting around waiting. We recommend that the guys hit up the local barbershop and get a fresh shave, or go out and have fun doing some sort of activity, such as golfing, shooting, touring a micro brewery etc.

Don’t try something new with your hair and makeup.

Your wedding day is not the day to test out a new color lipstick or hairstyle. Test it multiple times beforehand. Have your photos taken in different lighting situations to make sure the color and style are exactly what you want. You’re going to feel best with tried and true hair and makeup.

Take as many photos as you can before the ceremony.

We highly recommend doing a first look with your soon to be spouse. We even offer to do first looks prior to the wedding day. Doing a first look not only allows us to do all of your daytime couple’s photos without vying for a place on a busy-day schedule, it also frees up wedding-day time to ensure we can do family and wedding-party photos before the ceremony. And this, in turn, allows you to have more time with your guests during the reception.

Only include immediate family in your family photos.

We highly suggest only including immediate family in your organized family photos. This would include parents, siblings, siblings’ spouses, kids, and grandparents. Once you branch out beyond this to aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. people start to feel left out if they’re not included and the shot list starts to get rather lengthy. We require 3 minutes per photo for groupings under 10 people and 5 minutes per photo for groupings of more than 10 people. We will organize a detailed family shot list with you and are happy to photograph any grouping and family members you’d like, given we have enough time.

Large bouquets aren’t always better.

We love floral arrangements and bouquets, but bigger is not always better! We suggest keeping your bouquet small enough to be manageable and to not cover too much of your beautiful wedding dress. An easy test that I would recommend is seeing if you’re able to easily give someone a hug while holding the bouquet. If you can’t, We’d recommend getting something smaller.

Don’t hide behind your sweet-heart table decorations.

During the reception, we will be capturing candid reactions throughout the night. We often see large floral arrangements, candles, and other decorations on the sweetheart table that make it nearly impossible to see both the bride and groom at the same time. Keep your decorations shorter than 10” or wrap them in front of the table instead of on top of it.

Move your wedding cake away from the wall.

Tucking your wedding cake away in the corner may seem like an obvious place to put it, safe from bumps and all, but keep in mind that it is nearly impossible to photograph you cutting the cake if you’re facing a wall. If you can have the catering staff move the cake to the middle of the dance floor, or at least away from the wall, just before cutting, we can more easily light and navigate around the cake table.

Don’t miss sunset!

One of our favorite times to photograph a couple is during sunset. This often happens at the same time as dinner, speeches, and other formalities. Make sure to check and see when the sun is going to set. We suggest budgeting a minimum of 20-30 minutes to step out at this time, splitting the allotted time with the scheduled sunset right in the middle, so we can take advantage of both golden hour and the beginning of blue hour.

Sneak away together.

Your time will be focused on many different people throughout the day, but remember that this is your day. Block out some one-on-one time for you and your new spouse. We love it when our couples sneak away in the middle of the reception to enjoy a quiet glass of wine or to walk around the venue to soak in the day.

If you’ve gotten this far, you’re a rock star! You’re probably noticing a bit of a theme here. Overall, it is incredibly important to have an organized timeline that allows you enough time to be present and enjoy your wedding day. This will show through in your photos. We are here to help. If you ever have any questions, please don’t hesitate in the slightest to reach out.