September 7th, 2007 Planning for Great Photographs
As a wedding planner, my job is to make sure the bride and groom are blissfully happy and the vendors have all the tools they need to do their jobs. If I do my job right and your photographer is talented at what they do, you should end up with some really great wedding photographs. Here’s how to get the most out of your wedding day photography:
1. Have your caterer serve your photographer before guests are served their entree. Most reception sites will set a separate area aside for vendor meals but they won’t give up any food until all the guests have been served. Imagine your photographer, lugging heavy equipment all day, then waiting around while guests are eating (people hate getting their photo taken when they have food in their mouth). Then once their dinner is served, the toasts have already begun and lead into the father-daughter dance which means the photographer can’t go back and eat for another 45 minutes. Hardly fair at all!
2. Create a family photo list of all the combinations you’d like captured. This usually looks like, “Bride & Groom” “Bride & Groom w/ Groom’s parents” “Bride & Groom w/ Bride’s parents” “Bride w/ bridesmaids” “Groom w/ groomsmen.” Okay, you get the idea. Even if your photographer is amazing, they still may not know that your parents have both been divorced twice, remarried twice, you have 8 step siblings and that only some of them should be in family photos. Giving them a list of the family shots you need will help the formal photo session go a lot faster and be a lot less stressful for everyone involved. Plus, your great aunt Mildred won’t be mistakenly left out.
3. Tell your photographer what’s important to you. If you have a grandparent of ill health and you want them to be recorded, tell your photographer! If you spent 5 weeks straight on your escort cards and really want a photo for your scrapbook, tell your photographer! If you bought your dress because of the detail in the lace, tell your photographer! All these little details can help tell the story of your wedding day in a way that’s meaningful to you. I’ve seen a lot of brides be disappointed with their wedding photos because they assumed the photographer knew what was important.
4. Be patient. Some brides think they are the only brides in the world at any given moment, but wedding photographers can easily book up to 40-50 weddings a year. On weekends they are shooting weddings and during the week they are editing the last couple jobs, putting together albums, filling print orders, running their day-to-day office, and meeting with potential clients. Therefore, be patient when your photographer takes a few days to return an email or a phone call. Most wedding vendors tend to focus on their clients a week at a time, so unless you’re getting married in a few days they don’t see your requests as being urgent. Don’t worry though — when it’s your wedding week, all eyes will be focused 110% on you!
5. Unless you have a special send-off (bubbles, sparklers, bird seed, etc), don’t make your photographer stay until the very end of the night. A few photos of drunken dancing people are great, but when your photographer has 2-3 hours to wander the dance floor, you’ll end up with a ton of unusable photos. If your photographer has a base number of hours in their package, have them start a little earlier in the day to capture you and your bridesmaids getting ready. Just be sure not to cut it too close at the end of the night — if you’re behind schedule you won’t want them to miss the cake cutting!!
I hope these few tips have been helpful! To learn more about my wedding planning company here in the Washington, DC area, check out my website. To find some more great tips on making your wedding day great, we also have a blog! If you’ll be in town this weekend, we’ll also be at the Washington Bridal Showcase at the Dulles Expo Center and would love to meet you.