The Best Wedding Photography Tips You Need To Know
3 EASY Tips To Get The Most Out Of Your Wedding Photography!
When I arrive on your wedding day, I grab my cameras and a few other pieces of equipment, and I'm ready to go!
I usually begin the day by photographing your details - wedding dress, shoes, jewelry, and any other meaningful elements. I find most people are thankful that I don't walk into the room and immediately start taking photos of them. We ease into the day.
The "getting ready" photos are one of my favorite parts of your wedding day. Everyone is filled with anticipation of what's to come and you can feel an amazing energy all around you. It's exhilarating! After the details are captured, it's time to photograph you and your bridesmaids. This is where the fun begins.
Today, I am going to share 3 wedding photography tips with you to ensure you get the most of your photos!
3 wedding photography tips to ensure great wedding photography!
1. Getting Ready - It's All About The Light & Eliminating Distractions
I mean absolutely no offense when I say this, but most bridal suites are disaster areas!
They are usually fairly small rooms and they quickly become cluttered with clothes, makeup, hair products, food, drinks, etc. It's a photography nightmare. So, how does all of this relate to your wedding photography? And what should you do about it?
SETTING UP FOR HAIR AND MAKEUP
Ideally, we want your hair and makeup stations to be set up near the largest window. This will help to provide soft and flattering light. You want to keep this area free from as many distractions as possible. When your photographer arrives, they may ask you to adjust your position or move to another location altogether. They are simply looking for the most pleasing light to ensure beautiful photographs.
DESIGNATE AN AREA FOR THE "CLUTTER"
Eliminating clutter as much as possible is essential to creating getting ready photos you'll love. We want to keep the clutter away from the photo area as much as possible. If the suite doesn't have a separate room to keep the extra clothes, food, drinks, etc., then place these items as far away from the photo area as possible. Also, keep everything as low to the ground as possible. This will help to avoid water bottles, glasses, plates, food or whatever else in the background of your photos.
2. A Solid Wedding Day Timeline Is Beyond Critical
If you don't think you need a wedding day timeline or it's not that important, think again! Weddings are like a classical piece of music - it's essential everything works together in perfect harmony.
It's also important to understand that most likely, something will go wrong on your big day.
That's okay.
The people around you - bridesmaids, family, photographer, wedding venue, etc. are there to help you resolve whatever issues arise. That's part of the reason why it's so important to hire quality wedding professionals. We deal with these types of situations all the time and we are excellent problem-solvers!
Let's take a closer look at your wedding day timeline.
ONE OF THE BIGGEST CAUSES FOR WEDDING DELAYS
Hair and makeup.
Most brides significantly underestimate the time required for hair and makeup. In my experience, over 90% of weddings run late because hair and makeup is way behind. Generally speaking, makeup takes 30-45 minutes and hair takes 45-60 minutes. This is per-person. How much time you set aside for hair and makeup will also depend on whether you have 1 or 2 stylists.
Don't forget to give yourself some breathing room!
If you determine it's going to take a total of 4 hours for hair and makeup, don't have your stylist(s) arrive 4 hours before the ceremony. It's likely at least 1 or 2 people are going to be having a "bad hair" day and everything is going to take longer than expected. Give yourself at least an extra 1/2 hour and ideally, 1 hour.
SHOULD THE BRIDE GO FIRST OR LAST?
Most weddings I photograph, the bride goes through hair and makeup last. I strongly urge you - the bride - to go first! Obviously, the bride takes the longest because you want everything to be perfect. If you run into any issues during hair and makeup, you can relax knowing you have plenty of time. If you're done earlier than expected - awesome - grab a mimosa and chill.
DON'T FORGET ABOUT TIME TO GET DRESSED AND HAVE YOUR BRIDAL PORTRAIT SESSION
Putting on your wedding dress takes a little work and you're going to want everything to look perfect. Be sure to allow at least 20-30 minutes for putting the dress on, getting your accessories set, and making any final "touch-ups" to hair and makeup. Once this all done, you're ready for your bridal portrait session. Typically, this session will last 20-40 minutes.
Even if everything goes perfectly smooth, you'd much rather have some down time to relax as opposed to panicking, and running around like crazy. Your wedding day will have enough stress without dealing with the added stress of running late.
3. Assertive Assistants
"Family" photos are not usually a big hit. The people that have to be part of these photos want it to be over as quickly as possible. It's nothing against you - most people don't like being in photos.
Dedicate someone from your family and your partner's family to assist your photographer with corralling everyone for the photos. By assigning someone to assist with gathering family members, the entire process will be much more efficient and everyone will love you - and your photographer - for making it a painless experience. This ensures we get the photos you want while keeping everyone happy and in a good mood.
