With years of experience capturing beautiful love stories, we decided to compile these wedding photography tips that will help you to find and work with someone who can truly make these moments last forever.
Years from now, as you sip on a cup of piping hot tea with your spouse, you reminisce the day you got married. You flip through your album and those little details in the décor to secret moments captured that bring a smile to your lips. You find a little knot of emotion in your throat as you witness the beauty of the ceremonies. You’re suddenly reminded of how you almost fell while dancing, except he caught you right in time. And how your friends did some crazy things that they didn’t even know were being captured by the camera!
As wedding photographers, we know the importance of these moments and memories for you. These memories are for years and generations to cherish and after the most beautiful days of celebrations are past – these photographs have the power to take you back in time. Following are our wedding photography tips to help you get incredible photos:
Discuss what’s important for you
The first of our wedding photography tips is to invest the time to discuss with your fiance as well as your families and figure what is important for you. What kind of memories do you want captured and what would make it more special for you? Are you looking for documenting every thing that happened at the wedding or do you want to focus on the moments and emotions? If you can put together a list of all the important criteria you’d ideally want your in your wedding photographs, it will enable you to find the right team and communicate with them more clearly.
Choose amazing wedding photographers
Find the wedding photographer that best meets your criteria, style and has the quality of reputation that you can stake the most important day of your life to. We highly encourage you to spend a little extra on quality vendors and think of it like an investment in your memories. Take the time to understand the various services they offer and communicate your own needs and ideas with them. Your vendors are there to make you happy and will be very excited to hear your thoughts.
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Sign a Wedding Photography Contract
Having a contract in place with your wedding photographers safeguards you from any incidentals. Your contract would be prepared and proposed by them and you have the flexibility to discuss the terms as per your needs. A wedding photography contract clearly lists out the team size planned, the scope of work as well as deliverables and time frames. It’s an essential part of the process that makes your wedding photography experience hassle-free.
Pick one team to cover the whole story
While it is not unusual for the bride and groom’s side to pick different teams to cover their individual side of the stories, we highly recommend that you work together and select one. This ensures consistency of style across all events and also minimizes the number of people at your functions. You don’t want the vendors to overshadow your experience of the wedding, so having one time ensures you can focus better on experiencing your most special days.
A professional photography business will have enough team members to ensure that even if events are running in parallel, they can allot enough people so they don’t miss a beat.
Have a Prewedding Shoot
A prewedding shoot is not only a great ice breaker with your wedding photographer but also the perfect chance for you to evaluate their style and work. It gives you the opportunity to practice being in front of the camera and know your best angles before your big day. And it doesn’t hurt that it gives you more memories to cherish!
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Chart out a detailed wedding ceremonies plan
One of the most critical wedding photography tips is to prepare a wedding ceremonies plan listing out all the crucial elements of the wedding. This should be shared with your wedding photographers ahead of time. This can include:
- The time and location of each event with approximate length of ceremonies
- The special moments you have planned that you definitely don’t want your wedding photographers to miss
- The friends and family you want special focus on so they know ahead of time who matter the most to you
Make a mood board of your favorite shots
While you’re browsing for wedding day ideas, you’d come across wedding photos that you love. Make sure you keep saving them so when you finally select on your wedding photographers – you can share your ideas and inspiration with them. It also helps to go through their portfolio and find photos that resonate with you. This will help them understand your style and aesthetics better and will enable them to give you beautiful memories. You can use services like Pinterest, or a dedicated folder in your phone’s image gallery to make this an easier project. Although this isn’t an essential of our wedding photography tips, it is highly recommended!
Schedule time for a couple shoot
If you’re keen on a portrait session with your special one, schedule time between your events for a couple shoot with your wedding photographer. It’s easy to get lost in the events and ceremonies and not dedicate time for this important facet. Couple portraits are always special and you’d love to have them on the wall and in your wedding album. Plan ahead with your photographers on the suggested pocket of time that you can schedule it in so that you can spend some intimate time with the camera free of distractions.
Plan with your decorators for easy access for photography
Often overlooked, one of the most crucial wedding photography tips is to plan ahead with your decorators how they’re designing the space. They should work towards ensuring that there is plenty of space for the photographers to have the main angles and keep it clutter free. They should also plan the space so your guests are comfortable without coming in the way of the photographers.
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Have ushers at your bigger wedding events
At major events like the engagement and the wedding, your guests will tend to crowd the main area and you wouldn’t be able to get a clean shot no matter how hard your photographers may try. It helps to have ushers who can respectfully request your loved ones to give you room so you can have beautiful photographs of the most critical moments.
Plan your team size and deliverables
Depending on the size, style and scope of your wedding events, plan the team size with your photographers in detail. While other wedding photography tips are geared at you getting the most out of your photographers, this focuses on planning the optimum size to ensure they don’t miss anything important to you. Your wedding photographers will offer a wide range of services to you and you can discuss your events at length to understand what can work or not work in the situation.
Your package should be the optimum mix of team size and the kind of deliverable you and your families would want to cherish.
Wedding Photography Packages
Take your photographer’s advice
You’d be surprised at how keen your wedding photographers would be to help you with other facets of your planning. Whether you’re planning a special entry, picking between decor colors or figuring out the lighting, involve them to get a professional opinion on what works and what doesn’t. Read our ultimate guide on lighting and decor or our guide on bridal makeup for more resourceful information.
Since your photographers will be working along with your other vendors for the best possible results, feel free to introduce them beforehand so they can work better and coordinate to get you beautiful photographs. Feel free to ask them for their opinion or their own wedding photography tips to enhance your experience.
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Dedicate a single point of contact from your friends or family
Another important suggestion from our wedding photography tips is to assign one person from your friends or family that your photographers can reach out to you. While you’ll be busy enjoying your big day, they may need help with various elements and wouldn’t want to disturb you. Your representative can help with arranging and coordinating and also give them the resources they need to do their job. If you’re hiring them to represent both the bride and groom’s side – assign one person from each team for better flow.
Bring on the love and just enjoy!
Now that you’ve done all the leg work, it’s time for you to focus on the last of our wedding photography tips – just let lose and forget the cameras! Enjoy every minute and every moment of your day and pour all your heart into your loved ones. What makes the most beautiful frames is you being your radiant best, so be just that. Your wedding photographs have the power to take you back in time – so make sure every minute you will be transported back to – matters!
These wedding photography tips are based on our personal experiences working with innumerable love stories. Little things can make a big impact in the way your wedding photographs turn out and following these resourceful wedding photography tips will enable you to make your special days last forever.
