Wedding Day Tips

Steve and I have been busy taking pictures and preparing for wedding, engagement sessions, and bridal sessions. We are loving every minute of it!!!! As we have been doing all of this, we have been talking about a few things that we should tell our brides, and for that matter, all brides. So, I thought I would share it here.

Tip #1- Do not let the photographer add stress to your day!!!! All of our packages are unlimited time on your wedding day. We don't do that because we want to be different, we do that because I believe it through and through, down to the core of my being!!!! I do that because of my sister. We attended my sister's wedding to be a part of the wedding and enjoy everything. Our kids were in the wedding. We were not suppose to take any pictures- our cameras were banned. After the wedding, and about 2 hours into the reception- we had eaten, she had done her first dance, and maybe even the father-daughter dance, the photographer tapped her on the shoulder, bag packed, and said thank you, your wedding was beautiful. Your pictures will be posted in a few weeks. My sister almost started to cry. My mother had to write the photographer a check to get him to stay. As if a wedding is not stressful enough, he added more stress to her day. Totally unprofessional, and just flat wrong!!! We will never do that, ever! All of our packages are unlimited time so you never have to rush or feel stress because of us! Enjoy your day. It is a once in a lifetime experience.

Tip #2- Make a list of pictures that you want to make sure are taken at your wedding, but not a list of the standard pictures. Any photographer who has ever been to a wedding is going to automatically take pictures of the bride with her bridal party, the groom with his party, the entire party, etc.... What the photographer won't know are things like Aunt May and Uncle Bob are coming from California and I want a picture with just them. We do family pictures, and will ask you about any groupings, but if you have a list of those groupings, we can go down the list and don't have to add any stress to you about coming up with those groupings on the spot. We just did a wedding and at the end of the night, the father of the groom said, I wish I had gotten a picture with all of my brothers. That would have been so easy to do, if we had known. There are no "do overs" so if you think about it, and can't decide if we should or not, let us take the picture. It doesn't have to be one you include in your album or in your prints, but you may not have the chance to take it again. Two weeks after the wedding is not the time to say, I wish we had taken.... Let us take it at the wedding or at the reception.

Tip #3- Tell your friends and family members you want them in your pictures. Lots of times they don't know and they leave to go to the reception or wander off. If they know you want them in a picture, it makes the pictures go much faster. We had a bride once give each group a card that had a list of who she wanted in the picture. She made it one person's job to gather all of those people and at the reception, come to us to take the picture. That took the pressure off of her to gather everyone. As the couple went to the tables to greet everyone, the person gathered the group and we took the picture.

Tip #4- Tell us about what makes your wedding special to you. Are you borrowing a necklace or earrings from you grandmother, is your something blue a handkerchief that your mother made, or dad has never worn a tux before... those things that make it YOUR wedding. Share that with us so we can unobtrusively get those pictures.

Tip #5- Never surprise the photographer!!! There was not suppose to be any dancing, but Dad has arranged for a dance with his daughter as a surprise- please let us know. We are always ready to take pictures, but we may be taking pictures of your guests, or the decorations, or out of place somehow, and we miss the surprise on your face when it first happens. We can keep a secret, so please share the surprise moments with us before they happen.

Tip #4- Steve is a fantastic digital editor! He can fix just about anything other than worry on your face. If you look at a picture, and think, oh that would be a great picture if only.... doesn't matter what the if only is, share it with us. Chances are Steve can fix it.

Well, since this post is so long, I will stop for now, but add more tips as time goes along. Feel free to share any tips that you have found to be helpful!